Still, the value of those expired credits is rising rapidly. Most rooftop solar customers end up using all their credits. “If your system is designed correctly to meet 100 percent or less of your energy needs, you won’t have expired credits.” “It’s in part to make sure net-metering customers aren’t over-designing their system,” said Kate Bowman with Utah Clean Energy. Come March 31, if a customer generates more solar credits than what’s needed to power their home, they forfeit the credits. The solar generation “year” starts on April 1. Whether grandfathered into net metering or part of the new transitional rate program, Rocky Mountain Power customers only have a year to use solar credits to offset their electricity bills. “Our whole effort this year has been to minimize that decrease.” “We anticipated we’d see a decline in industry,” he said.
That leveling off combined with the Trump administration’s tariffs on solar panels have hit some companies hard, he added, but most solar installers have been able to adjust. Those people interested in solar, if they’d been looking, they went for it in 2016” before net-metering phased out, Evans said. Rocky Mountain Power reported 9,372 customers installed new solar arrays in 2017-2018, just before net metering ended.Īnother 212 households and businesses installed solar between November and March, becoming the first round of solar transition customers.īy comparison, the utility counted 12,408 new rooftop solar installations the year before.Įvans said after a few years of massive growth, the solar industry is starting to level off. Those who had solar installed before November are also grandfathered at their net metering market rates until 2035. RELATED: Utah Consumer Services director breaks down the RMP solar settlement.Transition customers are being paid slightly less than market rates for their solar, rates that are grandfathered until 2033.
New solar customers are now in a transition mode until 2020 while the utility and its watchdogs decide how to better manage Utah’s solar surge. After striking a deal with groups like Utah Clean Energy and the Utah Office of Consumer Services, the way the utility compensates its solar customers has changed. Rocky Mountain Power argued net metering caused costs to pile on that were passed on to non-solar customers. Solar customers used those credits to offset their bill when the sun wasn’t shining. With net metering, the power provider paid solar customers the market rate for their excess energy sent to the grid. RELATED: RMP net-metering settlement creates assurances, uncertainty for Utah solar.“However, I think most Utah companies were able to handle the changes.” “We have definitely seen some attrition in the industry,” said Ryan Evans with the Utah Solar Energy Association. Those in the industry say some of the volatility came from Rocky Mountain Power’s phase-out of net-metering, which went into effect last November. New rooftop solar installations are down by about 23 percent compared to the year before. To date, the utility counts more than 30,000 solar customers. Rooftop solar seems to have lost some of its shine in Utah, but industry and clean air advocates say the alternative energy source still has a bright future.Įlectricity provider Rocky Mountain Power filed its most recent net metering report with the Public Service Commission in July, which indicates some of the changes facing the industry.
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