Good News! Net metering continues to benefit homeowners and businesses with solar here in Southern Oregon. True South Solar relishes describing this particular benefit to homeowners and businesses who are considering solar. Net metering allows residential and commercial customers who generate excess energy to feed it back into the grid and receive those energy credits for their future use, kilowatt for kilowatt (a 1:1 ratio, based on the market rate of energy). No energy is wasted, enhancing energy independence.
Check out our previous blog post about net metering, if you’d like to delve into the specifics about how it benefits homeowners and commercial businesses with solar in Southern Oregon.
Net Metering Under Attack
Unfortunately, not everyone likes net metering, apparently. Both Idaho and California recently changed their net metering policies, rolling back some of the financial benefits for homeowners and businesses who purchase solar. Earlier this year, Portland’s energy company, PGE, made the first attempt to modify net metering in the Portland area. While the proposal was luckily delayed, in May the Oregon PUC did approve the end of net metering for Idaho Power, Eastern Oregon’s energy company, in favor of net billing, which is estimated to reduce solar compensation to customers by 32%.
When net metering is rolled back, the excess solar your solar panels produce goes back to the grid. You receive fewer to no credits for generously sharing your power with your neighbors. The terms of these new policies vary depending on the energy company, but the result of these changes across the board is a reduction of solar export compensation. It should be noted, though, that both California and Idaho did include a grandfather clause for previously installed systems with net metering, which provides them credits at higher rates for a limited period of time.
Act Now – Make Your Voice Heard
We all need to get ahead of the wave of future attempts to limit net metering for homeowners and businesses with solar. The Save Oregon Solar Coalition has launched a website and campaign to educate homeowners and Oregon businesses about the issue and to support fair and equitable access to solar and clean energy for all Oregonians. True South Solar has joined this coalition of 26 non-profits and 14 business partners.
The True South Solar mission, Solar for Everyone, is simply more attainable when customers feel assured the energy their system produces is theirs to use. At night or in the winter months, we should be fully compensated for the excess energy we produce. That is why True South Solar has wholeheartedly joined this coalition to protect the energy independence of our future customers and our current customers once any grandfather clause ends—all with an eye on our commitment toward a sustainable, net-zero Rogue Valley.
Visit the Save Oregon Solar Coalition website for more information about their work or to explore ways to advocate for preserving net metering here in Southern Oregon.