Note from the Editor

This month, I took time out to reflect on 2011’s Policyland roller coaster, to celebrate the novel advancements and lament the setbacks. Let’s start with the good news (and luckily, there were plenty of candidates). I found the following regulatory snapshots to be particularly ground-breaking:

1) Hawaii Interconnection

On November 29, 2011, the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission issued an order that significantly improved Hawaii’s interconnection procedures, known as Rule 14H. In addition to other improvements, a unique supplemental review process was incorporated into Rule 14H to allow a generator to avoid more intensive study if the “aggregate capacity per Line Section is below 50% of the Line Section minimum kW load during the period when the proposed generation is available.”  Then, in December, the Hawaii PUC issued another favorable decision that broke further ground in several burgeoning interconnection issues.

Why this matters:  Hawaii has proven its place among the leaders of clean energy policy in the country. This shift away from a hard 15% (of line section peak load) interconnection screen, in favor of a more flexible 50% of minimum load screen has already begun to pique the interest of other states that are experiencing high solar adoption rates.  In other words, this development can allow more solar to safely connect to the grid, in more places.

[Continued in Newsletter]

State News in Detail

Northeast States

Massachusetts publishes solar ACP rate schedule

New York makes minor updates to the state’s interconnection requirements

Vermont plans an aggressive renewable energy goal

Mid-Atlantic States        

Maryland municipality exploring net metering options

New Jersey lauds solar programs and accomplishments

Midwestern States        

Michigan PSC approves renewable energy plan for Detroit Edison

Wisconsin improves net metering for Xcel customers

Southern States

Florida municipality okays net metering and interconnection rules

Western States             

California makes headway in interconnection reform

Other States                 

Hawaii renders final interconnection decisions

Upcoming Events

Miscellaneous News

NREL launches geospatial mapping tool for renewable energy

Download the full newsletter as a PDF: January 2012 Connecting to the Grid Newsletter

FORMAT

While customer-sited net metering and interconnection policies are primarily addressed at the state level, they are also becoming important on a regional basis. This newsletter has been designed to provide state-level policy updates and capture emerging regional trends. Connecting to the Grid is a free, electronic newsletter published each month by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Click here to subscribe.

Editor: Laurel Varnado

Note from the Editor

Net Metering for $200?

If you were to pit a smart meter against an electro-mechanical meter in a game of Jeopardy, I imagine the smart meter would probably win the game.  But would it win in every category? Since there has been so much in the news about smart meters in the last few years, I decided to do a little reading on the topic and see what studies have been done on “smart” net metering.

First, I started with a quick refresher on how meters work.  Electricity meters measure the instantaneous voltage and current (in amps, or I) and use the product of these to provide readings of instantaneous electrical power (watts). Remember Ohm’s Law from high school physics class (V x I = W)?   Electro-mechanical meters operate by counting the revolutions of an aluminum disc, designed to rotate at a speed proportional to the power being pulled from (or pushed to) the grid.  (Aside: I also discovered that Samuel Gardiner was the first person to take out a patent on an electricity meter, a DC lamp-hour meter, in 1872.)

[Continued in Newsletter]

State News in Detail

Northeast States

Massachusetts DPU plans for interconnection updates

Mid-Atlantic States        

New Jersey BPU to vote on revenue-grade meter requirement

Virginia SCC approves controversial net metering standby fee

West Virginia PSC decides the fate of PURPA renewable energy credits

Midwestern States        

Advanced Renewables Tariff now available to some Michigan customers

Indiana utility-advocacy partnership proves successful for feed-in tariff improvements

Southern States           

Gainesville, FL gets recognized for per capita solar

Western States             

California Energy Commission seeks comments on Energy Policy Report

Other States                 

Hawaii PUC decision a victory for interconnection

Upcoming Events

Miscellaneous News

DOE announces Solar Roof Challenge recipients

Spain allows net metering for small solar facilities

DOE Launches Initiative To Advance Clean Energy Development On Tribal Lands

Industrial DG expected to grow 46-85% in the coming years

Download the full newsletter as a PDF:  December 2011 Connecting to the Grid Newsletter

FORMAT

While customer-sited net metering and interconnection policies are primarily addressed at the state level, they are also becoming important on a regional basis. This newsletter has been designed to provide state-level policy updates and capture emerging regional trends. Connecting to the Grid is a free, electronic newsletter published each month by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Click here to subscribe.

Editor: Laurel Varnado

Note from the Editor

A Veritable Feast of Community Renewables

For this month of Thanksgiving, I thought I’d bring you an update on one of our most neighborly news topics: Community Renewables and Meter Aggregation.  There’s been so much happening lately that it’s difficult to keep up with all of it.  There are also a lot of ongoing dockets pertaining to community renewables, so even after the laws get signed, there’s still quite a bit of work to do before tariffs are in place and it’s legal to engage in these fun, new policies.  There are as many variations on community renewables as there are policies, but I usually consider Community Renewables to include most types of net metering expansions such as joint billing, meter aggregation and virtual net metering, among others. A few recent regulatory updates of note:

Colorado Solar Gardens – Back in June of last year, Colorado enacted the Community Solar Gardens Act, which defined a solar garden as a community-owned solar array with at least 10 grid-connected “subscribers” within Xcel or Black Hills Energy territory. Each subscriber would own or lease one or more solar panels, and receive credit for electricity the panels produce. The Public Utilities Commission still has yet to finalize rules for this legislation but that hasn’t stopped towns and cities from going ahead with their own version of solar gardens.  Colorado Springs recently announced the approval of a solar garden to serve its city’s residents and several other Colorado cities, towns and counties including Boulder, Antonito and Saguache County are also in the solar garden planning process.

[Continued in Newsletter]

State News in Detail

Northeast States           

NY utility seeks to modify net metering tariffs

Mid-Atlantic States         

Maryland Governor seeking to include renewables in RFP

Virginia SCC to hold hearing on stand-by charges for net metering customers; Dominion asks SCC to approve community solar pilot

Midwestern States          

Illinois takes one step forward and five steps backward with net metering

Michigan PSC notes another rise in net metering customers

Southern States               

Georgia Commissioner calls for more solar

Western States                                

California’s SDG&E appeals for network use charge which could penalize net metering customers

Nevada PUC begins rulemaking for net metering changes

Other States                      

Hawaii to host smart grid/renewables test facility

Upcoming Events

IREC News

Freeing the Grid 2011 – Download your copy today!

Miscellaneous News

Assessing the Role of Distributed Power Systems in the U.S.

Report: Reviving PURPA’s Purpose

Download the full newsletter as a PDF:  November 2011 Connecting to the Grid Newsletter

FORMAT

While customer-sited net metering and interconnection policies are primarily addressed at the state level, they are also becoming important on a regional basis. This newsletter has been designed to provide state-level policy updates and capture emerging regional trends. Connecting to the Grid is a free, electronic newsletter published each month by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) and the North Carolina Solar Center at North Carolina State University. Click here to subscribe.

Editor: Laurel Varnado
NC Solar Center, NC State University

Note from the Editor

Microgrids: Social networking for renewables?

What do the recent San Diego power outage; hurricanes, tornados and earthquakes; and the ever-increasing congestion on the transmission grid, all have in common?  For me, they all make a pretty compelling case for policymakers to encourage the development of microgrids.  While microgrids (also known as µGrids, community grids, milligrids or nanogrids, depending on their size and structure) aren’t a new concept by any stretch, they’ve definitely been gaining in relevance of late.

They’ve also been gaining ground in their capabilities, much as a result of smart grid technologies. I’ve heard them referred to as peer-to-peer power networks (hence the title of this article) because they have the ability to share a variety distributed resources across a network of high-use buildings (such as hospitals, office and industrial complexes and data centers). The buildings in a microgrid remain connected to the (macro) utility grid but, by generating their own power, they reduce reliance on the macro grid and can even send back surplus power through net metering or another type of arrangement. (Aside: Pennsylvania includes a higher system size cap for microgrids in its net metering policy, allowing those up to 5 MW to net meter, while non-microgrid systems may net meter systems up to 3 MW.) 

[Continued in Newsletter]

State News in Detail

Northeast States          

Connecticut PURA works on virtual net metering

Massachusetts DPU opens investigation of interconnection issues

New Hampshire PUC issues final net metering rules

New York legislature expands list of net metering technologies

Mid-Atlantic States       

Virginia SCC to hold hearing on stand-by charges for net metering customers

Midwestern States        

Illinois’ ICC works on Plug-in Vehicle adoption issues

Michigan’s Consumers Energy reduces its Renewable Surcharge

Southern States              

Texas net metering and interconnection bill becomes effective for El Paso Electric; Austin Energy goes renewable

Western States                               

California makes it easier for farmers to net meter; continues to work on interconnection Rule 21

Washington UTC recommends net metering improvements to state legislature

Upcoming Events

IREC Annual Meeting

Solar Power International 2011

CHP and Microgrids Webinar

Minnesota Division of Energy Resources Net Metering Workshop

Texas Renewables 2011 Conference

IREC News

IREC has a new standard for energy efficiency and renewable energy certificate programs!

Miscellaneous News

LBNL releases Mass Market Demand Response and Variable Generation Integratio​n Issues Report

Jamaica adopts net metering rules

US Military aggressively investing in clean technology    

Download the full newsletter as a PDF:  October 2011 Connecting to the Grid Newsletter

FORMAT

While customer-sited net metering and interconnection policies are primarily addressed at the state level, they are also becoming important on a regional basis. This newsletter has been designed to provide state-level policy updates and capture emerging regional trends. Connecting to the Grid is a free, electronic newsletter published each month by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) and the North Carolina Solar Center at North Carolina State University. Click here to subscribe.

Editor: Laurel Varnado
NC Solar Center, NC State University

Note from the Editor

Timelines are of the Essence

Forgive the cliché but it’s true.  Timelines are an important part of distributed generation interconnection procedures because they dictate how quickly the process moves along and ultimately, how quickly a customer or developer can get a renewable energy system up and running (and starting to pay for itself).   They also help the utility by requiring interconnection applicants to meet deadlines so that the utility’s time is not wasted.

Timelines are often specified for a number of processes within state interconnection procedures, such as evaluating technical screening criteria, executing an interconnection agreement and inspecting the facility. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Small Generator Interconnection Procedures (FERC SGIP) form the basis for many state interconnection procedures, so it’s not surprising that many states have adopted the FERC timelines.  In fact, the 2010 edition of Freeing the Grid indicates that 13 states plus the District of Columbia have adopted the FERC SGIP timelines and five states (ME, MA, NJ, NY and OR) have even shorter timelines.  While the FERC timelines provide a good starting point, they are somewhat dated, especially considering how the availability of online interconnection applications have made the process so much more efficient for everyone involved.

[Continued in Newsletter]

State News in Detail

Northeast States

Massachusetts DPU working on a net metering and interconnection facelift

New York asks LIPA to remove the external disconnect requirement for small systems

Rhode Island passes net metering and interconnection laws

Mid-Atlantic States

Virginia utility seeking to lease rooftop space for solar

Midwestern States

Michigan PSC approves Experimen­tal Advanced Renewables Pro­gram

Ohio utility seeks solar RECs

Southern States

Georgia PSC receives great response for large scale solar bid

Mississippi continues along the path toward net metering and intercon­nection rules

Western States

California PUC adopts renewable auc­tion mechanism rules

Colorado municipality adopts net meter­ing

Other States

Hawaii PUC exploring on-bill financing option for solar

Upcoming Events

IREC News

Register now for the IREC annual meet­ing!

Miscellaneous News

FERC transmission line rule: Good news for solar projects                            

DOE announces SunShot recipients

NREL data shows clouds’ effects on solar power

Download the full newsletter as a PDF:  September 2011 Connecting to the Grid Newsletter

FORMAT

While customer-sited net metering and interconnection policies are primarily addressed at the state level, they are also becoming important on a regional basis. This newsletter has been designed to provide state-level policy updates and capture emerging regional trends. Connecting to the Grid is a free, electronic newsletter published each month by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) and the North Carolina Solar Center at North Carolina State University. Click here to subscribe.

Editor: Laurel Varnado
NC Solar Center, NC State University

Note from the Editor

In Search of High Penetration PV Policies

In some areas of the country, states are beginning to experience higher levels of PV grid penetration than have ever been seen before.  While this is essentially good news, it also presents several challenges for policymakers going forward.  A 2008 NREL report titled High-Penetration, Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Technology Codes and Standards, noted that, “Primarily, the bulk-level connection concerns relate to the need for better understanding how to plan and operate the transmission grid and other generation resources based on renewable energy operating characteristics.”  The report also highlighted the following grid impacts that could be affected by high penetration PV: voltage and reactive power regulation; power quality (harmonics, flicker, DC injection); protection design and coordination (e.g., short circuits, re-closers, fuses); unintentional islanding; equipment grounding; load and generation imbalance (e.g., generation interaction with controllable loads–demand-side management); and storage and storage controls.  That’s a lot to think about when designing policies. [Continued in Newsletter]

State News in Detail

Northeast States

New Hampshire allows CHP technologies to net meter

Mid-Atlantic States

Delaware PSC finalizes community net metering rules

Pennsylvania PUC issues proposed clarification on retail choice net metering

Midwestern States

Wisconsin PSC shows positive headway toward renewable energy goal            

Southern States

Florida PSC attributes growth in renewables to state’s net metering rule

Texas PUC drops proposal to mandate any non-wind RPS

Western States

California PUC issues proposed decision on expanding virtual net metering; sets rates for net surplus compensation

Boulder, Colorado weighs utility options to increase renewables

Idaho utility voluntarily invests in solar

Nevada enacts net metering changes

Upcoming Events

IREC News

IREC Releases Solar Market Trends Report

Miscellaneous News 

Home Depot to start selling small wind turbines

Renewable energy production surpasses nuclear in the U.S.

Download the full newsletter as a PDF:  July 2011 Connecting to the Grid Newsletter

FORMAT

While customer-sited net metering and interconnection policies are primarily addressed at the state level, they are also becoming important on a regional basis. This newsletter has been designed to provide state-level policy updates and capture emerging regional trends. Connecting to the Grid is a free, electronic newsletter published each month by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) and the North Carolina Solar Center at North Carolina State University. Click here to subscribe.

Editor: Laurel Varnado
NC Solar Center, NC State University

Note from the Editor

Eschewing obfuscation

            Or…

 A little info goes a long way

Imagine, for a moment, that you’ve never heard of net metering (which is not likely if you’re reading this newsletter) but you’re interested in installing solar panels on your home or business.  Where do you turn for information? 

In these days of instant access to information, it can be surprisingly difficult for electricity consumers to find information about net metering that is clear, concise, and written for the layperson.  And even if the information is readily accessible, it’s sometimes written in such a way that you need a degree in energy policy to understand it.  Consumers want solar, not an education in engineering and regulatory issues.

While conducting initial research most people will surf around until they find their utility’s website, random reports, or the DSIRE database.  But, even with all this detailed information about state net metering policies, utility net metering programs can differ slightly from one to the next.  Furthermore, customers of municipal utilities and electric cooperatives that are not regulated by the state PUC may not have a net metering tariff at all.  [Continued in Newsletter]

State News in Detail

Northeast States           

      Massachusetts continues to work on net metering queue        

      New York allows remote net metering; allows customers to choose their annual reconciliation date

      Vermont enacts wide-ranging solar bill 

Mid-Atlantic States      

      New Jersey Governor announces a scale-back of the state’s renewable energy goal  

      Pennsylvania PUC begins investigation of retail electricity market

      Interconnection in West Virginia, The Sequel 

Midwestern States       

      Illinois Governor unveils broad energy plan

      Michigan PSC reduces renewable energy surcharge

Southern States          

      Georgia PSC Commissioner calls on Georgia Power for more solar deployment 

Western States                        

      Idaho PUC keeps100 kW temporary cap in place for large wind and solar facilities

      Nevada increases aggregate participation cap for net metering

      Montana governor vetoes interconnection bill 

Upcoming Events          

Miscellaneous News    

      Jamaica explores net metering policy

      U.S. DOE announces SunShot Initiative

      U.K. follows Spain, Germany in reducing feed-in tariff

Download the full newsletter as a PDF:  June 2011 Connecting to the Grid Newsletter

FORMAT

While customer-sited net metering and interconnection policies are primarily addressed at the state level, they are also becoming important on a regional basis. This newsletter has been designed to provide state-level policy updates and capture emerging regional trends. Connecting to the Grid is a free, electronic newsletter published each month by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) and the North Carolina Solar Center at North Carolina State University. Click here to subscribe.

Editor: Laurel Varnado
NC Solar Center, NC State University

Note from the Editor

Let’s All Celebrate Utility Bill Awareness Month

Ok, so I made that up.  As far as I know, Utility Bill Awareness Month does not exist.  But since we’re on the subject, I do think it’s important to look at your utility bill every once in awhile and understand all the various fees and charges that utilities are allowed to collect. And, because net metering can be an important revenue stream for a renewable energy project, it is particularly important for net metering customers to do so.  Not only do fees have the potential to affect a project’s economics, sometimes they can completely negate any benefits a customer might realize from net metering.  

The following is a list of examples that may help illustrate the importance of utility bill awareness:

Fixed Charge Recovery: This month the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission recommenced hearings on Case No. 10-00086-UT.  This case addresses a possible settlement that would rule on a fee imposed by the New Interconnected Customer (NIC) Riders, which the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) proposed in a June 2010 rate adjustment application. The NIC Riders impose a $0.08 per kWh charge for residential interconnected customers and $0.03 per kWh for commercial customers.  Considering the average residential retail electricity price in New Mexico is around $0.10/kWh, this would be quite a loss for net metering customers. [Continued in Newsletter]

State News in Detail

Northeast States         

Massachusetts creates DG website   

Mid-Atlantic States      

Delaware PSC issues proposed net metering rules

Maryland clarifies net metering eligibility for hydro power

Pennsylvania Township creates alternative energy zones to allow net metering 

Midwestern States

Indiana IURC issues final net metering order; NIPSCO reaches settlement on feed-in tariff and net metering program

Michigan PSC requires Consumers Energy to expand solar program

Southern States          

Georgia Power seeks to add more renewable energy 

Western States                        

California PUC reopens Rule 21 working group; CPUC also issues proposed decision on privacy of electricity data                     

Other States                

Alaska RCA issues final interconnection order 

Upcoming Events     

Miscellaneous News      

NREL Report: State policies are key to growth, especially for wind

California bolsters RPS

Google partners with DOE on charging station locators

Report highlights top renewable energy utilities

Download the full newsletter as a PDF:  May 2011 Connecting to the Grid Newsletter

FORMAT

While customer-sited net metering and interconnection policies are primarily addressed at the state level, they are also becoming important on a regional basis. This newsletter has been designed to provide state-level policy updates and capture emerging regional trends. Connecting to the Grid is a free, electronic newsletter published each month by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) and the North Carolina Solar Center at North Carolina State University. Click here to subscribe.

Editor: Laurel Varnado
NC Solar Center, NC State University

Note from the Editor

A doctor, a lawyer and an engineer walk into a bar…

Chances are pretty good that only the lawyer can correctly explain indemnification. It’s a good thing that renewable energy lawyers really understand it too, since indemnification provides an important consumer protection when it comes to grid interconnection.

In its purest form, indemnity is a means of shifting the ultimate responsibility for payment to the party who caused the injury. This means that if one party to a contract is sued, and not at fault, the other party must pay to defend the lawsuit and also (potentially) any settlement rendered against the other party. Not all states address this issue in their interconnection rules and some even allow the utility to require that customers must indemnify the utility but not vice versa (i.e., unilateral indemnification). Washington State’s interconnection procedures, for example, allow utilities to require unilateral indemnification for systems up to 300 kW that are ineligible for net metering. [Continued in Newsletter]

State News in Detail

Northeast States         

Massachusetts DOER seeks feedback from DG customers; DPU allows for revision of net metering straw proposals

New Hampshire PUC proposes rules to expand net metering 

Mid-Atlantic States       

D.C. PSC asking for feedback on readability of utility bills

Virginia increases residential net metering limit 

Midwestern States        

Minnesota sees a sharp rise in PV installations 

Southern States              

Knoxville, TN city government attempts alternative PV financing method

El Paso, TX municipal utility works with city to allow net metering

Western States                               

Tucson, AZ utility plans to lease school rooftop space for PV

Colorado’s Xcel Energy and solar industry reach an agreement on solar rebates

Idaho PUC denies request to reverse a wind and solar decision                 

Other States         

Hawaii study shows grid could incorporate 25% renewables

Upcoming Events     

Miscellaneous News      

NREL seeking new (solar) purpose for EV batteries

More wholesalers marketing solar products directly to consumers

South Africa clears a path for distributed generation

USDA survey shows an increase in farm-based renewables

Download the full newsletter as a PDF:   April 2011 Connecting to the Grid Newsletter

FORMAT

While customer-sited net metering and interconnection policies are primarily addressed at the state level, they are also becoming important on a regional basis. This newsletter has been designed to provide state-level policy updates and capture emerging regional trends. Connecting to the Grid is a free, electronic newsletter published each month by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) and the North Carolina Solar Center at North Carolina State University. Click here to subscribe.

Editor: Laurel Varnado
NC Solar Center, NC State University

Note from the Editor

However geeky this may sound, I think it’s easy to liken the burgeoning policy movement known as Community Renewables to the opening of a Star Trek episode. And why not?  We’re attempting to explore strange new ideas, to seek out new life in the renewable energy world and boldly go where no policy has gone before.  There, I said it.

While I have extolled the benefits of community renewables policies in past articles, I would like to acknowledge one of the challenges for these policies going forward—billing individual customer accounts based on energy production from a shared system.  In other words, how does a utility or third party organization determine what a share of community solar actually amounts to each month?  Some state policies, such as Delaware, base community renewables credits on a customer’s kilowatt-hour rate, à la net metering style.  Many other state policies are either somewhat vague on this issue of crediting or they allow the community group to organize and distribute credits among members as they see fit.  From a billing perspective it may be easier to monetize the kilowatt-hours and provide bill credits on a customer’s bill, depending on the structure of the policy or program and the utility’s billing software.  This is especially true when customers on different rate classes are participating in a shared system and receiving kWh bill credits for generation from the same solar facility.  If the resulting energy is being assigned to customers on different rate classes it would essentially be given two different values (i.e. a residential customer receives a different kWh value than a commercial customer). [Continued in Newsletter]

State News in Detail

Northeast States           

Massachusetts DPU holds net metering conference

New York PSC investigating net metering crediting procedures 

Mid-Atlantic States      

Delaware schedules net metering workshop

Maryland PSC issues proposed rules for net metering changes 

Midwestern States       

Michigan PSC seeks comments on net metering, interconnection

Ohio PUC denies Duke Energy proposal for market-based generation rates

Southern States          

North Carolina NCUC releases REPS registration application 

Western States                        

Colorado PUC asks Xcel, solar industry to agree on rebates; DMEA establishes community solar array   

Montana PSC advises FERC that renewables should pay for capacity                  

Other States                

Kauai, HI experimenting with high-penetration PV

Upcoming Events         

Miscellaneous News     

Federal Trade Commission proposes rules for green power marketing, RECS

FERC improves compensation for frequency regulation

Solar industry sees record growth, according to SEIA report

Download the full newsletter as a PDF:  March 2011 Connecting to the Grid Newsletter

FORMAT

While customer-sited net metering and interconnection policies are primarily addressed at the state level, they are also becoming important on a regional basis. This newsletter has been designed to provide state-level policy updates and capture emerging regional trends. Connecting to the Grid is a free, electronic newsletter published each month by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) and the North Carolina Solar Center at North Carolina State University. Click here to subscribe.

Editor: Laurel Varnado
NC Solar Center, NC State University