A new bill signed by Gov. Schwarzennegger lets solar homeowners and other net metering customers sell excess electricity generated from their panels. The bill doubles the amount of electricity that may be sold by customers to 5% of a utility’s peak electricity demand.
Net metering gives solar customers a credit on their monthly bill when they generate more solar electricity than they use. The credits are used to offset higher electricity usage at other times such as during the darker winter months. Leftover credits are zeroed out at the end of the year.
California has required electric utilities to credit customers for renewable power they send to the grid, though once the utilities reach 2.5% of peak demand they are no longer be required to sign new contracts.
Over 50,000 homeowners, businesses, schools, cities and other customers currently participate in net metering, generating enough electricity to power up to 500,000 homes. The bulk of California’s net metering customers are located in northern California, served by PG&E — who has been the first utility to approach the 2.5% net metering limit.
While advocates say raising the cap takes away much of the uncertainty in the solar market, critics have expressed concerns that net metering subsidizes affluent solar customers at the expense of other ratepayers.
Tags: clean electricity
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