Forbes
A California incentive program that encourages rooftop solar installations could generate $92 million worth of benefits for the state residents, according to a report released Tuesday.
The report by San Francisco-based Vote Solar Initiative looks at the costs and benefits of the state’s net metering program, which allows residential and commercial customers to sell excessive solar electricity at retail prices to their utilities. The program is eligible to customers of the three largest investor-owned utilities in the state. It covers about 1,400 megawatts of solar energy systems, said Susannah Churchill, an advocate with Vote Solar Initiative.
The report comes at a time when there is a big debate over whether the program places unfair financial burdens on utilities and ratepayers who don’t have solar equipment installed on their rooftops. Net metering customers don’t pay a fee for maintaining the electric grid while non-metering customers do on their monthly bills. But net metering customers still rely on power shipped from their utilities, especially at night when their solar panels aren’t producing electricity.
