LIPA Proposes Net Metering Upgrades
In October, the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) issued proposed regulations that would bring LIPA’s net metering rules up to speed with the NY state net metering law. The current net metering tariff allows only solar and wind facilities to net meter according to the following system size limits: 2 MW for non-residential solar or…
In October, the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) issued proposed regulations that would bring LIPA’s net metering rules up to speed with the NY state net metering law. The current net metering tariff allows only solar and wind facilities to net meter according to the following system size limits: 2 MW for non-residential solar or wind; 500 kW for agricultural wind; 27.5 kW for residential solar or wind or agricultural solar.
These proposed rules would additionally allow net metering for farm waste generation systems up to 1 MW, farm waste being defined as a system “fueled at a minimum of 90% on an annual basis by biogas produced from the anaerobic digestion of agricultural waste such as livestock manure materials, crop residues, and food processing waste, and fueled by biogas generated by anaerobic digestion with at least 50% by weight of its feed stock being livestock manure on an annual basis.” Like the NY state net metering rule, the proposal also adds micro-CHP and residential fuel cells between 1-10 kW.
According to its website, LIPA is a non-profit municipal electric provider which owns the retail electric transmission and distribution system on Long Island and provides electric service to more than 1.1 million customers in Nassau and Suffolk counties and the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. LIPA is the 2nd largest municipal electric utility in the nation in terms of electric revenues, 3rd largest in terms of customers served and the 7th largest in terms of electricity delivered.