February 23, 2011

Massachusetts utilities asked for net metering info at a technical hearing

On February 14 the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities held a net metering and interconnection technical conference.  The agenda for this conference specified the purpose of the technical conference was to engage in a discussion that identifies an assurance of net metering eligibility and other net metering and interconnection issues.  This discussion comes as a…

On February 14 the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities held a net metering and interconnection technical conference.  The agenda for this conference specified the purpose of the technical conference was to engage in a discussion that identifies an assurance of net metering eligibility and other net metering and interconnection issues.  This discussion comes as a result of a 2010 Act signed in October.

As a result of this technical conference, utilities that are bound by the net metering law must provide the following information to the DPU:

  • Size, generation type, net metering class, rate class, and fuel type and the municipality where net metering facilities are located;
  • Aggregate capacity of all net metered facilities in their service territory;
  • The number of Class I, II and III Net Metering Facilities that have a municipality or other governmental entity as the Host Customer and the aggregate capacity of these;
  • Size, generation type, anticipated net metering class, anticipated rate class, fuel type, anticipated in-service date and the municipality for facilities that have a pending request to interconnect;
  • The aggregate capacity of the facilities that have pending requests to interconnect and to receive net metering services;
  • The number of pending requests for anticipated Class I, II and III Net Metering Facilities that have a municipality or other governmental entity as the Host Customer and their aggregate capacity;
  • Whether the Company has opted to pay a Host Customer for net metering credits rather than allocate them.
  • The number of distributed generation facilities that have applied for interconnection and those that have been interconnected in the utility’s service territory since 2005 on an annual basis (and, if available, on a monthly basis).
  • Information on the quality of applications received from distributed generation facilities to interconnect in the Company’s service territory since 2005, including a discussion of any follow-up needed to complete the application, the time and resources necessary to process applications and the impact, if any, of the adoption of the Green Communities Act in 2009.
  • How the Company applies net metering credits to the bill of a customer who uses competitive supply.

For more information search for Docket 11-11 on the MA DPU File Room Web site.