Tensions rise as credits for solar cut into utility budgets (Vermont)

[jpak]

http://vtdigger.org/2013/07/10/tensions-rise-as-credits-for-solar-cut-into-utility-budgets/

A rift is forming between Vermont’s burgeoning solar industry and some of the state’s smaller utilities.

At issue is a law that compels utilities to credit customers for the power they produce to the point that those customers can pay nothing for the grid they use. While some small utilities want to change the funding arrangement because they say it kicks costs over to other customers, developers argue the policy places an accurate value on solar production and should remain intact to continue growing jobs and Vermont’s renewable energy portfolio.

Two weeks ago, the Vermont Electric Cooperative became the third utility in the state to hit the cap for funding its so-called net metering clients — those customers generating electricity from renewable sources at less than 500 kilowatts per hour (kWh).

A utility no longer has to accept applications for net metering systems when the capacity of a utility’s total net metering surpasses 4 percent of its peak demand from the previous year or from 1996, whichever is greater.

<more>