December 9, 2010

December 2010 Connecting to the Grid Newsletter

WHAT’S NEW AS OF DECEMBER 2010? Note from the Editor In Search of the Solar-Powered Commute Just in time for the holidays, many automakers are beginning to roll out Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEVs) to showroom floors across the country. The much-anticipated market for PEVs has significant implications for utilities and regulatory commissions as they explore…

WHAT’S NEW AS OF DECEMBER 2010?

Note from the Editor

In Search of the Solar-Powered Commute

Just in time for the holidays, many automakers are beginning to roll out Plug-in Electric Vehicles (PEVs) to showroom floors across the country. The much-anticipated market for PEVs has significant implications for utilities and regulatory commissions as they explore how to best accommodate PEVs through incentives, regulatory frameworks, and infrastructure updates.

The Electric Power Research Institute estimates that at least 80% of PEV owners will charge their car at home.  We’ve already seen a variety of utility tariffs that allow for PEV charging, some that allow for a bundled rate option and others that require separate meters for home use and vehicle charging. For example, each IOU in California already offers a residential PEV Time-of-Use tariff (see Southern California Edison’s PEV website for an example) and many other state commissions are starting to ask utilities for their plans to accommodate PEVs.   Some states are also starting to look at the added layer of complexity that comes along when net metering customers want to charge their vehicles from a solar or wind generation system located onsite.   In January, for example, Delaware adopted rules to incorporate PEVs into the state’s net metering rule, as a result of a legislative mandate[Continued in Newsletter]

State News in Detail

Northeast States          

New York PSC allows behind-the-meter renewables to count for RPS      

 

Mid-Atlantic States      

D.C.’s utility questioned about net metering, interconnection and smart meter problems

Danville, Virginia to offer net metering up to 200% of onsite use

 

Midwestern States       

Michigan PSC approves PEV charging rate

 

Southern States          

North Carolina utility rolls out PV incentive for net metered systems

San Marcos, Texas to vote on net metering

 

Western States                        

Riverside, California utility proposes annual net metering reconciliation rate

Colorado’s Xcel Energy seeks to delay additional renewable bids 

Idaho PUC revisits PURPA cap and rate for renewable projects  

New Mexico PRC net metering vote dies quietly             

 

Other States                

Hawaii now accepting FIT applications 

 

IREC News

2010 Freeing the Grid is here!

IREC releases Model Rules for Community Renewables 

 

Miscellaneous News

FERC proposes renewable interconnection reform

New EPA rules may make solar more competitive

Report shows distributed generation market to triple by 2015

Upcoming Events

 

Download the full newsletter as a PDF:  December 2010 Connecting to the Grid

FORMAT

While customer-sited net metering and interconnection policies are primarily addressed at the state level, they are also becoming important on a regional basis. This newsletter has been designed to provide state-level policy updates and capture emerging regional trends. Connecting to the Grid is a free, electronic newsletter published each month by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, Inc. (IREC) and the North Carolina Solar Center at North Carolina State University. Click here to subscribe.

Editor: Laurel Varnado
NC Solar Center, NC State University