Public Utility in Kansas Voluntarily Adopts Net Metering

KANSAS – On December 16, the Kansas City, Kansas Board of Public Utilities voted to approve four new policies on net metering, parallel generation and interconnection, and power quality and voltage regulation. These policies will allow residential, commercial, and industrial customers to build and interconnect their own renewable energy resources (e.g. solar, wind, biomass) with the BPU’s system.

At the meeting, BPU staff provided an overview on the methods by which customers can interconnect with the BPU’s grid, and the levels of compensation they can expect to receive for any net energy they provide to the BPU. If a customer generates more energy than they receive, they will be credited on their electric bills in their next bill statement.  So far no tariffs or further information can be found on the BPU website.

While new state regulations require private utility companies to begin offering this service in Kansas, public utilities like are not required to do so.  However, BPU has voluntarily adopted these policies, which are expected to take effect in January of 2010. The BPU serves approximately 65,000 electric customers primarily in Wyandotte County, Kansas.

Laurel Passera

Laurel is a Senior Renewables Analyst for IREC attorneys Keyes, Fox & Wiedman, and engages in research and analysis of net metering and interconnection regulatory trends to support IREC’s outreach and communication efforts. In 2009, Laurel was a Southeast Regional Network fellow for the Southeast Environmental Leadership Program and currently sits on Raleigh City Council’s Environmental Advisory Board.