By VERNON ROBISON
Moapa Valley Progress
The Overton Power District (OPD) hosted a town hall meeting at the Overton Community Center on Wednesday, May 22 to provide information on rooftop solar power systems and to gather public input on proposed changes that may be coming to the district’s net metering policy.
In attendance at the meeting were experts from the OPD who had researched the policy in detail. Also on hand were representatives from several rooftop solar vendors. These vendors were able to provide detailed information on the process of purchasing and installing systems to residential dwellings.
During the meeting, OPD Engineering Coordinator Boyd Evans explained that the district has long had a net metering policy that allowed for excess power generated by rooftop solar arrays to be passed on to the OPD system. The policy allows the district to purchase that excess power at its current average wholesale cost which becomes a credit against the homeowner’s power bill, Evans said.
Evans added that the district limits the generating capacity of rooftop solar arrays to the household’s highest monthly usage, not to exceed a 10 kW system.
“The purpose of the program is not to generate energy for OPD use, but to help the customer get as close as possible to zero on their power bill,” Evans said. “We are just trying to provide a means to help you offset or eliminate your annual power cost and reduce your overall carbon footprint.”
Evans explained that the district had instituted incentives years ago to help customers get into rooftop solar at a time when it was still early in the technology.
“Now we believe that (those systems) can be self-sufficient without the incentives,” Evans said. “So our board of directors is expressing a desire to scale back on those incentives.”
Evans said that there were three changes to the policy being considered by the board.
The first of these is a proposed phase out to the existing OPD rebate offered on purchase of rooftop solar systems. Under the current policy, the district will pay a rebate of up to $2,500 for homeowners who install and operate a qualified rooftop system. Large commercial customers can get as much as $5,000 in rebates.
Evans said that the OPD Board is aiming to phase out the rebates completely by no later than the end of the year.
But there are two possible approaches to the phase out. The first approach would bring an interim reduction. This would reduce the residential rebate to $1,000 and the large commercial to $2,500. That reduction would go for a period of time before a complete phase out. The other proposal would simply eliminate the rebate all at once.
In either case, the board would likely allow a 12 month period for ratepayers who have already signed contracts to get their systems installed, Evans said.
The second change being considered to the net metering policy is regarding excess generation. Evans explained that, as the policy stands, it is in the customer’s best interest to reach no more than a net zero energy usage. There may be times, however, when a customer might end the month with an excess of solar power generated over and above what was purchased from OPD.
In that case, under the current policy, the OPD issues a credit to the customer which is carried forward to the next month and applied to the following power bill. Usually that credit gets used up in high energy consumption months, such as during the summer.
However, if the customer is still carrying a credit at the end of the year, under current policy, the district will buy back the excess power and issue a check to the customer up to $150.
The district is proposing to change that policy though. Excess energy credits may still be carried from month to month throughout the year. But if a credit still stands at the end of the calendar year, the buyback would simply be zeroed out by the district and the customer would start over at the beginning of the year at zero.
The third change being proposed to the net metering policy dealt with end dates to the customer contracts. When new solar arrays are installed, customers must sign a contract with OPD outlining the details and provision of the net metering policies at the time.
“Up to now there has been no expiration date on those contracts,” Evans explained.
The proposed change would institute an end to those contracts after five years. At that point, the contract could be renewed at whatever the current terms are.
“This would keep us from the confusion of having a whole lot of different grandfathered contracts out there as the years go by,” Evans said. “That can be hard to keep track of. This would keep things current and ensure that all systems are running according to current policy.”
Public input was minimal at the Overton meeting, though some discussion ensued on several different topics..
One attendee asked what was the district’s rationale for scaling back the incentives for rooftop solar systems. Evans reiterated that the technology behind rooftop solar systems were well established at this point. The benefits of those systems could stand on their own without an incentive, he said.
In addition, board members had expressed that they didn’t want the mainstream of OPD customers, who did not install solar arrays, to be forced to subsidize those who did, Evans explained.
Finally, the district has seen a surge in installation of rooftop solar systems. Thus these programs were promising to become a much bigger expense to the district, Evans said.
Another attendee asked why limits had to be placed on the production of rooftop systems. He asked why the district couldn’t purchase the excess from a solar system at the wholesale rate and then sell it at retail rates to neighboring homes that did not have solar power.
OPD spokesman Keith Buchhalter responded that the district is already under contract to purchase reliable resources that will cover the needs of all OPD customers. Thus there would be no benefit in purchasing that resource again a la carte from homeowners with solar arrays.
In giving feedback, some attendees made the formal request that, instead of closing out the rebates, the time be expanded; and instead of reducing the amounts, that the rebates be increased substantially.
“If you look around and see what other utilities are doing, I think that you will find that the OPD program is a standout in its benefits,” Evans said. “It is a very generous program. So that has been a signal to the board for scaling it back rather than expanding it.”
Last week’s Overton meeting was the first in a pair of town hall sessions planned by the district. The other meeting will take place at the Rising Star Sports Ranch on 333 N. Sandhill Blvd. in Mesquite on Wednesday, May 29 beginning at 5:00 pm.
