Dive Brief:

• NV Energy’s net metering program, implemented to grow distributed solar, imposes no significant costs on non-solar-owning ratepayers, according to an independent study by Energy + Environmental Economics (E3) commissioned by the Nevada Public Utilities Commission.
• Before 2014, NV Energy’s net metering caused a cost shift to nonparticipating customers because the program’s funding was costly, but the 2014-2015 benefit is lower and the 2016 increase will approximately even out the costs and benefits, according to E3.
• The E3 study, mandated in 2013 by Nevada’s Assembly Bill 428, will be incorporated into the PUC Chair’s report to the full commission, which will then report to legislature on whether owners of distributed generation should be moved to a separate rate class.

Dive Insight:

The Nevada Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection requested the PUC's assessment of whether there should be a separate ratepayer category for owners of distributed generation. A public workshop later this summer will allow stakeholders to comment on the E3 study.

The Sierra Club opposed the AG’s assessment request because it was based on the “unsupported assumption” that net metered customers cost more on NV Energy’s system than customers without self-generation but that is “usually either untrue or severely overstated.”