Dive Brief:
- The three biggest utilities in Calif. are refusing to reimburse storage-backed solar power through net metering.
- Edison International, PG&E and Sempra Energy argue that supposed solar power coming from energy storage systems could be a fraud.
- The utilities say net metering programs only compensate clean energy. They claim they cannot be sure battery-stored power is actually clean as it doesn't come directly from a renewable energy source.
Dive Insight:
“Technically, [solar power that comes from] battery storage may not qualify for net energy metering under current rules,” said Stephanie Donovan, spokeswoman for SDG&E. Technically, the utilities have a good point. Realistically... not so much. Net metering fraud almost certainly isn't actually a problem. You would have to be incredibly dedicated and, even if you did somehow manage do fraudulently sell unclean energy through net metering, it simply wouldn't be worth it on anything but a massive scale.
But as distributed generation and energy storage are both relatively new, the current rules do not account for this particular eventuality. Utilities just don't want to pay more for technologies that eat into their most essential revenue stream: electricity sales. The state Public Utilities Commission said they're aware of the problem and will "provide formal direction on these issues in the coming months."