By Cassandra Sweet | The Wall Street Journal
People with solar panels on their roofs often get a pretty good price break on their energy bills.
Too good, some utilities say.
Now, utilities in several states—including the country’s sunniest, California and Arizona—are trying to do something about it.
Here’s the issue: For most homes, solar panels don’t generate all the power the residents use. At night and on cloudy days, and sometimes even on sunny days, these homes draw power from the grid that serves all a utility’s customers. But at other times, the panels generate more power than the home is using, and that surplus power flows into the grid.
Under state rules known as net metering, cusomers are credited on their bills for any power that flows from their homes to the grid, usually at the same rate they pay when they draw power from the grid.
So, customers with solar panels ot only are buying less electricity from their utilities, but also are able to offset much of the cost of what they do buy.
If you’d like to discuss energy issues, contact Court Rich, director of Rose Law Group’s Renewable Energy Department at crich@roselawgroup.com
