In April 2014, the Vermont Legislature required the Vermont Public Service Board establish a revised net-metering program for consumers using renewable energy. Since November of that year the Board has been gathering input and drafting rules. The revisions, released at the beginning of this month, are raising concerns from environmental and energy advocates in Vermont.
Advocacy groups are concerned that the new net metering rules could end up penalizing some Vermonters making energy efficiency improvements and limit the capability of municipalities to opt for small scale solar projects.
Renewable Energy Vermont Executive Director Olivia Campbell Andersen says the new order issued just before the Fourth of July holiday is a step backward. “It outlines limits on who can have projects. It sets new fees on not only new renewable customers but existing. So many folks are frustrated that they have made their own personal investments in clean energy and all of a sudden the state is changing the rules after they already made an investment. So there’s some issues of fairness. There are also particular concerns related to the limitations on who can have a project and how much clean energy they can generate.”
Vermont Natural Resources Council Energy Program Director Johanna Miller says while she understands the Public Service Board is trying to balance a number of factors, the board may have gone too far. “There’s a cap that was proposed. We understand the need to sort-of set a pacing mechanism. But an annual cap as proposed might not be the best solution and really have concerns about the sort-of inconsistency and uncertainty that creates. We also have concerns related to the fact that it’s going to be making it harder for municipalities to invest in projects. So I think it’s really going to slow significantly the deployment of small scale distributed generation that Vermonters overwhelmingly support. It’s going to make it really difficult if not impossible for some to actually invest in solar.”
SunCommon is the largest residential and community solar company in Vermont. Cofounder James Moore explains that his and similar companies will be OK if the rule moves forward because they focus on residential and small business projects. “Where this rule is dramatically different than what’s happening in Vermont right now is on larger solar projects and have larger institutional or towns as the receivers of that power. Those projects are going to see a lot less value. And the fact that three-quarters of the solar development in the state of Vermont over the last couple years was really these much larger projects that part of the market is going to be dramatically impacted by this new rule.”