Dive Brief:
- The Nevada Public Utilities Commission has rejected solar advocates' request to extend the state's net metering program, saying the legislature has authority over the program and not regulators.
- Nevada has a legislatively-mandated 235 MW cap on its net metering program, which is expected to max out in the coming weeks.
- The Alliance for Solar Choice had petitioned regulators to extend the net metering cap at least through the end of the year, when new rates would be set.
Dive Insight:
Nevada regulators are frustrated, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports, because they would like to help the state's solar industry but are being held back by how the state's net metering law is structured.
"We hear what is being said. ... It is frustrating when you can't do anything about it, necessarily," said Commissioner Rebecca Wagner.
Nevada is closing in on the legislatively-mandated net metering cap of 235 MW. New rates won't be considered until the end of the year, but NV Energy shows almost 225 MW of net metering capacity has already been snapped up, meaning the program almost certainly will max out in the near term -- likely this month. The PUC examined the law, but found no provisions that allow the regulatory body to extend or modify the program.
Nevada's solar industry employs 6,000 people, putting a face on the policy debate. NV Energy has been getting about 6 MW of interconnection requests every week -- about twice what was expected.
Nevada lawmaker Sen. Patricia Farley (R) earlier this year proposed shifting responsibility for the state's net metering program over to the PUC.
