Morning Brief: EIA on net metering, Li-Cycle’s first shipment of commercially recycled battery material
Also in the brief: the chance that Covid-19 gives to reform our energy system, Engie has signed tax equity financing for a 2 GW portfolio, Panasonic names inaugural class of Elite Residential Installers and more.
Rocky Mountain Power, a Warren Buffett-owned utility, is again seeking to kill off residential solar power
Rocky Mountain Power has proposed an almost 80 percent cut to the rate paid to net metered solar electricity, dropping it from the current 9.2¢/kWh to a rough average of about 2.0¢/kWh.
Idaho regulators rule that net metering rates belong to the system, not the customer
Idaho regulators have amended an earlier ruling, now stating that the legacy rate given to customers who installed residential solar systems before December 20, 2019 applies to the system, not the customer.
Idaho is stuck in residential solar limbo
In the wake of regulator’s rejection of Idaho Power’s proposal to decrease the net metering rate, customers looking to install PV in the near future are in limbo, with no indication of a new compensation rate in sight.
New York seeks successor to solar power net metering
The state commission is seeking to wean solar customers off of pure net metering charges, while starting to provide motivation to consider demand charges and time-of-use. Current net metering was extended by a year, so expect these changes to be in effect starting in 2021.
Net metering survives in Idaho
State regulators have overwhelmingly ruled to deny Idaho Power’s proposal to decrease the net metering rate for residential solar owners by 50%.
Georgia Power has 5,000 residential solar net metering contracts and it’s first come, first served
In a rate case vote, regulators approved 32 MW of residential rooftop solar power to be installed, which could expand the utilities total base 500% from its current count of approximately 1,000 rooftops.
Montana maintains net metering (for now)
In the first general rate case in 10 years, Montana regulators have rejected NorthWestern Energy’s proposal to change the way net metering customers would be charged. Would these charges have been as catastrophic as they seem?
Idaho Power renews attacks on net metering
The utility has proposed to state regulators a measure to decrease the rate that solar owners receive for their excess solar generation by 50% under the argument that net metering has failed to properly recover the costs incurred to serve customers with on-site generation.
The necessary evil that is net metering
Research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology suggests that as net metering expands, financially challenged electric customers will begin to pay a higher share of the electric companies guaranteed revenue streams – and while this would be true in a static world – the broader picture of the value of individual energy empowerment makes this an acceptable systemic risk.
