On February 22nd, 2012, Interstate Renewable Energy Council Inc. (Latham, New York, U.S.) announced that El Paso Electric (El Paso, Texas, U.S.) proposed a rider last month that would impose a substantial penalty for customers owning solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays in its service territory.
The utility has proposed a USD 2.25 per kilowatt (kW) charge for solar customers and USD 1.90 per kW for small wind customers to compensate for the use of the company’s grid. The amount is estimated to an average of USD 11 per month for most residential customers.
El Paso Electric also estimates that it has 65 residential customers with a total solar capacity of 301 kW and another two customers with 6.8 kW of wind generating facilities. The proposed change would amount to about USD 9,365 per year in revenues for the utility.
These types of charges can have an unfavorable impact on market growth for solar and small wind. To encourage customers to “go solar”, these kinds of additional charges for net metering customers should not be allowed, according to Interstate Renewable Energy Council.
The utility has proposed a USD 2.25 per kilowatt (kW) charge for solar customers and USD 1.90 per kW for small wind customers to compensate for the use of the company’s grid. The amount is estimated to an average of USD 11 per month for most residential customers.
El Paso Electric also estimates that it has 65 residential customers with a total solar capacity of 301 kW and another two customers with 6.8 kW of wind generating facilities. The proposed change would amount to about USD 9,365 per year in revenues for the utility.
These types of charges can have an unfavorable impact on market growth for solar and small wind. To encourage customers to “go solar”, these kinds of additional charges for net metering customers should not be allowed, according to Interstate Renewable Energy Council.
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