![]() In April it reached the power industry's highest regulatory body, when a utility-aligned group asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to declare that the commission has jurisdiction over rooftop solar sales, which advocates worry could upend net metering programs established by states. The battle over distributed solar programs, which often pits utilities against the customers they serve, has for years been contentious. Setting the rate "at its proper value will protect all other non-solar customers from paying higher rates," Hall said. ![]() Spencer Hall, spokesman for Rocky Mountain Power, said the utility is "proposing a net billing program to compensate at a fair rate for the excess power while protecting customers who do not elect to install solar from being required to subsidize solar customers." The state lags behind its neighbors in terms of MW of installed residential solar capacity. The utility, which serves roughly 907,000 customers in Utah, has a total of 40,450 rooftop solar customers. "What Rocky Mountain Power is proposing - it's really an effort to reduce the number of customers who go solar, and I think the reason is likely that the utility sees those customers as competition," Gallagher said. He said there's no "logical justification" for it. The net-metering cut would be one of the steepest in the nation, said Sean Gallagher, vice president of state affairs for the Solar Energy Industries Association Inc., or SEIA. Rocky Mountain Power, or RMP, also wants to charge a one-time fee of $150 for interconnection applications, plus a one-time customer generation meter fee of $160. Currently, the company pays customers 9.2 cents/kWh for the excess energy they supply. is looking to dramatically cut the rates it pays to rooftop solar customers in Utah for sending energy back onto the grid.Ī proposal before the Utah Public Service Commission would slash the payments made by the PacifiCorp subsidiary for customer-generated solar power, under a system known as net metering, to between 1.3247 and 2.6293 cents/kWh in billing credits, depending on time of use. Source: S&P Global Market IntelligenceĮven as it transitions away from coal-fired power generation in an effort to reduce carbon emissions, Rocky Mountain Power Inc. Rooftop solar owners in the state are facing reduced rates from Rocky Mountain Power for the energy they send back onto the grid. ![]() Users can model any type of NEM 2.0 program export credit in Energy Toolbase.Ethan Schow, a solar installer with Auric Energy, in front of a rooftop solar array in Herriman, Utah. We have all the current Utah - Rocky Mountain Power rates listed in our database.Transition customers that submit their application after 11/15/17 through the end of the Export Credit Proceeding in 2020, will remain in their respective rate classes, not be subject to discriminatory charges, and have a fixed rate structure until 12/31/32. After the three-year period, the research will be used to create a new program that will succeed the current NEM policy. During this “transitional period,” Utah’s Public Service Commission will look at the value of exporting solar to the grid. This is expected to be a three-year proceeding, with the target end date slated for. A new export credit proceeding docket will be opened immediately to determine the appropriate long-term rate structure and export rate for solar sent to the grid. Ĭustomers that have already adopted solar (or submitted their application by ) are grandfathered and will not be affected. Export credit proceeding, a new docket will be opened to determine the appropriate long-term rate structure and export rate for solar sent to the grid.The new full retail rate averages 9.2 cents/kWh, which will last for the next three years.Grandfathered customers will continue to receive the full 1:1 credit.The net metering cap date will be, whereby all existing customers (who have submitted a completed application) before that date will be grandfathered through.The Utah Solar Energy Association, who was a signatory to the settlement deal commented that “this compromise, which comes with challenges, maintains solar as an affordable and secure investment, encourages self-reliance and promotes choice in our energy market.” This effectively means that new solar customers will no longer be reimbursed at a full 1:1 credit for the extra energy they export back to the grid. The Public Service Commission (PSC) of Utah unanimously approved a settlement deal, reached between Rocky Mountain Power and a group of solar industry advocates, which ends the utility’s full retail credit Net Metering (NEM) program.
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