Archive for June, 2008

On June 26, 2008, U.S. House Representative Jay Inslee, along with three other democratic representatives, introduced H.R. 6401, the Renewable Energy and Jobs Security Act, which would provide long-term (20-year), fixed rate utility contracts to renewable and other clean generators up to 20 MW. The FERC would set the technology-specific rates once every two years, ... Read More

North Carolina’s new interconnection rules are applicable, not only to small generators with a capacity of 10 MW or less, but also to any state-jurisdicational interconnection in NC, regardless of the size of the generator. Also, the current net metering limitations equal 20 kW (and not 25 kW as we stated) for residential and 100 ... Read More

On June 25, 2008, the District of Columbia Public Service Commission issued Order 14840 (Docket FC 945-E-1881) which finalizes its proposed rules for net metering. This rule provides small distributed generators with a net metering credit equal to the full retail rate, and permits excess credits to be carried forward indefinitely, until they are completely ... Read More

On June 19, 2008, Governor David Paterson announced how pleased he was that the legislature had passed two net metering bills which will encourage the use of renewable energy within New York. The Governor is expected to sign these bills. The first bill (S7171-B / A11146) permits net metering for residential solar systems up to ... Read More

On June 26, 2008, Governor Charlie Crist enacted legislation (HB 7135) which requires each utility, including coops and munis, to develop a standardized interconnection and net metering program for customer-owned renewable generation by July 1, 2009. (The PSC has already established the rules necessary to administer this legislation, as described below.) The PSC is also ... Read More

On June 9, 2008, the North Carolina Utilities Commission issued a final order which adopts a modified version of the FERC small generator interconnection standard. (Docket E-100, Sub 101, see order dated 6/9/08, Appendix A.) The state’s investor-owned utilities are required to file tariffs to this effect by July 9, 2008. Key points: applies to ... Read More

On June 6, 2008, Honeywell and Pacific Power, a subsidiary of Pacificorp/ MidAmerican, filed a joint petition (see Docket DR 40) with the Oregon Public Utilities Commission requesting an expedited declaratory ruling regarding clarification of the state’s net metering rules when a third party owns, operates, and maintains a customer’s distributed generation system under a ... Read More

On June 26, 2008, the Massachusetts legislature sent Governor Deval Patrick a very complex, comprehensive energy bill (S.B. 2768) for signature. Section 78 of this law establishes net metering. In brief, there are three classes of net metering facilities and each has its own complex formula for calculating the net metering payment. The aggregated capacity ... Read More

On June 11, 2008, the Regulatory Commission of Alaska decided to adopt the federal net metering standard and intends to circulate a proposed rule to that effect shortly. The RCA will open a new net metering docket for the purpose of developing the details of this proposal and accepting public comments. The RCA staff anticipates ... Read More

On June 2, 2008, Governor Jodi Rell enacted a bill (HB 5600) which requires the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to devise strategies to reduce GHG emissions by 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 percent below 2001 levels by 2050. This bill also establishes a Climate Change Impacts Subcommittee which will ... Read More