Tag Archives: net energy metering

California rooftop solar decision remains on hold

The next voting meeting for the commission is set for Thursday but once again, the agenda does not include an item regarding the fate of a controversial Net Energy Metering proposal that — if passed in its current form — would make major changes to the way solar customers are compensated.

Under Net Energy Metering, or NEM, when a rooftop solar system generates more energy than the homeowner or business actually consumes, the excess can be sent back to the electric grid and customers receive credits on their bills.

Net Energy Metering tariff that included:

  • Altering how much solar customers are paid when they send power back to the grid. Instead of receiving the retail rate of electricity, they would get paid at the “actual avoided cost,” which is much lower.
  • Creating a “grid participation charge” of $8 per kilowatt on the solar systems of residential customers. The typical rooftop system is about 5 to 6 kilowatts so the charge would come to about $40 to $48 per month for San Diego Gas & Electric customers. The charge would not apply to commercial customers.
  • Establishing a $600 million Equity Fund to support clean energy and energy storage programs for low-income Californians. Disadvantaged households would be exempt from paying the grid participation charge.
  • Provide a 10-year payback period for customers who add energy storage to their solar systems.

Read more at: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/energy-green/story/2022-03-15/rooftop-solar-decision-remains-on-hold

California PUC Ruling Boosts Solar Industry

The solar industry scored a major win Thursday when California regulators more than doubled the number of homeowners and businesses who will get full financial credit for the surplus electricity that their rooftop panels produce.

The California Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved changes to a policy known as “net energy metering,” which allows solar system owners to cut their utility bills by receiving credit for any excess electricity they send to the state’s power grid.

The California law that established net metering set a limit on the number of people who could qualify within each utility company’s territory, a limit the Legislature later raised. The utilities commission on Thursday changed the way the limit is calculated, greatly expanding the pool of people who will be eligible in the future.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/05/24/BUAF1ON5RC.DTL#ixzz1vtOCrcZU

 
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