PUC expected to decide fate of net metering rate next week
CARSON CITY — The state Public Utilities Commission is expected to decide Wednesday whether to grant a petition by rooftop solar companies to continue Nevada’s existing net metering program until a new rate structure is put in place later this year.
The Alliance for Solar Choice filed the emergency petition with state regulators when it was disclosed in July that Nevada’s existing net metering program could hit a 235 megawatt cap by Sept. 1. Net metering allows rooftop solar customers to receive a credit for excess electricity they produce on their home systems.
The petition is on next week’s PUC utility meeting agenda for possible action.
The solar group argues that without an extension of the existing program, the rooftop solar industry could grind to a halt, jeopardizing 6,000 jobs.
The petition has received support from a number of individuals and organizations, including the Nevada chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association and the Solar Energy Industries Association.
But state Sen. Patricia Farley, R-Las Vegas, who was involved in the passage of a bill in the 2015 legislative session asking the PUC to create a new rooftop solar tariff by Dec. 31, said in comments that the petition is contrary to the intent of the Legislature.
NV Energy, which does business as Nevada Power in Southern Nevada, has proposed a new tariff for net metering and has asked the PUC to adopt it by Sept. 15 as its solution to the issue. This rate proposal is a separate proceeding and not before the PUC on Wednesday.
Kevin Geraghty, vice president of generation for NV Energy, said last week the new rate structure will create “a long-term sustainable future” for the rooftop solar industry.
The new net metering rate would provide a credit of 5.5 cents per kilowatt hour to residential rooftop solar generators instead of the current 11.6 cents.
But NV Energy also acknowledged that the new tariff for rooftop solar customers might end up costing them more for power than other ratepayers when the cost of the solar installation is factored into the equation.
Solar advocates have argued that the tariff proposed by NV Energy is “the most extreme anti-solar proposal anywhere in the country.”
Contact Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Find him on Twitter: @seanw801
