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Solar Power Net Metering Most Beneficial According to Study

The Brookings Institution study determined net metering provided $36 million in benefits to all NV Energy customers, regardless of whether they were receiving net-metering credits.

(TNS) -- A new Brookings Institution analysis indicates that net metering of solar power yields benefits for all ratepayers — not just customers generating their own electricity through solar arrays.

The paper largely concludes the benefits associated with net metering outweigh the costs and don’t pose significant cost increases for non-solar ratepayers. Net metering allows solar power users to send excess electricity back to the electric grid in return for rate credits.

Mark Muro and Devashree Saha, two fellows at Brookings’ Metropolitan Policy Program, authored the analysis, which became public today.

Its release comes a day before SolarCity is scheduled to unveil its own report examining the benefits of rooftop solar. The Greenspun Center at UNLV and SolarCity will host a panel discussion Tuesday to discuss the report, with participation from energy experts, regulators and business leaders.

The Brookings authors point to studies conducted by various states, research institutions and experts, including a 2014 study commissioned by the Nevada Public Utilities Commission. That study determined net metering provided $36 million in benefits to all NV Energy customers, regardless of whether they were receiving net-metering credits.

Their analysis also examines net-metering benefits to the entire electric grid, such as reduced infrastructure repair and environmental compliance costs.

Even so, the authors acknowledge that it’s a delicate balance finding a rate system that suits both the customers and utility companies. Rates too favorable to solar-generating customers could make it difficult for the utilities to recover costs, while the opposite might deter customers from installing solar panels or other forms of distribution-generation technologies.

The debate is particularly heated in Nevada. This year, the Nevada PUC tripled a fixed fee and significantly reduced the value of credits solar customers earn for sending excess electricity generated back to NV Energy.

The change in the net-metering program prompted Nevada’s three largest providers of rooftop solar panels — SolarCity, Sunrun and Vivint Solar — to leave the state entirely. More recently, a panel of representatives from NV Energy, the state Bureau of Consumer Protection and solar companies agreed in principle that existing rooftop solar customers should be grandfathered into a cheaper power rate.

Last week, the panel voted to recommend that Nevada preserve cheaper rates for customers who applied for the net-metering program by Dec. 31, 2015. The governor's New Energy Industry Task Force will consider the recommendation.

The Brookings paper recommends a handful of reforms based on the theory that net metering benefits all ratepayers. For instance, the authors say PUCs should examine the full range of benefits and costs of distribution-generation technologies and also compensate rooftop solar customers based on the benefit they provide to the grid.

The paper also notes that utilities could sell or lease rooftop-solar systems to homeowners and invest in a more digital and distributed power grid to offset financial challenges posed by net metering.

A phone call to NV Energy for comment was not immediately returned.

©2016 the Las Vegas Sun (Las Vegas, Nev.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.