As solar cap nears limit, PUC denies solar industry’s petition

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Hundreds of solar employees jammed a Public Utilities Commission meeting Wednesday, giving almost six hours of testimony in protest of recent proposals submitted to regulators by NV Energy and asking the commission to support a measure to stop a potential shutdown in the industry.

The 600 solar employees who clogged PUC offices in Las Vegas and Carson City did little to sway the commission, though.

The commission voted 3-0 against a solar industry-backed proposal that it said would have prevented an industry shutdown and prevented new costs for rooftop solar customers by the end of the month.

The commission argued that state law gave it no authority to take the actions requested in the petition.

The decision comes as Nevada’s solar cap nears its limit and the PUC vets new legislative mandates from the 2015 session that will create a new pricing structure for rooftop solar customers. The PUC’s action is the latest in the battle on the policy known as net metering, the program allowing solar customers to receive a credit for providing energy to the grid with solar panels.

NV Energy estimates the cap will be hit by the end of the month, leaving the solar industry fearing a shutdown.

The petition, filed by the Alliance for Solar Choice, was an attempt to keep in place existing rate structures while the commission makes a final decision.

Commissioner David Noble said that while regulators couldn’t accept the petition, it would be able to consider interim policies.

NV Energy has already filed proposals for an interim solution that would change the price structure for rooftop solar customers. In addition, the company has filed proposals for a permanent policy change that would add new a fee and reduce by more than half the credit received by rooftop solar customers. Once a permanent solution is adopted, the solar industry cap will be removed.

“The intent of (the new law) is to find a solution that captures the benefits of solar and fairly allocates costs among all our customers,” NV Energy Spokesperson Jennifer Schuricht said in an email. “We heard loud and clear the concerns expressed by our customers in today’s meeting and look forward to providing them with the facts on our commitment to solar and the net metering proposal.”

Wednesday’s decision is a blow to the solar industry. Until the PUC implements new rules, the solar industry will either have to shut down when the cap is met or work under an interim proposal.

“There are jobs and families on the line,” Teddy Stanowski, a project planner at Sunrun, said after testifying in front of the commission. “Their choice is being taking away.”

In a document filed before Wednesday’s hearing, the PUC’s general counsel called the request “nonsensical” and panned the proposal as reneging on what was agreed upon during the legislative session.

The solar industry, comprising solar leasing companies like SolarCity and Sunrun, says that NV Energy’s proposals could jeopardize Nevada’s 6,000 solar jobs and an industry that’s grown by more than 1,000 percent in the last year. NV Energy says the credit is a subsidy supported by nonsolar customers that costs ratepayers millions of dollars every year. That credit can currently cut the power bills of solar customers by more than half.

With the cap set to max on Aug. 27, the timeframe for approving an interim proposal is thin. The PUC will have its first hearing on Aug. 21 and can take a vote on the matter on Aug. 26.