OREGON – PUC Investigates Third-Party Rights to Net Metering Payments
On June 6, 2008, Honeywell and Pacific Power, a subsidiary of Pacificorp/ MidAmerican, filed a joint petition (see Docket DR 40) with the Oregon Public Utilities Commission requesting an expedited declaratory ruling regarding clarification of the state’s net metering rules when a third party owns, operates, and maintains a customer’s distributed generation system under a…
On June 6, 2008, Honeywell and Pacific Power, a subsidiary of Pacificorp/ MidAmerican, filed a joint petition (see Docket DR 40) with the Oregon Public Utilities Commission requesting an expedited declaratory ruling regarding clarification of the state’s net metering rules when a third party owns, operates, and maintains a customer’s distributed generation system under a long-term contract and the customer pays the third party a monthly fee for power and services. Key question: Is the third party provider entitled to a net metering payment from the utility for excess power fed back to the grid? The outcome of this case should be of great interest to the readers of Connecting to the Grid because it may set a precedent for other states to follow and could financially impact the business of such third party providers.
