Energy industry advocates called on state officials to increase the limit for a benefit known as net metering that allows homeowners and businesses to earn credits on electric bills when they produce an excess of renewable energy.
Through net metering, homeowners and businesses outfitted with solar panels, wind turbines, fuel cells or other renewable energy sources are able to sell any excess electricity they generate back to the state”™s major investor-owned utilities, usually in exchange for a credit on their electric bill.
The benefit is available on a first-come, first-served basis, with an aggregate limit on net-metered solar, biogas, natural gas, fuel cell and hydroelectric system capacity for any given investor-owned utility set at 1 percent of a utility”™s 2005 electric demand.
The limit on aggregate wind system capacity is 0.3 percent of 2005 demand.
In comparison, New Jersey has a 2.5 percent limit on net metering and California has a 5 percent limit on net metering for solar systems.
Representatives of the New York Solar Energy Industries Association (NYSEIA), The Solar Energy Consortium and Alliance for Clean Energy New York joined U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer Aug. 7 in Kingston, where they urged the state Public Service Commission (PSC) to raise the aggregate limit for net metering as it relates to solar-generated electricity.
“For New York to remain competitive with New Jersey, California and other leading solar producing states, increasing the net metering cap and enabling a longer-term policy is absolutely critical for the future growth and viability of the state”™s solar energy industry,” NYSEIA President Ron Kamen said in a statement.
In July, Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. surpassed its 12-megawatt limit on net-metered systems and was forced to issue a brief moratorium on its net metering program, NYSEIA said. The moratorium was lifted Aug. 3 while the utility awaits formal rulemaking by the PSC.
