Energy Services by Julie Waring

08/09/2025

For those who are feeling the stress of the end of the solar tax credit:

Don’t make a poor choice just because you have a deadline.

Your installer absolutely HAS to be local and well established as a solar expert or you will be sorry when the system needs support and you can’t find anyone willing to help.

And if you realize you are on deadline, you’re right. You system must be fully installed by Dec 31, 2025 to be eligible for the 30% tax credit.

It takes 60-90 days to get through the Evergy process. Rural coops can take more or less time.
Thus, you must contract by end of Sept to be sure you’ll make the deadline.

07/16/2025

Let’s talk about the realities of Solar Energy.

Kansans need low energy prices, low greenhouse emissions and a stable electrical grid.

Solar has been proven to provide the cheapest electricity in history and as the rate increases come woth increasing frequency, residential solar owners will have a significantly lower cost of energy.

Solar is capable of providing a stable electricity source when combined with appropriate storage, allowing homeowners to protect from the increasingly freqient power outages we are seeing during weatherer events.

Solar produces negligible greenhouse gas emissions. When combined with EV, it also reduces car exhaust, smokestacks, urban smog, ash dumps, oil spills, and more.

Solar provides self sustaining energy in wartime, during trade wars, insulation from economic instability and can be used to reduce exposure during pandemics.

The solar tax credit for residential owners is being eliminated on December 31, 2025. Only projects that have been completely installed by that date will be eligible. Installers are going to prioritize early contracts over late ones and it is highly unlikely that customersmers contracting after Octover 1, 2025 can get installed in time for the tax credit.

It is understandable to have a lot of questions. I am here to give you experienced answers.

07/14/2025

It seems like the news has been particularly rough this year for folks who want to maintain our independence from price gouging. There are strong forces driving up electrical rates and making it harder to gain solid footing in the fight to keep home management budgets under control.

“Electricity demand is expected to surge by as much as 50% by 2040” according to Jason Grumet, CEO of American Clean Power. However, the new federal budget eliminates the 30% federal tax credit for residential solar installations. This opens the floodgates for electric companies such as Evergy in Kansas to continue to increase rates at breakneck speeds such as the two 10% rate increases we will be enduring over a span of less than 18 months come September.

Timing is urgent to take control of your own energy future. Reputable solar installers get very busy at the end of the year as folks rush to get their tax credits. This year, delays can cost Kansans thousands of hard earned dollars that can never be recaptured. If you have been waiting, it is time to take action. Send me a message or give me a call at (316) 880-3536 if you are ready to start talking!

07/08/2025

Apparently killing the tax credit for solar installs that was previously legally enforceable through 2032 isn’t enough. Now this executive order is intended to ensure anyone installing solar through 2025 must have the installation absolutely complete by December 31. If you want to go solar to escape the accelerating price gouging that is happening in Kansas, you really have to do it now!

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1.

06/02/2025

Hello, I am writing to bring to your attention the numerous challenges faced by the clean energy sector in 2025.

From the Federal perspective, a budget bill has been passed by the House of Representatives, which eliminates the 30% federal tax credit for residential customers who opt for solar energy. The bill is currently awaiting Senate approval, and it is essential that you contact your Federal Senator to express your opposition to this elimination.

Failure to do so may be perceived as approval. I urge you to request that your Senator document your call and to call to reiterate your concerns daily.

In Kansas, additional initiatives are underway, but I would like to draw your attention to a pressing matter. Please register to attend this event via Zoom: https://kcc.ks.gov/your-opinion-matters, where you can express your opposition to Evergy's proposed almost 9% rate increase, scheduled to take effect in September.

This increase comes on the heels of a recent 10% rate hike.

Even if you are not a direct Evergy customer, it is likely that you purchase electricity from them through your COOP or Municipal electric company, making this issue pertinent to you as a Kansas resident.

If you or someone you care about is considering solar and this bill goes through, you have until September to contract for installation and still get the credit. As tariffs continue, prices are increasing quickly and in large amounts so the sooner you get the ball rolling the better. Many Americans will wait until fall to contract for their solar which will cause prices to rise quickly due to demand. Those folks will also lose the production of summer months. Don’t be one of them. Reach out to me this week so we can help you get a solid design in place.

All the best -
Julie

Current public hearing and comment periods before the Kansas Corporation Commission.

04/24/2025

Now that the Kansas legislature is done, it’s time for Evergy to start making more proposals for Kansas electric rate increases.

Stark disagreements on Evergy's proposal to build two new natural gas plants in Kansas surfaced at KCC hearings Monday.

04/07/2025

What are the impacts of recent political and economic activity on solar prices?
As we have all seen, read, heard, and probably discussed at many levels, the recent political changes have had a huge negative impact on financial markets worldwide. Prior to the deluge of Jan 20, 2025 executive orders, the projections were suggesting renewable energy laws were strong and well supported, so most markets were not expected to see any big changes. Now just 100 days in, the tides have turned significantly. For any US consumers who have been “waiting for prices to go down”, that ship has sailed.
Between tariffs that have eliminated solar panel entry to the US and domestic manufacturing projects that have all but stopped, supply is all but eliminated (which any elementary economics class will advise), results in significant price increases.
If you have already taken the step of implementing solar and taking control of your economic future, congratulations! Like me, you are saving significant money already and the pace of your savings is increasing dramatically as electricity prices accelerate.
If however, you have been waiting, your window of opportunity is shrinking. Increased prices in the face of unmet demand will certainly continue while electricity rates continue to rise.

If you have a partially installed system and your contractor has gone out of business or stopped responding to you, please reach out so we can help. You are really going to need that system to be operational this year!

03/10/2025

While it is not Kansas specific, this article does show the confusion and potentially complicated impact of electric grid tariffs. If implemented in the recent pattern, the impacts will not be understood for quite some time. Most certainly, cost of power and reliability will be the obvious consequences, but since we are in the middle of the US grid and serviced secondarily by both neighbors it is hard to know how quickly we would see our bills and lights change.

Are you concerned about the rapid rise in electricity costs and/or reliability of power impacts of these actions? The Waring Electric team of Residential Energy Specialists can help you make informed decisions and are available to anyone in Kansas.

When President Donald Trump’s administration announced on Monday that it was moving forward with sweeping tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods, it ignited anger above the northern border and confusion below it among the organizations that manage the electric grid in parts of both countries.

02/10/2025

Im a rural Kansan, so i get the monthly “Kansas Country Living” magazine, published by Kansas Electric Cooperatives Inc.

In it is an article this month titled “Transforming the Transformer Supply Chain Landscape” by Lee Tafanelli, CEO. He reiterated what we learned last month in Nashville at the Generac National Convention - that we have a serious shortage of transformers nationwide. In addition to the extreme demands of AI and Bitcoin mining which are causing “new home construction requests [to be] denied across the country because orders for padmount transformers are backlogged”.

Also of note, prices for transformers have “skyrocketed anywhere from 60% to 100%” - making it very difficult to complete repairs when storms or aging equipment cause transformers to fail.

If you have freezers with important food items, family members with health issues, a finished basement, or any number of other vulnerabilities to power grid failure, this is a good time to be seriously considering a generator, solar, and battery solution to protect your family. My team of Residential Energy Consultants can talk through your situation, learn your goals, and help your family determine the best solution for your home.

02/08/2025

Evergy filed with the Kansas Corporation Commission to raise rates by 10.36% for customers across East Kansas. This after the most recent rate increase in Nov 2023. As expected, rates are increasing dramatically for Kansans following the 5 year contractual rate freeze from the Evergy takeover in 2017.

Electric monopoly Evergy is asking utility regulators for a rate increase in Topeka and much of eastern Kansas that would increase your monthly bill.

09/03/2024

Hi folks!
Waring Electric is a local electrical contractor with emphasis on integrity. We partner with businesses such as Generac, Lowe’s, Maxeon and Enphase to provide home standby generators, solar, and EV chargers so our community can generate, use, and protect their own electricity in homes and businesses.

We are hiring a certified journeyman electrician and welcome any connections you may have to help us find a new member for our team!

07/24/2024

Let’s talk about Inverters!

The unsung hero of a solar installation is the inverter. This is the device that converts electric energy from DC (the way it is collected from the PV module) to AC (the format of energy used in the home or business). While it represents 15-30% of the equipment cost, the inverter is the most common point of failure on a solar installation.
“80% of solar array failures occur at the inverter level”

I’ve attached an article I read today that gives a good overview of different inverter types.

Do you have a preferred inverter type or brand?

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2024/07/24/how-long-do-residential-solar-inverters-last-4/?utm_source=USA+7C+Newsletter&utm_campaign=1d64db4d60-dailyn|_us&utm_mexium=email&utm_term=0_80e0d17bb8-1d64db4d60-494186619&ct=t(dailyn|_us)

Multiple factors affect the productive lifespan of a residential solar inverter. In Part 2 of our series, we look at solar inverters.