Last month, the CA Public Utilities Commission “re-opened the record” in its widely watched Net Energy Metering case. On Jun 15, numerous parties commented on the case, showing the wide differences between the battling sides.
PG&E, SoCal Edison and SDG&E (the Utilities), argued that the total subsidy paid by non-net energy metering customers to NEM customers with solar was $4 billion per year. The Solar Energy Industries Association and Vote Solar dispute this computation and argued that the CPUC’s December proposal would “place the future of the solar industry in California in jeopardy.”
Also disputed is whether the Utilities should collect non-bypassable charges on each net energy metering customer’s gross consumption, including both imports and behind-the-meter electricity use. SEIA and Vote Solar argued against this concept, saying that energy produced and consumed behind the meter does not interact with the Utilities’ grids. “These generators are not electrical corporations (and thus public utilities) over which the Commission has broad sweeping regulatory authority,” they said.
For a deeper dive into the issues at hand, I recommend this article.
