PSC order may jolt solar power usage

An order issued by the Utah Public Service Commission is drawing rave reviews from local renewable-energy supporters, including Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon and Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker.

The order, issued late Thursday, revised the way that Rocky Mountain Power customers are billed for the extra electricity they produce through solar or other renewable means. The electricity policy, called net metering, is for residential, commercial or industrial consumers who own renewable-energy facilities, such as wind turbines or solar panels.

Previously, customers were credited for excess generation based on an avoided-cost calculation, resulting in a much lower financial benefit to the customer. The new policy provides a "full retail" or dollar-for-dollar credit for every kilowatt-hour of excess power generation, creating a much greater incentive for renewable-energy production.

The ruling also declared that renewable-energy certificates are "deemed owned by the net-metering customer or as otherwise agreed to or designated by the net-metering customer." The certificates are credits given to customers based on the number of kilowatt hours of excess electricity provided to Rocky Mountain Power.

"This is great news for the state of Utah," Becker said in an interview. "This is really a very big step for us in making renewable energy a reality for us and for others in Utah."

Becker said that the city and county have been working together on several projects, having jointly received a Solar America grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to investigate ways to promote investment in solar power in the region.

The commission's order "really blows the doors off in terms of opening up opportunities in the state," Becker said. "Up to this point, it's been a big question mark whether a big facility would be able to get a return on the investment" in renewable-energy production.

Sarah Wright, executive director of Utah Clean Energy, said that the commission's order "helps to remove barriers to net-metered systems that we've had in the past." Utah Clean Energy is a Salt Lake City-based nonprofit group that advocates for a clean-energy economy.

Commission spokeswoman Julie Orchard said in a news release that the commission issued the order because few customers were taking advantage of legislation passed in 2002 to encourage customer generation of electricity.

Rocky Mountain Power spokesman Dave Eskelsen said in an e-mail to the Deseret News that the utility "is supportive of net metering and views the changes in the order as positive steps toward allowing more customers to take advantage of net metering options."

The order stated that the ruling would become effective April 1.

The commission's order also set Rocky Mountain Power's cap for net-metering overall generating capacity at 20 percent of the 2007 peak demand, up from .01 percent.

Wright said that provision would encourage companies and municipalities to generate more of their own electricity and add it to the existing power grid. The ruling "opens the market significantly to the number of customers who can net meter in the future," she said.

Contributing: Aaron Falk. E-MAIL: jlee@desnews.com