From the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources
Under Green Community Act provision to spur renewable energy development, customers who generate more power than they use can sell back energy at higher rates
BOSTON – Net metering for wind and solar energy installations, a provision of the Green Communities Act designed to encourage development of renewable power, takes effect on December 1 under an order adopted by Department of Public Utilities (DPU) last Friday (11/13).
Net metering encourages homeowners, businesses, and municipalities to install solar panels and wind turbines by allowing them to earn credit on their electric bills if they generate more power than they need. Under the Green Communities Act signed by Governor Patrick last year, utility companies must compensate their customers for this excess electricity at the retail rate rather than the lower wholesale rate. Additionally, customers may allocate their credits to other customers, allowing those without facilities to take advantage of net metering benefits as well.
The DPU order approved Friday is the last regulatory step needed for electric customers to take advantage of the Act’s net metering provisions. As a result, customers who own renewable energy installations can submit net metering applications to their electric distribution companies beginning December 1. The DPU issued its final net metering regulations in June of this year, followed by a model net metering tariff in August. Friday’s DPU order approves electric utility interconnection tariffs and requires that the electric companies immediately file net metering tariffs that comply with the terms of the model tariff approved in August.
“Businesses, consumers, and cities and towns across Massachusetts are eager for net metering to get underway, increasing the value of renewable power for those who install it,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles, whose office includes the DPU. “This action propels the Commonwealth further along Governor Patrick’s path toward a clean energy future.”
“Net metering will accelerate the development of renewable energy projects across the Commonwealth by putting the economic value ...
... of power generated by these projects on par with electricity purchased from the grid,” said DPU Chairman Paul Hibbard.
Prior to the Green Communities Act, net metering was restricted to on-site renewable energy projects capable of generating 60 kilowatts or less, and customers were able to sell their power back to the grid only at the wholesale rate. Now, customers who own larger wind turbines or solar power installations – up to 2 megawatts, and even larger for municipal and state installations – can sell excess power back to the grid at the higher retail rate. Even customers who do not generate excess power will save money on their electric bills by generating some portion of the electricity they use.
To view the DPU’s final net metering order, click here.
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6 comments:
Dartmouth has been closely tracking the DPU Net Metering Tariff setting process and is quite concerned over one aspect of the near-final Tariff. The issue pertains to how the Rate Class for net metered electricity is established, which has significant bearing on the revenue generation assumptions, ability to obtain financing, and the viability of Dartmouth’s proposed wind turbine project.
Finance plans for the Dartmouth community wind project does not have large margins and are predicated on locking in a favorable rate under the Tariff. These projects take a tremendous effort to get approved at the local and state levels. If the return is too small, communities will simply choose not to pursue these projects and instead focus on other initiatives as they should !
If too low a Rate Class is established, or if the matter is left to NSTARs discretion, potentially viable projects will not be built, and the goals of the Green Communities Act will very likely not be realized ?
We risk that most if not all of the Dartmouth project will not be financially feasible, will be unable to get financing, and will never be built !
How does the AEC present these facts to the folks in Dartmouth and the SB ?
Has the public been educated about the net metering process ?
If 'the public' attended any one of many meetings and hearings on this subject, they will be aware of the net metering issue.
It is no secret that the viability of this and many other wind projects depend on the outcome of the net metering issue as has been attested to by Dr DiPippo and Peter Friedman on many occassions. People need to pay attention if they are truly interested in these types of projects and not fall for conspiracy theories or 'chicken little' scenarios.
Dartmouth could become the trial balloon for municipal owned commercial wind turbine plants . The ultimate win or loss in this experiment in Dartmouth will again be the taxpayers of the Town of Dartmouth that will pay for the mistakes of representative government .
We only need to look what happened with the residential wind turbines in Bristol County and see if the town wants to take that same gamble on a much larger scale .
The net metering tariff for NStatr is known and has been set as follows:
Net Metering Credit equal to the product of the:
a)excess kWh, by time-of-use if applicable; and
b)sum of the following Distribution Company charges applicable to the rate class under which the Host Customer takes service:
(i) the default service kWh charge (in the ISO-NE load zone where the Host Customer is located);
(ii) the distribution kWh charge, which includes:
the base distribution charge
the Pension Adjustment Factor and
the Residential Assistance Adjustment Factor
(iii) the transmission kWh charge; and
(iv) the transition kWh charge.
This rate is very favorable to the Dartmouth project. If you have questions about the net metering rate, ask here and I will try to answer or go to the forum an Dec. 9th.
Dartmouth is one of many municipalities who are installing wind turbines, Hull and Falm outh have already do so (Hull has 2) as well as Portsmouth, RI.
Bill, just a question: Is this DPU order on net metering what was holding up the project or was there something else? I vaguely remember one of the FinCom members saying something about this at the last Town Meeting.
No, the delay has been due to relocation of the turbines by a few feet in order to stay clear of wetlands. The recent actions by the DPU improve the economics of the project. They eliminated a cap on net metering capacity for municipalities and adopted rules for the tariffs(i.e. the rates which power producers are paid.)
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