Environment & Energy
In reply to the discussion: California Utilities Balk as Home Solar Producers Near 5 Percent Limit [View all]kristopher
(29,798 posts)The shift to a renewable distributed grid is going to hurt the utilities - there is no question of that. So thank you for representing the interests of the utilities, but the article is accurate and valuable. Perhaps your defense of the utility could focus more on WHY they want to limit solar rather than simply declaring that they are pursuing profits and that is just fine with you.
From my perspective I think that the customers are getting screwed even with the net metering law. They are trading peak power (the most expensive electricity the utility has to buy) for offpeak backup power from the utility's baseload fleet (power that the utility almost gives away for nothing).
What they need is a Feed In Tariff where the full value of the peak electricity is paid to the solar plant owners.
A game-changing solar vote is happening at the California Public Utilities Commission. They're deciding how much customer-owned solar energy is allowed to get the bill saving benefits of net metering. This statewide clean energy credit program has empowered over 100,000 solar energy systems to be installed on homes, businesses, schools, libraries and other buildings around the state. The Commission has proposed allowing more Californians to get the benefits of net metering, and some utilities are trying their best to cut that number by half.
Can you send the Commission a note, and tell them Californians want more solar, not less?
http://votesolar.org/initiatives/
April 12th, 2012
Today were celebrating an interim win for California rooftop solar along with our partners at SEIA, IREC and the Sierra Club. Together we have been working to encourage the utility regulators at the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to clarify the methodology being used to calculate the cap on the states net metering program, that billing arrangement that allows solar power customers meters to spin backwards and generate savings on their electricity bills. Well PUC Chairmain Peevey has just issued a proposed decision on the cap methodology that, if approved by the full Commission, will help boost solar use by homeowners, businesses, and public agencies in a big way.
Heres how: Net metering works like rollover minutes, with customers receiving credits on their bills for the excess power they generate that is put back on the grid. There is a cap on the amount of net metering that must be made available to customers beyond that cap, theres no guarantee that utilities continue to allow new solar customers to net meter. Californias law sets the cap at 5 percent of aggregate customer peak demand, but does not specify how utilities should calculate that number. Consequently, utilities are using a more restrictive methodology that results in almost 50 percent less net metered solar and renewable energy than would otherwise be allowed. Chairman Peeveys proposed decision clarifies that utilities should use the cap calculation methodology that results in more Californians having access to the energy bill saving benefits of net metering. Hooray!
Take action to support this proposed decision. Remember the full Commission still has to approve it! TAKE ACTION HERE.
Heres what our allies and partners had to say:
When we crafted Californias original net metering law, the goal was maximize the amount of clean distributed energy on the grid, said former Assemblyman Fred Keeley, author of Californias net metering law By proposing this methodology, the CPUC is complying with the original legislative intent and helping California lead the way toward a clean energy economy.
The PUCs proposed decision...
http://votesolar.org/2012/04/6914/