Stay tuned, well be updating this piece with more information as it becomes available! We analyzed hourly data from 30 of our solar customers and found that under the new proposal, the value of solar energy would drop 28% to an average of 6.8 cents per kWh. Devaluing solar through the proposed net metering changes would strangle a critical piece of our clean energy mix putting these goals in jeopardy. Thats a step in the right direction, in our minds.. Under the proposed plan, those 24 data points would increase to 17,520 points with hourly data required for both historic energy usage (8,760 hours) and projected solar production (another 8,760 hours). The proposed changes to net metering in North Carolina complicate and reduce the value of solar for individual system owners. You are grandfathered into the current net metering rate and structure until Jan 1, 2038. A solar PV system sized to offset most or all of your power in April and September will have the greatest benefit by reducing your monthly kWh below 300. The Sustainable Energy Association estimates solar customers could come out about as well as they do currently, so long as their systems arent oversized and theyre mindful of on- and off-peak usage. Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. Rooftop solar delivers other advantages beyond cost savings, including cleaner air, fewer electrons lost in transmission, and reduced need for electricity from centralized fossil fuel power plants. NC law requires a 3rd party investigation into the value of net metering before any changes to the net metering policy are made. Placing the profits of utility companies above our states climate and energy independence needs at a time when scientists say we must accelerate our transition to clean energy is short-sighted and irresponsible. Cost per kilowatt hour (kWh),including Indiana sales tax,is near 15 cents, 11 cents and 9 centsfor each residential kWh rate tier, including base rate and riders. However, regulators declined to implement the incentive package in South Carolina, leaving only the time-of-use fee schedule. What that left was a really bad deal for solar in South Carolina, and we saw that this might happen in North Carolina as well, Hollister said, prompting Sundance Power Systems to comment on the case. Net metering is a solar interconnection policy that controls how your solar system is connected to the utilitys grid AND how you are credited for the solar energy you produce. Such rates may include fixed monthly energy and demand charges.. and is on pace to add thousands of more jobs over the next five years. duke Because the proposal in its current form ignores the benefits of solar and only takes cost into account, we feel that it will negatively impact the value of solar, growth of the NC solar industry, and achieving our states climate goals. In light of scientists increasingly dire warnings about climate change and its impacts, basically maintaining the status quo is unacceptable, said Jim Warren, the director of NC WARN. You should be! Rep. John Szoka, a Fayetteville Republican and chief author of the law, has said he envisioned regulators, not Duke, would conduct the investigation. 
metering reopens limited Until then, keep reading to learn more about why were taking a stand and how Dukes proposed net metering changes could impact you. Right now, solar energy is worth 9.34 cents per kWh in DEC territory, which is the same value as what someone without solar would pay to pull energy from the grid. solar metering power He said NC WARN and its allies would continue to fight changes to Dukes net metering program until the North Carolina Utilities Commission has completed an independent cost-benefit analysis of the program. Your electricity usage is seasonal with the lowest bills in spring and fall when heating and cooling are not needed. With Dukes current net metering policy, the utility stores your electricity credits at a 1:1 rate so you get the full retail value of your solar electricity. The current proposal will hurt the NC solar industry so we have filed to intervene in the docket. Reach out to let us know if youd like to get started and see if solar is a good fit for you! Complicating the path for net metering, the Utilities Commission has repeatedly sided with Duke on how it calculates the basic cost of connecting all residential customers, allowing a minimum system method that Neal says overcharges all residential customers whether they have solar panels or not. Duke Energy from the outset has been making clear to earlier settlers and to these latest ones, that if they dont go along with Duke, then Duke will try to ram through something that is even worse than the first deal. duke energy solar metering fl panels tampa florida cost energysage territory pricing rates local Plus, a 2017 law requires the Utilities Commission to produce a new net metering regime within five years. For its part, Duke believes the deal will ensure solar customers pay more of their fair share of costs, though they would have preferred customers to contribute even more. And kilowatt-hours swapped at the retail rate are a wash. The utility industry raised this in 2013 as a major threat to their bottom line, said Grant Smith, a senior policy advisor with the nonprofit Environmental Working Group. Most state utility commissions whove sought to put a price on these benefits have pegged them above the retail rate utilities are paying for them, according to a 2019 analysis. Three years later, it ensured a sweeping clean energy law included a key directive on net metering.
Those taking advantage of the thermostat rebate could even save more money than solar customers do now. as a result of similar changes to solar net metering policies in that state. Groups that have opposed net metering rollbacks in other states say a Duke Energy plan isnt perfect but better than the potential alternatives. Placing the profits of utility companies above our states climate and energy independence needs at a time when scientists say we must accelerate our transition to clean energy is short-sighted and irresponsible. Circuit rejects Entergy, Xcel bid to overturn FERC ruling on MISO transmission cost allocation, Why Domestic Manufacturing is Key to the Energy Transition, Asking the Right Questions in the Decarbonization Journey, Democrats eye options for big climate action this year, Oil Trumps Renewable Power in Public Land Leasing, Report Shows, Indiana solar net metering rules go from bad to worse, Digital-first field service is here to stay, Bureau of Land Management OKs construction start for 500-MW Oberon Solar Project in California, Unleashing the economic power and reliability potential of West Coast offshore wind, Pattern Energy buys 3-GW SunZia transmission project to deliver wind energy from New Mexico to Arizona, Pending copper shortfall threatens energy transition, greenhouse gas reduction goals: S&P Global. Sundance Power Systems intervened in the net metering case alongside two other solar installers in early 2022. Whats more, says Peter Ledford, general counsel for the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association, the state-sanctioned ratepayer advocate has repeatedly come after rooftop solar in commission proceedings. Ultimately, solars value will be dependent not only on the time of day, day of the week, and month of the year, but also on the ratio of solar production vs energy consumption from hour to hour for each home (if you are confused by that sentence, dont worry, its confusing). But rooftop installers worry most about the worst-case scenario, which they also view as the most likely: rooftop customers dont do anything to change their behavior. This energy that you send to the grid is applied as a credit for you to use later when your solar system is not producing enough energy for your entire homeat night or on rainy days, for example. Duke Energys proposed net metering plan would prevent those efforts by taking power away from individual North Carolinians who want to pursue energy independence. Huber said Duke Energy also hopes to tie those potential demand-side energy savings to their state-mandated decarbonization plan, which was released last week but will be subject to additional deliberation before the utility commission. The ultimate goal of the 3rd party investigation is to provide clear values of the cost and benefits of net metering and distributed rooftop solar generation. For simplicity, the numbers we use in this post are based on Duke Energys proposed RSTC rate, but the structure and impact of all the new rates are similar. In state after state, utilities have sought to reimburse solar customers less for their unused generation and charge them new grid access fees and standby charges. They also worked to increase fixed charges for all customers to counteract gains in efficiency, said Smith, whose organization is also intervening against the Duke proposal in North Carolina. You can think of net metering like an energy bank that allows you to save your extra solar energy to use later during those rainy days. For example, if you used 900 kWh and produced 500 kWh with solar PV, the net bill would be for 400 kWh from the grid. In the graph below you can see how the time of use rates line up with typical solar production throughout the day. regulators hearings wfae Right now. You may select articles to be republished individually you may not republish our work wholesale or automatically. Finally, the raw energy usage data we would need to accurately model a system design is not currently available to customers in an accessible format from Duke Energy. If one of them gets approved and the other doesnt, the economics get even worse for the consumer.. A monthly minimum bill charge and a monthly non-bypassable charge will be added to your bill. It preserves the one-to-one retail credit for solar energy, but with an important caveat: The value of the credit would be higher during times of peak demand between 6 and 9 a.m. in the winter and 6 and 9 p.m. in the summer and lower during off-peak hours.. Duke Energys proposed net metering plan would prevent those efforts by taking power away from individual North Carolinians who want to pursue energy independence. If you are considering solar:Our advice is to go solar in 2022 so that you benefit from the current net metering structure and have more options going forward. duke energy carolina south carolinas rates customers effect take became effective based june service elp They point out the same 2017 law requires an investigation of the benefits and costs of rooftop solar, and that analysis should come first. meter duke smart energy Get the free daily newsletter read by industry experts. The hours when solar produces the most energy (middle of the day when the sun is shining high in the sky) are specifically diminished by the proposed rates. But if the proposed changes go through, starting in 2023, net metering will look drastically different from its current form. 246 states that North Carolina will need to achieve net-zero emissions no later than 2050. Kingery is confident that a robust analysis would vindicate the current net metered payments, just as they have in other states, and that theres still time for such an investigation. So its a tough situation, but it is clear that it is a step backward and I know that lots of our allies are going to continue to fight this.. scare electricity rates
The proposed changes to net metering would halt solars growth and eliminate thousands of local, well-paid, and skilled jobs that provide full-time benefits to hardworking North Carolinians. U.S. Energy News. Thirty-nine states along with D.C. and four U.S. territories have mandatory net metering policies, allowing rooftop solar customers to get credit for electrons they add to the grid at retail rates. If you have excess solar production at the end of the month, it will no longer roll over but be credited against your bill at the utilitys avoided cost rate which is currently 2.68 cents per kWh for Duke Energy. The compromise proposal is anything but simple. Other interconnection policies like buy-all-sell-all or buy-all-sell-excess compensate homeowners for their excess solar energy at a much lower, wholesale rate than what they pay for electricity. Please let us know if you have, E Source introduces Digital Grid Solutions, Industry Dive to be acquired by Informa PLC, Burns & McDonnell and EVS Inc. Customers that complete solar installations before January 1, 2023 will also have the option to remain under the current net metering rate until Dec 31, 2037 but will have additional fees added to their bill after January 1, 2027. metering reopens Please note that this license does not cover articles that we republish from other publications, Associated Press images, or any other material governed by a separate copyright agreement. The ultimate goal of the 3rd party investigation is to provide clear values of the cost and benefits of net metering and distributed rooftop solar generation. In November of 2021, Duke Energy filed a proposed change to North Carolinas solar net metering policy with the NC Utilities Commission. newsobserver customers The short answer is no. The 12-line provision orders regulators to establish new net metering rates and end current rates for all customers at the start of 2027. Without these opportunities, we could see passionate, experienced, and valuable North Carolina solar workers leaving to other states where solar is not being constricted by regressive policies. energy duke smart meters customers nky coming control use nkytribune inserts notified bill via door cards them Regardless of the changes to Dukes net metering policy, energy prices and our need for clean and independent energy is only going to go in one direction: up. But the rooftop companies together with Durham nonprofit NC WARN, an outspoken Duke foe, and dozens of other activist groups believe that, at best, its too early for compromise.
