NC regulators reject utility argument for solar payment revision
January 7, 2015 | By
Doug Peeples
Duke Energy and other utilities operating in North Carolina objected to what they described as overpayments they are required to make to renewable energy developers, including solar, and took their case to the state's utilities commission. Regulators, however, did not see it that way and refused to authorize any changes to the payments or how they are calculated. The North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) also said no to the utilities' proposal to deduct the amount it cost them to connect solar producers to the electric grid from their payments. That utilities are required to pay qualifying developers for the solar and other renewable power providers for the electricity they generate is federal law under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978. But the amount of the payment and how it is calculated are determined by the states, not the federal law. It really is not surprising that the utility proposals were not approved. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, $787 million was invested in home, business and utility solar in 2013, an increase of 156 percent over the previous year. The solar association and others rank the state as fourth in the country in installed solar capacity. The state also has numerous solar incentives, including a residential renewable energy tax credit, production incentives, residential and commercial net metering, a federal tax credit, a property tax reduction, and other loan and rebate programs. The utilities had asked the NCUC to reduce the cutoff point where other than standard contracts are required from the current level of five megawatts to 100 kilowatts, while the solar industry had asked for an increase to 10 megawatts. The NCUC approved neither in its order. For more: © 2015 FierceMarkets, a division of Questex Media Group LLC. All rights reserved. |