Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Reid rips energy task force for not proposing net metering fix

Reid

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid arrives for a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 7, 2016, following a closed-door policy meeting.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid criticized a state task force for not proposing legislation to reinstate net metering, a policy whereby solar customers received credits for sending excess electricity back to the grid, where it could then be delivered to other NV Energy customers.

Its decision not to recommend such a proposal to Gov. Brian Sandoval “reinforces the belief that Nevada has a stodgy commitment to shielding Nevada’s energy utility from competition,” Reid said in a letter dated June 2 and emailed Monday to New Energy Industry Task Force members.

The letter comes at a time when state leaders are reconsidering the costs and benefits of rooftop solar. On Tuesday, state officials approved nearly $67,000 to update a cost analysis that was commissioned in 2014. And last month, SolarCity and the Natural Resources Defense Council released a study showing that the benefits of rooftop solar outweigh the costs for all ratepayers.

In December, state regulators came to the opposite conclusion. Arguing that solar consumers shifted costs to nonsolar ratepayers, utility regulators increased bills for customers with rooftop panels. The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada set new rates, phased in over 12 years, that tripled a fixed fee for rooftop solar customers and slashed the value of excess electricity credits.

Shortly after the decision was finalized, Sandoval convened the energy task force to examine the state's energy policies, including the new rates, renewable standards and the future of the grid.

The panel had until June 1 to meet a deadline for recommending legislation to the governor, who is considering which proposals he wants to forward to the Legislature. Members of the task force asked Sandoval to endorse draft legislation to let pre-2016 solar customers keep the prior, more advantageous rate structure, but did not suggest legislation to reverse the entire PUC decision.

“I am disappointed that the task force did not make recommendations to Gov. Sandoval to reverse the short-sighted decision to eliminate net metering for new residential renewable energy systems and bring the rooftop solar industry back to Nevada,” Reid wrote in the June 2 letter.

“Left unchanged,” he added, “the repercussions of this decision will continue to be a black mark on Nevada’s reputation and will imperil job creation and innovation in the Silver State.”

A subcommittee for the task force is expected to continue exploring options to lure back rooftop solar companies that halted their sales operations here in the wake of the decision. It is expected to explore several proposals that will likely be included in the task force's report later this year.

Reinstating the old rate structure for future rooftop solar customers is shaping up to be a tough political battle. SolarCity has spent about $2 million on a ballot measure to undo the decision, a push opposed by NV Energy and organized labor, which have spent about $1 million fighting it.

SolarCity’s Bring Back Solar campaign continues to draw a wide base of support. This morning, a group of evangelical environmental activists delivered more than 8,000 signatures to Sandoval’s office, urging the state to support a more favorable rate structure for rooftop solar customers.

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