Viewpoint: Hoosiers, you gotta fight for your right to net meter

Posted by Laura Arnold / February 14, 2017 / Posted in 2017 Indiana General Assembly, solar, Uncategorized / No Comments

Viewpoint: Hoosiers, you gotta fight for your right to net meter

By Mike Keen and Timothy Powers; Feb 14, 2017

Did you know Indiana has experienced impressive growth in solar power recently? Hoosiers are cutting their electric bills, adding jobs and breathing cleaner air thanks to solar. Unfortunately, this could be changed by Senate Bill 309, heard by the Senate Utilities Committee last Thursday. Under the bill, producers of renewable energy will not be credited fairly for the energy their panels produce.

Solar installations for cities, schools, companies, places of worship, and homes currently total over 175 megawatts, or roughly 612.5 acres of sun-soaking crystalline silicon. That’s enough to power 18,000 homes! Barring a change to state and federal laws, this output is expected to triple in the next five years, producing the same amount of power as a small coal-fired plant. Indiana, a state better known for its basketball and corn, now boasts over 1,600 high-paying solar jobs that cannot be outsourced.

Indiana’s emergence onto the solar scene reflects national trends, where solar jobs outpace the national job growth rate by a factor of 12. In 2016, 1 in every 50 new U.S. jobs came from solar. Studies show 80 percent of the country supports renewable growth. Indiana is home to 82 solar companies that install residential, commercial and utility-scale projects across the state and around nation.

The benefits to solar are numerous. These panels can cut their owner’s electricity bill by more than half while reducing environmental impact. St. Anthony de Padua Catholic school here in South Bend, which sports a solar array on its gym, saves money it would much rather spend on students’ education while practicing environmental stewardship strongly encouraged by Pope Francis. Other notable local solar examples include the Century Center, Montessori Academy and the Transpo headquarters.

A variety of federal and state incentives help reduce solar system costs in the state. One of the most critical of these is net metering, the law granting people producing renewable energy the right to receive a credit for their extra power they return to the grid. Indiana and 41 other states currently allow their citizens to net meter.

Unfortunately, SB 309 threatens to significantly undermine this incentive. This bill is bad for Hoosiers on numerous levels. Anyone with solar would be prohibited from using the power produced by their panels. Instead, by 2027, and in some cases earlier, people would have to return their solar power to the grid for as little as 25 percent of the retail value, and then pay for the full price of all the power on their electricity bill.

Supporters of the bill claim this will make solar owners pay their fair share to support the costs of maintaining the grid. However, anyone who receives an electricity bill, no matter the size, will notice they already pay a transmission and distribution fee.

This is about so much more than the people with solar on their roofs. It is about modernizing Indiana’s power grid through distributed generation. Most states are doing this, including Michigan, Ohio and Illinois, all of which have recently overhauled their energy policy to support the rise in renewable energy.

A few states such as Nevada, which have passed bills similar to SB 309, have seen over a thousand solar jobs flee the state due to a subsequent downturn in the solar market.

It is not just solar this bill will hurt. Currently, 43 percent of Fortune 500 companies have pledged to make renewable energy a significant part, if not all, of their energy consumption by a certain date. General Motors plans to be 100 percent renewable by 2050, while Salesforce, with 800 employees in Indianapolis, has pledged to do the same. We will not attract more of these companies to Indiana if our energy policy makes it unfeasible to meet their energy goals.

If you own solar, are interested in one day owning solar, or simply want to see fellow Hoosiers breathing cleaner air, we encourage you to contact your state senator and later your state representatives about SB 309. It is critical we retain net metering in its current form. Let’s be a leader in renewable energy, not a straggler.

Mike Keen is the principal founder at Thrive Michiana LLC and professor emeritus at Indiana University South Bend. Timothy Powers is a graduate student at the Center for a Sustainable Future at IU South Bend.

Solar energy for Hoosiers may change, costly impact for many

Posted by Laura Arnold / February 14, 2017 / Posted in 2017 Indiana General Assembly, solar, Uncategorized / No Comments

Solar energy for Hoosiers may change, costly impact for many

NOTE: Click headline to view video story.

Posted: Feb 13, 2017 5:46 PM EST; Updated: Feb 13, 2017 7:39 PM EST

By Hayley Fixle

ROCHESTER, Ind. -Some Hoosiers across the state are concerned that the thousands of dollars they've spent on solar panels, may go to waste. A proposed Indiana bill would change the way solar renewable energy is metered, and end up costing people the money that they thought they'd be saving.

Saving money, making money. That's the reason that the Weaver Family Farm, just outside of Rochester, decided to get solar panels a few years ago.

Now, they have 12.

"We run quite a few big motors around here to run our green system, so it helps energize those, and save on the electric bill," explains Brandon Cody, a farm hand on the farm,

Saving money is the main reason that many opt to purchase these solar systems.

Eric Straeter and his dad, Jim, of Ag Technologies, a growing solar business in Rochester, say it's an expensive investment that people are willing to make, for the payoff.

"The payback on solar is about a 8-10 year period, and solar systems have a 25 year warranty. You do the math," says Straeter. "They can save big money. Tens of thousands of dollars."

Until now.

Proposed Indiana Senate Bill 309 would change how solar owners get their energy and spend their money.

"The owner would have to sell it to utility at wholesale price, which is about four cents. And they would have to buy it back at retail price, which is about 12 cents," says Jim Straeter.

It's a financial loss, that could have a domino effect.

"If this bill passes, than that would more than likely deter people from purchasing the panels and using the renewable source," says Cody.

That's putting jobs at risk, and concerning businesses like the Straeter's.

They're already considering moving jobs across state lines in the law goes through.

But it's also impacting the people who purchased the panels, making investments dim.

"I think the whole point in these solar panels and using renewable energy from the sun is kind of a waste if this bill passes, and it ends up costing us more," adds Cody.

ABC57 reached out to Senator Brandt Hershman, who authored the bill, and he has agreed to discuss the bill further.

Commentary: Changes to Indiana’s solar policy misguided

Posted by Laura Arnold / February 13, 2017 / Posted in 2017 Indiana General Assembly, solar / No Comments

Commentary: Changes to Indiana’s solar policy misguided

February 9, 2017

By Sanya Carley and David Konisky
Special to TheStatehouseFile.com

Sanya Carley is associate professor of Public and Environmental Affairs

at Indiana University.

David Konisky is associate professor of public and environmental affairs

at Indiana University.

Indiana Senate Bill 309, introduced by Sen. Brandt Herschman, proposes to fundamentally change Indiana’s solar energy policy. The proposed modifications to the state’s net energy metering program are based on a lack of evidence and faulty logic, and would severely undermine the future of solar power in the state. Indiana legislators should oppose this bill.

A net energy metering program allows a household to install its own solar—or other energy system—and connect this system to the electric grid. In times of excess solar generation, the household can sell its electricity back to the grid at the retail rate of electricity. During periods in which the household cannot cover its own electricity through the solar generation, it can purchase electricity from its standard electricity retail provider. This program is popular across the states, with more than 40 having a net metering program in place.

Senate Bill 309 proposes drastic changes. This bill would change the rate of reimbursement for solar generation from a retail rate to a wholesale rate. The difference between the two is, depending on location and other factors, roughly a multiple of two to three. This change would reduce people’s economic incentives to install solar. The bill also proposes to cap the net metering program to 1 percent of an electricity supplier’s most recent summer peak load, and eliminate net metering altogether in 2027. Collectively, these changes would unnecessarily stunt the development of this clean energy source.

Indiana is not the only state to consider modifications to its net energy metering policy. In 2016 alone, 28 states considered making changes. States took several other actions related to solar as well: 35 considered establishing additional fixed charges or raising the minimum electricity bill and 10 considered adding residential solar charges. These policy challenges are primarily leveled on the grounds that net energy metering customers do not pay the full fixed costs of electricity delivery and, as a result, other electricity customers cross-subsidize those with solar panels by picking up the extra fixed costs.

This argument, is flawed for three reasons:

There is no evidence that residential solar significantly raises the price of electricity;
Solar energy offers benefits beyond those that are typically accounted for in the price of electricity;
Regardless of which of these extra benefits are accounted for explicitly in the price of electricity, the vast majority of benefit-cost analyses conducted on residential solar have found benefits to exceed the costs, for both the solar owner and society at large.

A recent study written by Galen Barbose at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory evaluates the effect of residential solar on retail electricity prices, both at present and under future scenarios with much higher levels of assumed solar penetration. The study finds that the effect is negligible: about 0.03 cents per kilowatt-hour at current solar penetration and between 0.1 and 0.2 cents per kilowatt-hour at higher assumed solar penetration levels in the future. These price impacts are much smaller than a variety of other possible electricity price change triggers such as natural gas price spikes or other policies intended to encourage clean energy development.

Solar power also offers many additional benefits, particularly for a state like Indiana that relies disproportionately on a single source of fossil fuel energy for electricity generation; about 75% of electricity in Indiana is generated from coal-fired power plants. Solar power is a clean, renewable source that does not result in emissions of pollutants that threaten human health. In addition, studies have shown that net metering programs create thousands of jobs. According to one recent estimate from the Solar Foundation, more than 200,000 people (nearly than 1,600 in Indiana) currently work in the solar industry. The net metering policy is especially important for Indiana, since the state lacks other common policy measures to encourage solar energy development.

Over the last several years, the majority of states have conducted solar valuation studies. These studies tend to include direct measures of costs and benefits associated with residential solar. Out of 16 recent solar valuation studies recently written or commissioned by utilities, utility commissions, or independent analysts, all found net positive benefits, and 12 of the 16 found net benefits that exceeded the retail rate of electricity. [emphasis added]

Indiana is on a slower path than most other states toward developing cleaner sources of energy. The General Assembly should be looking for ways to hasten the development of solar, wind, and other sources of renewable energy, rather than considering policies that impede the state’s transition to a cleaner energy future. Indiana Senate Bill 309 is clearly a step in the wrong direction.

Sanya Carley and David Konisky are professors of public and environmental affairs at Indiana University

This commentary was written about SB 309 as introduced and does not reflect the amendment which Sen. Hershman made in the Senate Utilities Committee on 2/9/17.

UPDATE: SB 500 to fix HOA solar problem amended today and moves to Third Reading in Senate

Posted by Laura Arnold / February 13, 2017 / Posted in 2017 Indiana General Assembly, solar / No Comments

UPDATE: About 3:19 pm EST Sen. Aaron Freeman called down SB 500 on second reading. Sen. Freeman offered Amendment #2 and Amendment #3 which were both adopted by a VoiceVote.

SB 500 as amended today now moves to third reading or final passage in the Indiana Senate.

SB 500 introduced by Sen. Aaron Freeman (R-Indianapolis) to fix the Home Owner Association (HOA) solar problem in Indiana is on the Second Reading Calendar today (2/13/17).

To see the Senate Calendar visit:

http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2017/calendars/senate/18/

Click here to watch live streaming of the Senate:

http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2017/senate

Three proposed amendment have been filed on SB 500.

Hoosiers, you gotta fight for your right to net meter

Posted by Laura Arnold / February 13, 2017 / Posted in 2017 Indiana General Assembly, solar, Uncategorized / No Comments

IndianaDG Editor's Note: I am sharing this Guest Editorial with IndianaDG Readers, however, I am also including corrections and clarifications. This will be noted in [red italics].

Hoosiers, you gotta fight for your right to net meter

State now boasts over 1,600 high-paying solar jobs

By Mike Keen and Timothy Powers Guest columnists

Did you know Indiana has experienced a boon in solar power recently? The market is projected to enjoy incredible growth in the coming years. Unfortunately, this progress could be stopped by Senate Bill 309, heard by the ~~House~~ [Senate] Utilities Committee on Thursday. New-era photovoltaic installations for cities, schools, companies, places of worship and homes currently total over 175 megawatts, or roughly 612.5 acres of sun-soaking crystalline silicon. That’s enough to power 18,000 homes! Barring a change in incentives, this output is expected to triple in the next five years, producing the same amount of power as a small coal-fired plant. Indiana, a state better known for its basketball and corn, now boasts over 1,600 high-paying solar jobs that cannot be outsourced.

Indiana’s emergence onto the solar scene reflects national trends, where solar jobs outpace the national job growth rate by a factor of 12. In 2016, 1 in every 50 new U.S. jobs came from solar. Indiana is home to 82 solar companies that install residential, commercial and utility-scale projects across the state and around nation.

The benefits of solar are numerous. These panels can cut their owner’s electricity bill by more than half while reducing environmental impact. Saint Anthony’s de Padua Catholic school in South Bend, which sports a solar array on its gym, practices environmental stewardship strongly encouraged by Pope Francis while saving money they would much rather spend on their student’s education. Kokomo recently turned on its 21-acre solar farm, installed on a toxic brownfield site where a steel plant once stood. [The Kokomo solar farm installed on the former Continental Steel brownfield site does not use net metering and will not be impacted by the net metering provisions of SB 309. This project has a long term purchase power agreement with Duke Energy. Indiana's current net metering rule only applies to customer owned solar and wind systems less than 1 MW.]

A variety of federal and state incentives help reduce solar system costs for Indiana. One of the most critical of these is net metering, the law granting anyone producing renewable energy (solar, wind, biofuel) the right to sell their extra power back to the grid at market rates. [The notion that solar customers sell their net excess electricity back to the grid is a common misnomer. Net metering customers receive a kWh for kWh CREDIT. When the solar customer's meter runs backwards they reduce the electricity they receive from their utility which is priced at the lowest price since most Indiana utilities still employ declining block rate structures where the more electricity a customer uses the less they pay per kWh.] Indiana and 41 other states currently allow their citizens to net meter.

Unfortunately, SB 309, threatens to significantly undermine this incentive. [Unfortunately, the notion that net metering is an incentive or a subsidy is another misnomer propagated by Indiana's electric utilities. There has been no Indiana net metering cost study using data from Indiana's electric utilities. There have been numerous cost studies doe in other states which instead indicate that net metering is a NET BENEFIT to all customers. See http://www.indianadg.net/solar-cost-benefit-studies/ and in particular a 2016 report by the Brookings Institute which summarizes the results of numerous state studies. See

Rooftop Solar: Net Metering is a Net Benefit - Brookings, 2016

] This bill is bad for Hoosiers on numerous levels. It directly affects anyone with solar by prohibiting them from using their own power produced by their panels. Instead, by 2027, and in some cases earlier, people would have to sell their solar power to the grid for as little as 25 percent of the retail value, and then pay a full price for all the power on their electricity bill.

This about so much more than a few thousand people with solar on their roofs. [Please note that according to the most recent Report on net metering prepared by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) can be found at http://www.in.gov/iurc/files/2015_Net_Metering_Required_Reporting_Summary.pdf. This is the most current information on net metering for the investor owned electric utilities that would be impacted by SB 309 as it was amended 2/9/17. This report shows there were 866 net metering customers NOT a few thousand. The next IURC Net Metering report documenting net metering as of the end of 2016 should be available in March 2017.] It is about modernizing Indiana’s power grid through distributed generation. Most states are doing this, including Michigan, Ohio and Illinois, all of whom have recently overhauled their energy policy to support the rise in renewable energy. A few states such as Nevada, who have passed bills similar to SB 309, have seen over a thousand solar jobs flee the state.

[The action in Nevada on net metering was at the Nevada Public Utilities Commission (PUCN) and not the Nevada state legislature. Please see these two recent articles further explaining the NV PUC's reversal of their recent net metering decisions.

Nevada Regulators Restore Net Metering for Existing Solar Customers, Sept. 16, 2016; and

Nevada Regulators Restore Retail-Rate Net Metering in Sierra Pacific Territory, Dec. 22, 2016 "The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) has voted to restore favorable rates for residential solar customers in NV Energy’s Sierra Pacific Power Company’s service territory -- exactly one year after the commission passed a controversial fee increase that brought the state’s residential solar market to a halt."

It is not just solar this bill will hurt. Currently, 43 percent of Fortune 500 companies have pledged to make renewable energy a significant part, if not all, of their energy consumption by a certain date. General Motors plans to be 100 percent renewable by 2050, while Salesforce, with 800 employees in Indianapolis, has pledged to do the same. We will not attract more of these companies to Indiana if our energy laws make it unfeasible to meet their energy goals.

If you own solar, are interested in one day owning solar, or simply want to see fellow Hoosiers breathing cleaner air, I encourage you to contact your state [Senator and later your state] Representatives about SB 309. This is hardly a partisan issue; 80 percent of the country is in favor of renewable energy. In Indiana it is critical we retain net metering in its current form. Let’s be a leader in renewable energy, not a straggler.

Mike Keen is Professor Principal Thrive Michiana LLC and Emeritus at IU South Bend. Timothy Powers is a graduate student at the Center for a Sustainable Future at IU South Bend.