The problem with net-metering, according to utilities, is that traditional customers end up subsidizing net-metered customers. Net-metered customers can zero out their annual bills by generating the same amount the power they use, and therefore don't end up paying fees to support line maintenance and efficiency programs by Efficiency Vermont--a nonprofit that helps increase energy efficiency in homes and businesses. Just recently Vermont Electric Co-op's CEO said that traditional customers are cross-subsidizing net-metered customers by paying 40% of the costs incurred by net-metered customers to the transmission system (source).
Both Vermont Electric Co-op and Hardwick Electric Department have halted new solar net-meter installations. Both utilities are already getting 4% of their capacity from net-metered customers, as is the benchmark determined in 30 V.S.A. § 219a. Green Mountain Power and Burlington Electric Department are two larger utilities in the state that have not yet reached the 4% target and are not yet feeling the pinch. Washington Electric Co-op based in East Montpelier reached 6% in July, and though they have not halted new net-metering, they are slowing the impact of solar by limiting new solar PV systems to 5 kilowatt hours (source).
The real "problem" is that solar initiatives have worked and made it a real player in the energy market, so the entire utility industry is experiencing growing pains. So how about solutions? As much as I think there should be solar panels on every rooftop, it is true that someone still has to pay for the lines the electricity travels on. Even solar customers rely on the transmission lines to make their service work. The issue is that regardless of where the power is generated it still has to travel the grid so it can flow to wherever the need is. Maybe it would be reasonable to impose a "transmission lines maintenance fee" as a line item on everyone's power bills that can not be zeroed out through net-metering. Net-metered solar customers still rely on the transmission lines as much as other customers. I am a net-metered customer at VEC and don't think this would be an unreasonable proposal if done wisely.
The basic business model on which utility companies thrived for decades is being threatened by renewable energy and that's why distributors such as Vermont Electric Co-op are getting nervous. Consider Germany as the standard for localized renewable energy (solar and other sources). Individuals there own half of the country's 53,000 megawatts of renewable energy (source). They have made it work, but it has forced the downsizing of traditional utilities and the closure of fossil fuel plants (source and source). This is scary for utilities I'm sure, but business is business, they either have to embrace renewables, or die off.
In the age of man-made climate change from CO2 emissions, localized renewable energy sources are the future. If Germany can do it, Vermont and the rest of the United States can make it work too. Vermont is known for having progressive energy policies which have allowed us to be 9th in the nation for solar power per capita, (source). Truly, 4% net-metered solar power is not a huge amount of total capacity. The Vermont utilities that have forced this issue at least seem like they are willing to come to the table and work for a positive solution--they are not "anti-solar" per se. I hope Vermont Legislators will tackle this problem honestly during their next session and expand the role of solar energy in this Green Mountain State.
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Are you passionate about solar power? Ask Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin to push for an expansion of the popular "net metering" law that's driving Vermont's solar revolution: http://www.vpirg.org/news/fight-for-your-right-to-go-renewable/
Popular topic recently and this is a great article on it. We benefit from the utility grid being a natural monopoly but that doesn't mean there should be no innovation across the sector and that's precisely what's happened for decades.
ReplyDeleteThere's another great article on this problem and some solutions here:
http://www.renewablegps.com/news-and-blog/bid/313105/Resilience-Threats-The-death-of-the-utility-grid-as-we-know-it
Thanks for your comment, Brian. And thank you for the link! I will definitely check it out.
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