By VERNON ROBISON
Moapa Valley Progress
Representatives from Overton Power District (OPD) discussed the district’s policies surrounding rooftop solar systems at a town hall meeting held at the Rising Star Sports Ranch in Mesquite on Wednesday evening, May 29. About thirty people were in attendance to learn more about the process of installing solar generation systems on their homes and the OPD policies pertaining to them.
The meeting was the second in a pair of informational sessions which also sought public input about proposed policy changes. The first of the two meetings was held a week earlier in Overton.
At the meeting, OPD Engineering Coordinator Boyd Evans explained that the district has long had a net metering policy allowing for excess power generated by rooftop solar arrays to be passed on to OPD system for a credit to the customer.
Evans emphasized that the goal of the program is to allow customers to reduce their traditional energy use, but not to inadvertently create a new role for the customer as a generating resource for OPD.
“We want you to zero out on your energy,” Evans said, “but not to overproduce.”
Evans also talked about a number of incentives that had been established years ago to help customers get in to rooftop solar. These were established at a time when rooftop solar was a fledgling technology. Modifying these incentives had become the focus of the OPD board in recent months, he said.
“The current policy was really just a first try,” Evans said. “It was not perfect. That is why we are reviewing it.”
Evans explained that there are three changes to net metering policy that are currently being considered by the board.
The first is the current policy of offering a $2,500 rebate to residential customers who install solar systems to their homes. This rebate is proposed to be phased out in the coming months, Evans said.
The second policy is dealing with any excess generation credits accumulated from one month to another by net meter customers. These would continue to be carried for use throughout the year. But they would be zeroed out at year’s end. Current policy has offered a buy-back of such excess credits by the district at year’s end, up to a limit of $150.
Finally, the net metering customer contracts would be changed to have a five year end date. At the end of the five year term, the contracts would be updated. There are currently no end dates on those contracts in OPD policy.
After the presentation, the floor was open to the public for questions and providing input.
One attendee remarked that he had understood the rebates had been a way for the OPD to buy the rights to the customers’ Renewable Energy Credits (RECs). These credits could then be applied to state regulatory requirements for the district. The commenter asked what would now happen to these RECs without the rebate.
Evans responded that the OPD had been exempted from the REC regulations by state legislation because of its small size. Thus, those RECs had no real value to the district, he said.
“In short, you get to keep your RECs,” Evans said.
Another attendee asked about options for back-up power in case of an OPD system outage. Evans had made the point that unless expensive battery backup is installed, even net metering customers would be out of power in a system outage.
The person asked if back-up generators could still be used by net meter customers. Evans responded that a generator could still be used in an outage since it likely would not be attached to the main power system of the home.
Another woman in attendance asked if OPD offered a mechanism for customers to pay a premium and ensure a greater percentage of their power came through OPD from renewable sources. This would allow customers to support and purchase green energy, without having to install solar panels on their roofs, she said.
The woman explained that in her second home in Wyoming, she is able to pay a 10 percent premium for use of a green-sourced energy portfolio.
Evans explained that such a program is not yet available at OPD. But it has been considered and may be implemented if there is enough customer interest, he said.
The OPD board has looked at buying into large-scale solar generating facilities as well as installing smaller-scale local solar farms on its system. But at that time, customer feedback was not favorable to these programs when the customers found that the green power would come at a premium on their power bill.
“So it could still be coming,” Evans said. “That is one of the reasons for rolling back on the rebates. This allows that investment to go into programs like this.”
A few attendees who are already net metering customers, commented how helpful OPD staff had been in assisting with the process of installing their rooftop systems.
“OPD is great to work with,” said one attendee. “They worked with my contractor and made it an easy process. Compared with the stories that I have heard from friends in Las Vegas who have dealt with NV Energy, these guys are great!”
