The demise of rooftop solar in Indiana coincides with significant increases in electricity prices over the last two decades. This development was brought to light in recent filings that show the Indiana-Michigan Power Company (I&M) is seeking a 23% hike in electricity rates. The Citizens Action Coalition Indiana (CAC Indiana) indicates that distributed solar collapsed after the state eliminated net metering in favor of “excess distributed generation” (EDG) tariff on July 1, 2022, the day that Indiana rooftop solar died.
As this has occurred, electricity utilities are now seeking to massively increase the cost of electricity.
According to CAC Inidana’s filing, “The amount of solar installed has decreased dramatically. As shown in Figure 16, in the last one-year period in which net metering was offered (July 2021 through June 2022), I&M customers installed about 7.4 MW of solar. In the one-year period after the EDG tariff replaced net metering (July 2022 through June 2023), solar installations fell to 2.4 MW, a 67% year-over-year decrease in capacity additions.”
The last net metering solar power system in Indiana was installed in the summer of 2023. Featuring bifacial solar panels and ballasted racking, this project is expected to yield $140,000 in operational savings in the first year.
Furthermore, the filing indicated that the average monthly residential electricity bill has more than doubled since 2004, escalating from $70 to almost $150. I&M is now proposing a massive 23% increase, which would push the average bill to $176/month. Accounting for inflation, rates have increased roughly 54% since 2004.
Concurrently with the phase-out of net metering, construction began on the large-scale Mammoth Solar project. SOLV Energy is developing the first 400 MW phase of the 1.3 GWac / 1.65 FW dc facility. The project has secured multiple power purchase agreements, including 80 MW with PNC Bank and portions of the subsequent 360 MW phase with AEP Energy and Doral Renewables.
On November 16, just as the State of California was making drastic cuts to the amount of electricity that apartment complexes were allowed to sell to their renters, the utility PG&E received approval for a 13% rate increase.
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This… all the dirty industry driving politics over solar net metering are abysmal. But what no one seems to be talking about is prices. Electrification of most energy use is critical but what makes that happen? Lowering the price of electricity. What will prevent it? Skyrocketing prices for electricity.
The number one goal for policy makers needs to be lowering the price of electricity to consumers and industry. Knifing net metering is clearly a step in the wrong direction but it’s only illustrating that policy makers are unfocused and working on the wrong things.
Lower electricity prices are the big fix. Fix the grid, and radically expand zero emission generation to create the economies of scale. Electricity can and should be dort cheap.
This literally screams someone is getting paid under the table…..
This is just more corporate, & government greed.
So, we the consumers buy into these energy saving projects, save money for a couple of years, then we are punished because the utility companies lose revenue due to these energy saving devices, and increase the rates ,& other fees to gouge the consumers of our hard earned money.
All the more reason for people to become energy independent, & get off the grid.
Off grid solar will be the only way residential rooftop solar will continue in many states that have reduced the return on grid excess solar power compensation. The electricity, generated and stored in batteries rather than fed to the grid, will make the pay back in utility energy not used a profitable endeavor. I used lead acid deep cycle marine batteries rather than the expensive lithium-ion batteries and even though they need to be replaced every 6 years, the savings from the utility priced electricity was significant in California. All one needs is a standard generator transfer switch, a 3000-watt pure sign wave inverter and some copper wire fed from the batteries to the inverter. Select the household circuits to be run off the inverter and power them from the transfer switch fed by the 3000-watt pure sine wave inverter. If solar installers would just offer this instead of grid tied systems, rooftop solar would not die and the companies would stay in business. RV owners have been doing this for years and homeowners should be able to do it also.
I know the feeling! I had solar in installed but a year or two later net metering was compromised! However, the company(Sun Run) that installed my solar system provides terrible support! I wish I would have gotten more reviews before I signed on with them. Their service and support has been horrific !
It’s shortsighted; utilities see net metering as a threat but it’s a source of the cheapest energy and financing given the massive purchasing power of homeowners.
No utility in the US seems to have adopted the proven EU or Asian models which levy a tarif on net exported energy.
Simple concept, no fees or complicated permitting, every home can install solar without utility approval as long as they use listed components, but any power not used by the home that goes to the grid pays a T&D fee of 8 cents/kWh and any yearly net energy goes to the utility for free unless they sign a separate interconnection agreement. Simple win-win. Countries with this type of program also have much lower costs 1-1.5$/WP vs the US at 3.5$/WP or more given all the regulatory steps.