Solar Showdown Looms in California
By Jennifer Kho June 9, 2009
Source: Green/New York Times
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/09/solar-showdown-looms-in-california/
Rooftop solarMax Whittaker for The New York Times Some critics in California say too much of this too soon could reduce the stability of the grid and raise costs for other customers. Solar installations could grind to a halt in California, industry advocates say, unless a legislative proposal, which the state Senate is considering this month, passes. Some opponents, including electrical and utility workers, disagree.
The issue is net metering, which allows customers with small-scale solar and wind installations — typically smaller than 1 megawatt in capacity — to get credit for the electricity they deliver back to the grid. (Such customers have meters that monitor their net electricity usage, running forward when they are using more electricity than they are producing, and running backward when they are producing more electricity than they are using.)
In California, utilities can only accept up to 2.5 percent of their electricity from these net-metering customers. And one utility, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, is nearing that limit. According to Sara Birmingham, the California coordinator for the Solar Alliance, an advocacy group, PG&E will reach the 2.5 percent limit by next year — and possibly as soon as this year. The group has sponsored a bill that would raise the cap to 10 percent. Opponents, however, are concerned that more net metering could reduce the stability of the grid and raise costs for other customers.
According to a committee analysis, PG&E and another utility, Southern California Edison, want the Senate to wait for a legislative review, scheduled for next year, before making a final decision. They support temporarily increasing the cap enough to keep the program going through 2010. But solar installations, at least in PG&E territory, will stop if the net-metering cap isn’t raised before the utility reaches its limit, said Adam Browning, the executive director of Vote Solar, another solar advocacy group.
“This is a huge roadblock looming,” he said. While a halt on net metering wouldn’t actually prohibit solar installations, it would drastically reduce the economic benefit of going solar, he added. It also would likely keep the state from reaching its goal of installing 3 gigawatts of new solar capacity by 2016. The bill is “absolutely essential” to California’s long-term energy plan and its solar industry, Ms. Birmingham said.
The state Assembly approved the bill last month, but the real battleground will be the Senate. California is the largest solar market in the country and often starts nationwide trends. With so much at stake, solar companies nationwide — and internationally — are likely to be watching the fight.