Dan Haugen | Midwest Energy News
Minnesota utility regulators on Wednesday approved the nation’s first statewide formula for calculating the value of customer-generated solar power.
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission voted 3-2 in favor of a proposal aimed at settling the perennial debate over how much solar power is worth to a utility and its ratepayers, as well as society and the environment.
“I think that consensus is really beginning to emerge,” said Lynn Hinkle, policy director for the Minnesota Solar Energy Industries Association. “There’s no doubt what happened today was a step forward.”
Investor-owned utilities will now have the voluntary option of applying to use the value-of-solar formula instead of the retail electricity rate when crediting customers for unused electricity they generate from solar panels.
