Local Solar Markets to Free the Grid

Local solar markets - turn back your electrical meter!

The 2009 edition of “Freeing the Grid” is out, which can help customers like you to review net metering and interconnection standards in an annual “report card.” There is hardly any other policy that can provide as much incentive to go solar and reduce monthly electricity bills.

Time to read how local solar markets can free the grid!

Freeing the Grid includes plenty of good news with respect to solar energy.  Overall, many states have shown solid progress with respect to local solar markets and a free grid.

I’m proud to say that Oregon is still the leader in solar energy!

If you want to see whether your own state made the grade, you can download “Freeing the Grid” from Network for New Energy Choice, right here.

Why should you care?  Why is this important?

Solar Markets for a new electricity grid

Here’s a brief explanation:

Interconnection standards include technical requirements and legal procedures that allow a customer to plug in its generator to the electricity grid.  Governing the process is a transparent set of provisions that help connection to the grid.  Overall, you should be able to connect without hassle or extra cost.  Yet, some utilities have put up barriers to the connection process, absent state policy that offers those protections.

Net metering allows solar customers to get fair credit for the excess electricity solar energy systems generate during daytime hours.  In other words, you can “bank” solar power that you generate, but don’t use (say, when you are at work or when there are a number of extra sunny days) and feed it back into the grid.  Currently, there may be some arbitrary limits on the system size or number of customers that are allowed to participate.

Its time to do away with such limits.  According to an Environmental News Network article:

We’re working hard to make these policy changes state by state, but it’s incredibly helpful to have folks like NNEC, IREC and DSIRE give state leaders tools for getting it right. This stuff is complex, it’s new to many, and it can be tricky to get right. Freeing the Grid provides an effective roadmap for navigating that great unknown and getting straight to effective policies that are going to build local solar markets.

Specifically, in California, you lose the benefits of net metering once customer-owned solar reaches 2.5% of the overall load in an specific utility territory.  But why?  Given the popularity of solar in Northern California, it will reach that cap in early 2010.  Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) has volunteered to raise the program cap to 3.5%, in its regions.  But hopefully, the California Legislature will take up the issue in 2010, and mandate higher caps for all utilities.

There are net metering issues in New York, too.  Its program is interpreted such that most commercial energy systems do not participate.  Talk about throwing a road block in the way of the growing solar industry!

Let’s hope that 2010 brings some new laws that encourage and allow local solar markets to free the grid.

Tags: electricity grid, free grid, interconnection standards, local solar markets, net metering, Network for New Energy Choice