IPP members and other interested parties, please email us with the latest information regarding electric deregulation in your state and the ups and downs of net metering. IPP members have already made a difference in several states. We are at a crossroads - it's up to us to lead the way to non-fossil fuel, solar power.

Vermont - (4/98) The legislature has passed and the governor has signd a new net metering bill in this mostly rural state. Here is an email from advocate in the Vermont Department of Public Service:

From: Andrew Perchlik
Date: Thursday, April 16, 1998 5:28 AM
Subject: VT net metering
Hello, I thought I'd give you the update on Vermont's net metering for your table: I am happy to announce that H605, Vermont's net metering bill passed! and is now waiting the Gov.'s autograph which is 99% guaranteed [was signed late April]. We in the Vermont RE world are elated to have gotten this bill through this year. Due to Vermont's rural farm culture our net metering bill is a bit different. The law allows businesses and residential customers to establish intertied systems of 15kW and less, but farms are allowed to go up to 100kW. This allows farms that have, or will have, methane generators (created by anaerobic digestion of ag. waste) to take full advantage of that technology.

Other highlights of Vermont's net metering: eligible systems: PV, wind, fuel cells running off a renewable fuel or a farm system generating electricity from anaerobic digestion. Excess power generated by the system is credited to next month's bill. Any excess left at end of year is granted to the utility. Utilities must provide intertie on first-come, first-served bases until the cumulative generating capacity of net metering systems equals 1.0% of the utility's peak demand during 1996.

To see the bill as passed go to: http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/1998/bills/house/H-605.HTM Thanks for your support and great work. --

Andy Perchlik Tel: 802-828-4072 Fax: 802-828-2342
Vermont Dept of Public Service
perchlik@psd.state.vt.us http://www.state.vt.us/psd

Maine - (4/98) The Public Utilities Commission has issued a policy statement for comment. In it, they endorse annualized net billing and excess generation give-back. IPP member William Lord, along with two of his solar neighbors, was actively involved in pushing this policy change through the PUC. Here is a summary:

 The following is the small power producer's section of the statement of policy:

The new net billing provision that we anticipate including in the renewable resource rule will be the annualized methodology, proposed by Messrs. Talmage and Inoue and supported by Mr. Lord and the Public Advocate, in which usage and generation are netted against one another on a rolling basis for a 12-month period. Under this approach, customers can store, or bank, their generation from month-to-month for one year. After the end of the year, neither the T&D utility (Transmission and Distribution) nor any generation provider would be obligated to pay for any net generation from these customers (The provider of generation service will obtain the value, if any, of any excess generation). This approach has many advantages. For example, the annual netting will facilitate certain renewable technologies (such as small hydro and wind power) whose output varies greatly over the year. The absence of any power sales removes any incentive to size facilities to generate more power than necessary to serve the customer’s own electricity requirements. It also avoids the anomalous result of a T&D; utility that is not in generation business actually paying a customer if excess power is generated. Finally, the approach will be relatively easy to administer and will avoid complexities involved in requiring the purchase of very small amounts of energy.

The specific aspects of the annualized net billing provisions that we intend to include in the renewable rule are discussed below. To qualify for net billing, a customer will have to employ one of the technologies or fuel types listed in section 3210 and have a maximum installed capacity of 100 kW or less. There is no need to reduce the capacity limit because the absence of the sale of power should ensure that facilities are installed to meet customer loads rather then for energy sales. Additionally, we would not restrict availability to residential customers; there is no reason to exclude small businesses that wish to generate their own electricity from taking advantage of net billing.

We will not limit net billing to the generation portion of the electricity bills, but will apply it to T&D charges only to the extent they are usage sensitive. This approach mirrors the results of a customer who invests in energy efficiency. Customers may use their own generation to offset the total price of electricity but must pay any fixed charges designed to cover the costs of T&D system to which the customer remains connected.

We will also include a provision similar to that for existing contracts that allow customers the option of voluntarily arranging for net billing from a competitive provider. If a net billing customer takes service from the standard offer, the provider(s) will be required to provide generation on a net basis.

Finally, we will maintain the current provisions that net billing customers will not be charged the costs of a second meter, if one is necessary,(As with all costs, we expect utilities to explore any legitimate means to avoid the costs of the second meter) and that net billing service will be pursuant to a Commission-approved standard contract.

To conclude, our intent is to include in the final renewable resource rule a net billing provision as described above. We will, however, include the provision in the proposed rule and obtain comments to ensure that the specific aspects of the provision are workable and to consider variations that might be more desirable.

Oregon - (4/98) Hearings are being held in preparation for formulating this state's net metering law. Currently, the OSEIA is focusing on the Vermont/Maine model which will feature annualized net metering. A new suggestion, from Frank Vignola of the University of Oregon, is that any annual surplus be donated to those who cannot pay their electric bills. He listed the following items as Oregon goals:

1. Electricity generated by the renewable system and fed to the grid paid at the retail rate of electricity used by the customer.
2. Balance the account on a yearly basis
   a. Select a date for balancing the accounts
   b. Different date for wind, hydro, and Solar
3. Excess electricity generated over yearly load be paid for at avoided cost or "donated" to those who can not pay their utility bills.
   a. Possibly have electricity "donated" to low income counted at the retail rate. Maybe even get a tax credit on the donation.
4. Minimal disconnect regulations to meet realistic safety concerns
5. No extra meter charge
6. Inclusion of solar, wind, and hydro
7. Inclusion of systems up to 25 kW
8. No cap on the number of systems (This is probably negotiable since the smaller utilities will object.)
9. Net metering is good for the lifetime of the system