Dive Brief:
- Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) will meet with officials from Solar City, the Las Vegas Sun reports, to discuss changes to the state's cap on customer-sited solar energy and net metering policies.
- NV Energy, the incumbent utility, believes growing distributed solar generation will increase electricity rates for all its customers, and makes non-solar customers pay more for grid upkeep.
- Nevada policy currently caps solar participation at 3% of peak load, or approximately 7,500 MW, according to the newspaper.
Dive Insight:
Are significant changes coming to Nevada's solar industry? Gov. Sandoval will meet "soon" with officials from Solar City, the Las Vegas Sun reports, to discuss the state's solar cap, net metering, and other potential changes to the industry.
The state's solar industry is set to max out the 3% cap, advocates say, and that will put some 6,000 renewable energy jobs at risk.
But NV Energy believes net metering is cutting into its profits. Retail net metering rules mean customers with rooftop solar are getting too good a deal, the utility says — their service is being subsidized by others, and that problem will only spread if the state increases the net metering cap.
The governor has yet to take a position, acknowledging "there is a concern" about rate subsidization.
According to the American Council On Renewable Energy, Nevada has a target of 25% renewable energy by 2025 with a "solar energy carveout, as well as strong net metering and interconnection policies designed to encourage distributed generation."
