Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Regulators OK grandfathering, resolve major issue in solar debate

Solar Panels

Mikayla Whitmore

Solar panels are installed on a home near West Gowan Road on Feb. 4, 2016.

Updated Friday, Sept. 16, 2016 | 3:41 p.m.

Utility regulators OK’d a plan today to allow some 32,000 NV Energy customers who installed or applied for rooftop solar systems before this year to keep old, more favorable rates.

The vote marked a reversal for the Nevada Public Utilities Commission, which previously said a more costly rate structure that went into effect Jan. 1 would apply to all solar customers.

The new structure, being phased in over 12 years, increases bills by tripling a fixed fee and slashing the value of credits customers earn for sending excess electricity to the power grid, a system known as net metering.

PUC Chairman Paul Thomsen praised the plan, which restores the old rates for about 24,000 customers with solar panels and another 8,000 who applied to go solar before Jan. 1. The old rates will be restored Dec. 1 and remain in place through Nov. 31, 2036.

Those who applied to go solar before this year, meanwhile, will have until Feb. 28 to decide if they still want to purchase panels and until Feb. 28, 2018, to install them and take advantage of the cheaper rate structure.

Today’s vote came after months of pressure on the PUC to do an about-face. Rooftop solar companies and advocates pressed regulators to reverse their stance on grandfathering, and NV Energy also supported the move.

Still, the future of rooftop solar in Nevada is far from settled. After the higher rates were passed, companies such as SolarCity and Sunrun halted sales and installations, saying solar panels were no longer financially viable.

NV Energy has received about 400 applications for solar panels this year, a sliver of the thousands it took in last year.

“This stipulation is critically important for consumers who previously made the choice to go solar,” said Lauren Randall a spokeswoman for Sunrun, which ceased Nevada operations in January. “Now to restore a thriving solar market in the state, the next step is to reinstate net metering so that all consumers have the opportunity to invest in rooftop solar.”

NV Energy opposes such a move, arguing the new rates more accurately reflect the cost of serving rooftop solar customers. Without the rate increase, nonsolar ratepayers are effectively subsidizing the costs of serving solar customers, NV Energy has said.

"The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada's decision today is fair for this set of existing net metering customers, and at the same time reinforces the clear path forward they established in February 2016 for those considering rooftop solar in the future," NV Energy President and CEO Paul Caudill said.

Gov. Brian Sandoval said he fully supported the PUC’s decision to grandfather existing rooftop solar customers.

“I have been and will remain an advocate for a robust renewable energy portfolio in Nevada and we will continue to pursue new opportunities while maintaining reasonable utility rates for Nevadans,” Sandoval said.

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