Here’s a quick look at the net metering changes that happened last year and the changes that are coming this year. Net metering allows solar owner to get fair value for the extra power they produce when it flows into the grid when it’s not needed by the house.
Last year in Kentucky solar there was a flurry of installation activity as changes to net metering were looming in Kentucky Power’s territory and AEP/KU territories. SES and KYSEIA were very involved in providing testimony and information on behalf of solar owners net metering rights. And, when the rate cases were finally decided, the rate that these utilities must credit solar owners for any extra generation feed into the grid in any given month wasn’t full credit, but was far from the whole sale rate that the utility companies were hoping for. So, in those territories solar installed on the new net metering rate will receive about ~75-80% of what they pay for electricity from the grid. Sadly, this will not be the case in Indiana after June 30, 2022.
This year in Indiana, the rate that solar owners will receive for any energy they send back to the grid, will be a rate of approximately 3 cents per kWh. Rates in Indiana vary, but some are as high as about 15 cents a kWh, so that’s far from fair. Also, instead of getting that reduced rate on just the extra energy sent back to the grid, above what you use, there’s the possibility that the utilities will be able to ‘separate the energy streams’. That would severely diminish savings for residential customers. Read more about that in our blog post here.
Tesla Powerwall will offer Indiana customers after June 30, 2022 a way to store power from the day to use at night rather than send any power into the grid that they would be underpaid for.
