Estimating Utility Avoided Costs Without Utility-Specific Data

摘要

In December 2015, the Nevada Public Utility Commission unanimously approved a utility request to charge new fees to customers that have interconnected solar panels to the grid under the utility's net metering tariff. The proceeding—the culmination of months of direct and rebuttal testimony submitted for the commission's consideration in a docket—mirrors dockets being held across the country, though the outcomes have varied in other states. The net metering landscape saw some big changes in 2015. States with well-developed residential solar markets—like California, Arizona, Massachusetts, and Hawaii—all made notable changes to their state's net metering policy. At one end of the spectrum is Hawaii, which closed its net metering program to new customers. California had a detailed stakeholder process to determine the "Net Metering Successor Tariff." Utilities in Arizona, as well as many other states with far less solar customers, have been seeking to place net metered customers on a separate rate from all other residential customers. In the south, Mississippi standardized a policy to allow for net metering.