![]() The HECO Companies’ proposed “Gross Export Purchase model” would effectively supplant net metering in the state. A “Gross Export Purchase model” for export DG.An additional fixed monthly charge applied only to new DG customers.A fixed monthly charge applied to all customers. ![]() Status: The ACC approved a $0.70/kw charge for net metering customers.Īs discussed in last week’s post, the Hawaii PUC recommended sweeping changes to the state’s electric industry regulatory regime, including revisions to the retail electricity rate structure. Pursuant to a PUC order, the HECO Companies filed a Power Supply Improvement Plan (PSIP) and a Distributed Generation Improvement Plan (DGIP) that proposed: The Commission left open the possibility of increasing those rates in the next rate case. In approving a $0.70/kw charge for net metering customers on November 14, 2013, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) rejected recommendations for higher charges from Arizona Public Service (around $8.00/kw), the Residential Utility Consumer Office (around $3.00/kw), and the Commission’s own staff (around $3.00/kw). The following is a brief look at some of the distributed generation rate reforms proposed and adopted around the country.* The Green Energy Institute’s Policy Analyst, Nick Lawton, will highlight potential policy solutions and alternative approaches to the issues of cost-shifting and utility unprofitability in a forthcoming blog post. As with any compromise, the solution will likely lie somewhere in between the current regime of low fixed charges and relatively high net metering compensation, and the significant fixed charges proposed by the utilities. PUCs have, to this point, shown a reluctance to impose significant new costs to net metering customers.Īs retail electricity rate reform advances around the country, utilities, policymakers, ratepayer advocates and renewable energy proponents will seek a compromise that provides an equitable allocation of costs across electric customer classes. In addition to perceived issues of cost-shifting, utilities worry that significant penetration of customer-sited DG will cut into their profits and potentially leave them with considerable stranded infrastructure costs. Many utilities, meanwhile, are seizing the moment to attempt to raise fixed charges and impose surcharges on net metering customers. The proliferation of residential solar installations, in particular, has driven some state public utility commissions (PUCs) to take up the issue of reforming retail rates to equitably allocate the costs of providing service to DG and non-DG customers alike. The idea of reforming the retail electricity pricing model to more accurately reflect the actual cost of utility services has been around for some time, but the rapid growth of customer-owned distributed generation (DG) has recently brought the issue to the fore.
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