Massachusetts energy act raises solar net-metering cap

Gov. Deval Patrick, D-Mass., has signed into law the 2012 Energy Act, a comprehensive energy bill that includes several solar-friendly provisions.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) praised the legislation, noting that, among other provisions, it increases Massachusetts' cap on solar net metering. A previous law, passed in 2008, required the state's major electric utilities to make net metering available to customers until the total program capacity reached 3% of the utility's peak demand.

California considers net metering change

The California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has proposed a decision that, if approved, will likely boost renewable energy use by homeowners, businesses, and commercial uses and lower energy costs for both solar and non-solar energy ratepayers.

The proposal, put forward by PUC Chairman Michael Peevey, clarifies the methodology to fairly calculate the cap on net energy metering, a billing arrangement that allows utility customers to offset energy use with their own renewable energy systems (such as electricity-generating solar panels). Net metering works like “rollover minutes,” with customers receiving credits on their bills for the excess power they generate that is put back on the grid.

SEIA and Solar Alliance merge to focus on state policy issues

The country’s top solar industry trade association announced Tuesday it is merging with an organization that advocates for solar energy at the state level.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), which represents 1,100 solar companies around the country, said it merged with the Solar Alliance in order to focus more on state-level policy issues.

“The solar energy industry is expanding and it is critical for SEIA to mirror this growth and put our resources and expertise into developing state policy that expand markets for solar energy,” SEIA President Rhone Resch said in a statement.