Yesterday, by a vote of 4-1, the Arizona Corporation Commission voted to expand the state's renewable energy standard to 15% by 2025, with 30% of that to come from distributed generation technologies. We're talking support for up to 2,000 MW of solar.
We'll take that over a sack of tootsie rolls and candy corn any day.
Best moment of the meeting? Commissioner Mundell, in response to complaints by Commissioner Gleason about subsidies for renewables, got a good laugh with: "When you're talking about subsidies and the free market, subsidies for the (traditional) energy industry would make Adam Smith spin around in his grave so much that he'd qualify as an alternative energy source."
Indeed.
With world-class sunshine and explosive population growth, Arizona is well positioned to become a key solar market. The game's not over yet, however. It takes more than incentives to make a sustainable solar market. The state has no regulations for interconnection standards, nor net metering. The financial incentives are the engine for solar's development, but these policies are the road, and we need both to get to solar nirvana. We are hip-deep in Commission workshops to redress the lack, and we have also intervened in an Arizona Public Service rate case to fight a horrible net metering rider.
Onwards.
Comments
View as Flat
Biodiversivist Posted 8:03 am
01 Nov 2006
Explain to us net metering
Too lazy to google it.
In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Help acquire and protect ecological hotspots, give to a conservation organization: www.saveourbiodiversity.com
Permalink
David Roberts Posted 8:23 am
01 Nov 2006
Net metering
via Wikipedia:
www.grist.org
Permalink
ffletcher Posted 9:22 am
01 Nov 2006
Net Metering for Dummies
Looks like Wikipedia is a little off in this case. Net metering always results in price received for electricity to be at the retail price. This is favorable because the highest price for electricity in the distribution chain is the retail price (no surprise). Net metering allows a utility customer to put an approved electricity resource, like a solar panel or wind turbine, on its property and connect it to 120/240 volt wiring on the property thus displacing electricity otherwise bought from the utility. Further, if the generation exceeds the need of the customer the customer gets a credit for that electricity. Typically if the credit remains positive throughout the year for a customer the customer gets paid for the power at the retail rate.
Net metering does not meter the electricity resource seperately. Because it does not measure it seperately there is no way the resource does not, in effect, get the benefit of the retail price. Letting the meter turn backwards to undo past purchases is a great feature of the approach.
Permalink