Comments on: Keeping the Sizzle in California Solar

By: Craig Miller

Craig Miller — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:12:15 +0000

We’ll be looking into some of the big-picture power grid issues in our next Quest/Climate Watch TV special, which will air on KQED Pubic Television Tuesday evening, August 25th.

By: J.A.Turner

J.A.Turner — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:48 +0000

I’m one of the 30,000 PG&E customers with net metering and solar PV. The benefits to PG&E of motivating customers to provide extra power (and to conserve!) at peak times are worth more than the benefit that the net-metered customer receives. The power that my PV system pushes out onto the grid reduces the amount of expensive peak power PG&E has to buy or generate, and the benefit is magnified by the lack of transmission losses. And the combination of time of use and net metering motivates customers like me to move as much power use from peak time to off-peak, which further cuts peak power load. I accept the fact that indifidual homeowners can’t be paid for any excess power generation, although I think that the policy might not be good in the long run.
Raising the limit on net metering is an essential part of ramping out solar PV as quickly as possible. It would make it even more difficult a decision for individual homeowners to install PV without net metering, and the power company really does benefit from it.

By: Rosalind

Rosalind — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:07:06 +0000

Great overview of a very misunderstood but absolutely critical piece of renewable energy policy. We absolutely hear those concerns about making sure policies like this don’t hurt those members of our communities who need can afford it least. Here are just a few reasons Vote Solar thinks net metering makes the grade:
1. Net metering is not a subsidy: it’s a billing arrangement that gives solar energy customer fair credit for electricity that they’re delivering to the grid. There’s some excellent cost analysis from Crossborder Energy that shows that the avoided costs of net metered solar actually stack up well against a utility’s retail rate. See, no subsidy here: http://www.votesolar.org/netmetering_costs.pdf
2. Net metering benefits all ratepayers: having those who are able and willing to invest their own dollars in solar energy generation is a good thing for everyone. As those systems add up, they reduce overall peak demand on the grid, so utilities don’t have to invest in new capacity and pass those costs onto rate payers in the form of more expensive electricity.
3. Net metering creates green opportunities: In 2008 between 14,500 and 17,000 Californians were employed in solar-related jobs. A recent Vote Solar survey counts over 5,400 more currently enrolled in training programs, many of which are specifically geared up to give underserved individuals the skills they need to find new promise in the growing solar energy industry. Without net metering we won’t have a healthy rooftop solar market providing those much-needed green collar jobs. Simple as that. http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1179/blog/comments.jsp?key=538&blog_entry_KEY=23381&t=