Solar industry: Lift net metering cap
Solar energy industry officials and advocates on Tuesday called for the lifting of the cap on solar production, which they say is impeding projects, causing delays in hiring and leading some companies to consider leaving the Bay State's market for other states.
Because of the cap, hundreds of projects - including municipal and commercial solar projects - in 171 cities and towns in National Grid's service territory have been put on hold, according to Janet Besser, vice president of policy and government affairs for the New England Clean Energy Council.
"It's not like a future problem, it's a right now problem," added Hannah Masterjohn, director of policy and new markets at the Clean Energy Collective.
Under the policy known as net metering, electricity customers are able to offset their bills by receiving the retail rate for the excess energy produced by solar panels.
There are caps on government-owned and private net metering solar projects. Residential projects or projects under 25 kilowatts do not have a cap.
Besser and others offered testimony to the Legislature's Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy as part of a hearing on the "state of energy" in the Bay State. Lawmakers previously heard from Baker administration officials, utility executives and Attorney General Maura Healey's office at a hearing in April.
Administration seeks ‘long term’ solution
But Gov. Charlie Baker's administration opposes a short-term lift in net metering caps without a long-term fix focused on lowering costs for ratepayers and promoting clean energy.
"Rather, we believe it is extremely important that any adjustments to the caps be accompanied by meaningful changes to the mix of incentives and proper consideration of the role of the ratepayers," Department of Public Utilities chair Angie O'Connor and Department of Energy Resources Acting Commissioner Dan Burgess wrote in a net metering task force report released in late April.
"There's only one wallet in the room, and that's the customer," O'Connor, who co-chaired the 17-member task force with Burgess, recently said.
Utilities also oppose lifting the cap, arguing that customers without solar panels end up with higher bills.
"If you raise the cap you're raising the amount of money that customers without net-metering have to pay to support when the other customers are not paying it," National Grid lobbyist Amy Rabinowitz said in April.
In past years, utilities have floated the idea of requiring all customers, regardless of whether they produce their own electricity, to pay a minimum bill to cover the expense of maintaining lines, poles and other delivery infrastructure.
Katie Rever, director of state affairs at the Solar Energy Industries Association, urged lawmakers to move on a "dual track," lifting the net metering cap through the end of 2016 while also asking the Baker administration to implement a long-term fix starting on Jan. 1, 2017.
Besser suggested tying the short-term cap lift to milestones that would be part of a long-term framework, in order to allow projects to move forward.
The legislative committee also heard from the head of PowerOptions, an energy-buying consortium, who said energy efficiency and renewable energy have seen growth, but customers are still paying high gas and electricity prices.
"We're not there yet and we clearly need some level of gas pipeline expansion to replace the lost generation," said Cynthia Arcate, president and CEO of PowerOptions, referring to coal, nuclear and oil generators eventually coming offline.
Plug for wind energy
Others focused their testimony on wind energy.
Jack Clarke, director of public policy and government relations for Mass Audubon, said requiring electricity suppliers to include offshore wind as part of the power they sell will help grow the offshore wind industry in Massachusetts.
"With developers currently holding leases off Massachusetts' coast, we have the opportunity for competitive procurement that will guarantee the best deal for ratepayers," he wrote in his testimony.
(Andy Metzger contributed reporting.)
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