WV PSC Does Good Job with New Net Metering Regulations

/ Bill

The WV PSC has just released the new regulations on net metering in West Virginia that will go into effect on August 30, 2010.  I don’t have a link to the PSC order on the Commission’s Web site, but here is a link to a summary of the new regs in the July newsletter of IREC, a national organization promoting locally produced electricity.

The new regulations are user friendly and included a number of suggestions provided by the state’s renewable power installation community, including installers and homeowner power producers.

Here are the highlights of the new regulations as listed in the IREC newsletter:

Net Metering
• System size limits: 25 kW residential, 500 kW commercial, 2 MW industrial
• Program enrollment limit: up to 3% of utility peak load
• Rollover: full monthly rollover at retail with no annual true-up (perpetual rollover)
• Ability to net meter on TOU rates
• Ability to aggregate meters within 2 miles of generation
• Accommodation of third-party owned systems
• Rules apply to all utilities including municipal utilities and co-ops, although system size caps of 50 kW apply for utilities with less than 30,000 customers

Interconnection
• No disconnect switch requirements for inverter-based systems less than 25kW
• Reasonable insurance limits (systems up to 50 kW must have general liability insurance of $100,000; 50 kW – 500 kW must have $500,000; greater than 500 kW must have $1,000,000)
• Two levels of Review: Level 1 – Small Generator Facilities of 25 kW or less, which are inverter-based and certified; Level 2 – Small Generator Facilities of 2 MW or less that do not qualify for Level 1.

This order becomes effective August 30, 2010.

The WV PSC deserves a lot of credit for approving very progressive net metering regs.  IREC states that the new regs should move West Virginia into the elite group of states with the best net metering programs.

So if you live in West Virginia, stop whining about rising electric rates.  Stop thinking like a consumer, become a producer.  Be your own smart grid.  As Mohandas Gandhi said: “Be the change you want to see.”