In Havre, Hillview Apartments, a low income housing development, started supplying a portion of tenants’ energy demand with on-site solar panels.
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There are 36 solar panels sitting in a row behind Richard Stewart’s home in north Las Vegas.
Solar industry insiders aren’t the only ones who thought it was unethical.
“The (bureau) is sure the commission realizes that the debate over rooftop solar – not only in Nevada, but in other states – is not exclusively just about unreasonable cost shifts, but it is a product of the utilities recognizing there is a potential competitive threat to their business model from rooftop solar”, the consumer advocate, who leads the bureau, wrote in a recent filing. The new rates will apply for existing and new net metering customers. They also say solar customers should pay their fair share to maintain electrical infrastructure because net-metering customers still connect to the grid and expect uninterrupted power at all times including when a cloud passes overhead or at night.
The letter argued any “failure to (reconsider the decision) would quickly curtail solar deployment in Nevada by unnecessarily disrupting customer and investor expectations and send the message that Nevada is not willing to partner with the investor community to meet its clean energy and climate goals, and may even discourage broader private investment in the state”.
A big-name actor joined others in testifying Wednesday before a panel on Nevada solar power rates.
An independent study commissioned by the state legislature in 2013 concluded, however, that solar users created a $36m net benefit for traditional customers, a finding NV Energy dismissed as reliant on outdated solar pricing data. Just before the New Year, NorthWestern Energy and the city of Bozeman unveiled plans to build a utility-owned solar array at the city’s wastewater treatment facility. As legislators come together this session, I urge them to make solar energy a priority in our state and extend current incentives that make it possible for families, communities and businesses to go solar.
NV Energy would not comment for this story, but PUC Commissioner David Noble has defended their decision. He also pushed back against the commission’s claim that the rates would not cause irreparable harm.
He added that the “commission takes the issue of jobs very seriously” but questioned whether the job losses were a result of imprudent business decisions from the industry. “You are taking from the people and giving to the rich”. Whereas previously they received full retail value for their surplus electricity, soon NV Energy will only pay a third of that price for exported electricity.
Jose Peña, a laid-off Sunrun technician, said: “This is the ideal market for solar”.
NV Energy estimates it has about 17,000 net-metering customers.
“It does not make sense that the second sunniest state in the nation is now walking away from solar energy”, Joan Kato, Sanders’ state director said in a statement. The lesson for other states: if you eliminate net metering, you can kiss rooftop solar goodbye.
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In a statement, the utility says the increased rates will be phased in over five years and will not bring in any additional profits. Checks and Balances Project, a nonprofit group that investigates corporate influence on clean energy policy, filed a public records request for correspondences between the PUC commissioner, NV Energy and industry trade group Edison Electric Institute.
