Nevada regulators approved a stipulation on Friday morning that will bring back more favorable rates to residents that already own a rooftop solar system in the state.
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As part of the agreement, all solar customers in Nevada who applied to install rooftop solar before 31 December 2015 will be grandfathered under the original net metering program that they signed up for – which will be available for 20 years. The new “grandfathering” rules will allow those existing NV Energy solar customers to operate under previous net metering rules. The agreement also protects customers who withdrew an application or had a RenewableGenerations application expire in the period from December 23 to December 31.
Rooftop solar system. Author: Centre for Alternative Technology. This decision immediately follows more than 17,000 solar industry participants gathering in Las Vegas for the largest U.S. solar trade show, demonstrating the strength of this industry. The new rate structure lowered the net metering credit to $0.09/kWh from $0.11/kWh, with the credit eventually declining to $0.026/kWh by 2020. “I sincerely appreciate the efforts of the Commission regulatory operations staff, the consumer advocate, and SolarCity for joining NV Energy in this settlement agreement, which expedites the process on behalf of our customers”. Sandoval had been critical of the net metering decision and convened New Energy Task Force to resolve net metering issues earlier this year.
The deal still must be approved by the Nevada Public Utilities Commission, which is expected to vote on it on this week.
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Sean Gallagher, vice president of state affairs for the Solar Energy Industries Association, welcomed the decision. “The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada’s decision today is fair for this set of existing net metering customers, and at the same time reinforces the clear path forward they established in February 2016 for those considering rooftop solar in the future”.
