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
