The meeting (White Oak Library again) convened at 7:11 with pizza and drinks.  Our president, Charlie, polled the room for their EVs, and any newcomers to the group.  Again, several new faces.  Two were Chip and Craig from Eurostar Autos in Randallstown, MD, with the remaining Think EVs (of which club members own several), plus Forrest from Passport Nissan.

Your club officers were introduced, per custom.

Barbara Gonzales from Pepco spoke again, with an update on the utility’s EV pilot program.  She has already begun outreach to dealerships, to spread the word on the program and EVs in general.  Though she claims Pepco’s terms are as good as California or anywhere else, several members had big questions remaining.  The website isn’t as clear as it could have been.

Bruce then introduced Drew and John from Prospect Solar.  Prospect is pioneering distributed, fungible ownership of panels and power (“community solar“), with variants.  For instance, despite Virginia’s legislative foot-dragging, Catoctin Creek Distilling is almost entirely solar.  The obvious benefit is the ability to go solar even with a shaded house (/condo/apartment), by investing in someone else’s site.  You then get a lower monthly bill, via net metering- your home appears to have virtual panels.  Multiple renewable incentives are also virtualized among stakeholders; if you move to a different utility company, you can sell your stake.  If you move within your utility, you do… nothing at all. Continue reading →