Senate passes bill to add new tariffs on power bills; move raises transparency questions

In a unanimous decision, Nevada senators passed a measure Sunday that will give the Public Utilities Commission authority to impose new fees on rooftop solar customers but does nothing to immediately raise a controversial cap on the number of people participating in a solar program opposed by NV Energy.

The move sets up what could be a defeat this session for the rooftop solar industry, which is battling against NV Energy to prevent new tariffs and to increase the cap that limits how many customers can participate in a program allowing homeowners to generate their own electricity and supply power to the grid.

The bill shifts the authority to raise the cap from the Legislature to the PUC, leaving the solar industry in a precarious position as the state moves closer to reaching the maximum number of participants.

The rooftop solar industry — currently employing 6,000 jobs in the state — says not raising the cap will cost the state thousands of solar jobs and revoke Nevada’s position as the No.1 state per capita for solar employment.

Sen. Kelvin Atkinson, a Las Vegas Democrat who championed the measure, said solar is among the "most lobbied” issues of the session.

The Senate’s passage of the bill Sunday sparks questions about transparency. Despite the overwhelming interest and the 21-0 vote, the Senate held no public hearings for solar companies, the utility, consumers and state officials to offer input to legislators on solar fees and the cap. The vote also arrived on the first floor vote held this session on a Sunday, a day where many of the state’s lobbyists and media are not working in the Legislature.

The move to pass the measure and send the bill, SB374, to the Assembly follows a Saturday voice vote that quietly added the solar language in an amendment to a construction bill, a measure that had received public input.

The redacted bill and the solar debate this session revolves around a topic called net metering, an NV Energy-sponsored program offering customers a reduced rate for powering their homes and the grid with rooftop solar panels. NV Energy denounces net metering, calling it a subsidy and saying solar customers benefit from the policy at the expense of nonsolar customers.

The state caps participation at 3 percent, and NV Energy says it will lose $8 million for every 1 percent it increases.

The number represents 3 percent of all utility customers consuming energy during the highest level of demand on the electric grid in a given year, which is about 7,500 megawatts (a Super Wal-Mart consumes three-quarters of a megawatt per year). Nevada is one of 44 states with a net-metering program. More than 2,500 customers participate statewide.

The utility is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy, which has fought to eliminate net metering and add a fee in courts, utility commissions and legislatures nationwide. Buffett’s conglomerate has had little success in states such as Utah, Idaho and Washington. Adding new fees and stalling a cap increase in Nevada would be a huge victory for Buffett’s utility conglomerate. NV Energy did not respond to comment for this story.

The utility has attacked the policy in the past two months, lobbying against it, buying newspaper ads and opposing the cost on its website. Solar advocates have done the same. They’ve rallied, lobbied and purchased ads to draw attention to the issue. The debate has even spawned unlikely alliances to address net metering and other solar policies. A new group, the Nevada Coalition to Protect Ratepayers, formed last week and includes the Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts, SolarCity, Sunrun and Switch.

The bill asks the PUC to levy up to three tariffs on net-metering customers’ power bills and mandates the PUC to study net metering every three years. The solar industry hoped that lawmakers would add in the language some measure that would ask the PUC to hold a hearing to debate raising the cap. Lawmakers did not include that, leaving the solar industry with few options to see the cap rise in the final days of the legislative session, which is scheduled to end June 2.

The solar industry fears the potential tariff on net metering will deter customers.

The fiscal benefit of net metering — reducing power bills by about 20 percent a month — may pass from the customer to the utility with the proposed amendment.

Arizona implemented a fee that amounts to a $5 to $7 net-metering charge for the average homeowner. A fee is pending in Wisconsin. Regulators, courts and lawmakers in Utah, Idaho, Maine, Oklahoma and Indiana opposed fees. Utility companies in more than 30 states have unsuccessfully fought to eliminate net metering or impose fees.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the authority a proposed bill would give the Public Utilities Commission over a cap on rooftop solar systems. The bill says the commission may adjust the cap but outlines no time frame for doing so.