January 2010 Connecting to the Grid Newsletter
Editor: Laurel Varnado NC Solar Center, NC State University HOW TO SUBSCRIBE The Connecting to the Grid newsletter is published electronically every month by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, Inc. (IREC) and the North Carolina Solar Center at North Carolina State University. This is a free publication. Click here to subscribe. FORMAT While customer-sited net…
Editor: Laurel Varnado
NC Solar Center, NC State University
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE
The Connecting to the Grid newsletter is published electronically every month by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, Inc. (IREC) and the North Carolina Solar Center at North Carolina State University. This is a free publication. Click here to subscribe.
FORMAT
While customer-sited net metering and interconnection are primarily state issues, they are also becoming important on a regional basis. This newsletter has been designed to capture any subtle, emerging regional trends. The state news is presented in geographic categories, primarily because the standard NERC and/or RTO/ISO regions do not always align with state boundaries. Please direct comments and questions about the newsletter to Laurel Varnado.
January 2010 Connecting to the Grid Newsletter (PDF)
January 2010 Connecting to the Grid Newsletter (MS Word)
WHAT’S NEW AS OF JANUARY 2010
Note from the Editor: Celebrating the Year’s and Decade’s Achievements
The New Year always provides good opportunity for reflection, so in keeping with “Best of” traditions, I thought I would highlight the major achievements that we witnessed in 2009 for Net Metering and Interconnection-related policies.
- Several states improved upon their interconnection procedures, increasing the system cap to 10 MW or greater, including D.C, South Dakota, Virginia and Oregon.
- After a brief legal battle, Missouri relaxed its insurance requirements for interconnecting DG systems.
- We saw a surprising number of states that enacted or adopted policies for the first time, including Kentucky, Nebraska, Alaska, Kansas, and South Carolina
- Several states formalized rules for shared system net metering including Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts. Rhode Island also passed legislation allowing virtual net metering for up to 10 accounts owned by government and certain other classes of utility customers.
- Aggregate participation caps also got a boost in several states: New Hampshire (saw a small increase to 1%), Delaware (5%), Utah (for Rocky Mountain Power: 20%), and North Carolina (removed the cap altogether)
- Delaware and California allowed indefinite rollover of net metering credits.
- Michigan, North Carolina and West Virginia are working on REC tracking platforms
- Several states are working on fixed price offerings or feed-in tariffs (FITs) including Hawaii, California, Oregon, Maine and Wisconsin
But wait, let’s not stop there! Not only was it the turn of a new year but it was also the turn of a new decade. Recently, I came across a net metering map that had been created by the folks at DSIRE, of course, showing states with net metering policies in the year 2000. Only 22 states were shaded. If you compare that to today’s DSIRE map you will see a remarkable difference; almost twice as many states have net metering now than did ten years ago. [Continued in Newsletter]
State News in Detail:
Northeast States
Connecticut utilities issue report on interconnection to networks
New York PSC expands RPS to 30%
Maine PUC adopts best-practices interconnection procedures
Massachusetts launches comprehensive solar program
Vermont PSB staff issue proposal for setting renewable energy FIT prices
Mid-Atlantic States
Maryland Governor accepts proposal to increase incentives for renewable energy in the state
New Jersey separates NM and IC rules, lifting 2MW cap on interconnection; proposes lifting 2MW cap on net metering.
Pennsylvania PUC issues policy statement in support of solar projects
Midwestern States
Kansas public utility voluntarily adopts net metering, interconnection
Missouri PSC sends Renewable Energy Standard proposal to Secretary of State for approval
Wisconsin PSC notes that all utilities are meeting or exceeding RPS goals
Southern States
North Carolina’s Duke Energy begins second phase of Solar Distributed Generation Program
Western States
Arizona ACC rules on third-party arrangement for school districts
CPUC provides standard contract for CHP generation delivered to the grid
New Mexico PRC upholds ruling on third-party sales
Oregon PUC posts FIT workshop information
Washington UTC files NOPR on smart grid work
Miscellaneous News
China Increases Renewable Energy Goal
California to allow tradable RECs to meet RPS compliance
A Round-up of Feed-in Tariff news from Around the World
Conferences and Events
