New Jersey BPU to vote on revenue-grade meter requirement

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) has proposed new regulations that will require all solar energy systems to utilize a revenue-grade meter to accurately measure electric output for the creation of SRECs eligible in New Jersey’s Renewable Portfolio Standard. This meter is in addition to the electric meter installed by the utility to measure a system’s electric consumption for purposes of net metering.  If this rule passes, all NJ systems without revenue-grade meters will need to report actual production and will no longer be eligible for production estimates on GATS.

All systems that do not have a revenue-grade meters that meet the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standard C12.1-2008 must have one installed within 6 months from the rule adoption.  Following that date, SRECs will only be issued to systems based upon readings reported from a revenue grade meter measuring the system output.

This rule proposal is expected to be adopted by the NJBPU in December 2011, in which case a revenue-grade meter would be required to be installed no later than June 30, 2012.  Readings based on the meters will need to begin on the 1st day of the month following installation (i.e., if your meter is installed on May 10, 2012 then you will be required to begin reporting your generation from the meter as of June 1, 2012).

This rule will not really affect newer systems but it is however an issue for systems that went in under the old REIP and CORE programs since these systems were permitted to use production estimates for SREC creation.

The proposal can be found here.

Source: Renewable Energy World, Justin Barnes, NC Solar Center

Laurel Passera

Laurel is a Senior Renewables Analyst for IREC attorneys Keyes, Fox & Wiedman, and engages in research and analysis of net metering and interconnection regulatory trends to support IREC’s outreach and communication efforts. In 2009, Laurel was a Southeast Regional Network fellow for the Southeast Environmental Leadership Program and currently sits on Raleigh City Council’s Environmental Advisory Board.