![]() ![]() The battle over distributed solar programs, which often pits utilities against the customers they serve, has for years been contentious. Setting the rate "at its proper value will protect all other non-solar customers from paying higher rates," Hall said. Spencer Hall, spokesman for Rocky Mountain Power, said the utility is "proposing a net billing program to compensate at a fair rate for the excess power while protecting customers who do not elect to install solar from being required to subsidize solar customers." The state lags behind its neighbors in terms of MW of installed residential solar capacity. The utility, which serves roughly 907,000 customers in Utah, has a total of 40,450 rooftop solar customers. "What Rocky Mountain Power is proposing - it's really an effort to reduce the number of customers who go solar, and I think the reason is likely that the utility sees those customers as competition," Gallagher said. He said there's no "logical justification" for it. The net-metering cut would be one of the steepest in the nation, said Sean Gallagher, vice president of state affairs for the Solar Energy Industries Association Inc., or SEIA. Rocky Mountain Power, or RMP, also wants to charge a one-time fee of $150 for interconnection applications, plus a one-time customer generation meter fee of $160. Currently, the company pays customers 9.2 cents/kWh for the excess energy they supply. is looking to dramatically cut the rates it pays to rooftop solar customers in Utah for sending energy back onto the grid.Ī proposal before the Utah Public Service Commission would slash the payments made by the PacifiCorp subsidiary for customer-generated solar power, under a system known as net metering, to between 1.3247 and 2.6293 cents/kWh in billing credits, depending on time of use. Source: S&P Global Market IntelligenceĮven as it transitions away from coal-fired power generation in an effort to reduce carbon emissions, Rocky Mountain Power Inc. Rooftop solar owners in the state are facing reduced rates from Rocky Mountain Power for the energy they send back onto the grid. Ethan Schow, a solar installer with Auric Energy, in front of a rooftop solar array in Herriman, Utah. ![]()
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