Sep 21, 2016
by
Rachel ChristiansenIt’s been somewhat of a roller coaster year for rooftop solar in Nevada.
Last week, the Nevada Public Utilities Commission approved a stipulation that will allow more favorable rates for residents that already own a rooftop solar system. 
It reverses a highly controversial decision the PUC made in December, which tacked on fees and removed net metering, which is money solar customers received for returning extra power back to the grid, for home and commercial solar systems.
So what does the future of solar and renewable energy in the state look like? 
Chandler Sherman is the deputy campaign manager for Bring Back Solar Alliance. She said the decision applies to rooftop solar customers who signed up before the end of last year and the agreement will last for 20 years.
“This is a huge victory not just for those 32,000 who invested in rooftop solar but for all Nevadans and Americans who expect that when you invest in rooftop solar you can have those investments protected,” he said.
Travis Miller is a project manager for Sun Works, a rooftop solar company. He said the new decision will help current customers, but not new customers.
“It doesn’t help us moving forward with new customers, that’s for sure,” he said, “Now, with the 20 years, it does give the vast majority of existing customers an opportunity to recoup  a return on an investment.”

Kevin Geraghty, senior vice president of energy supply with NV Energy, said the company supported the effort to grandfather in rooftop solar customers. The power companies' biggest problem with rooftop solar is what it calls the 'cost shift,' which is the shifting of energy costs from solar users to non-solar users.
“In balance, I think the decision on changing net metering in Nevada is a good one for all customers not just those customers looking to participate in private generation,” he said.
The idea of cost shifting is something the solar industry disputes. Sherman said cost shifting will be just one of the issues the energy task force appointed by Gov. Brian Sandoval will tackle. 
The task force will try to get a full picture of the costs and benefits of solar power. It will then provide recommendations that lawmakers can use to craft new bills for the 2017 Legislature.
Sherman believes that next step should include both rooftop solar and universal-scale solar, which means large scale solar power plants. 
“We have here in Nevada an incredible solar resource and we should harnessing it through large-scale solar plants through letting residential solar projects go forward, letting consumers have the choice of affordable solar energy, making that investment themselves,” she said.
Geraghty agreed that large-solar projects are the way of the future for renewable energy, but until natural gas prices climb solar still won't be competitive. 
"Our strategy really is to deliver the lowest cost power to our customers, keeping our rates flat or declining for an extended period of time,” he said.
Guests: Chandler Sherman, deputy campaign manager, Bring Back Solar Alliance; Travis Miller, project manager, Sun Works; Kevin Geraghty, senior vice president of energy supply, NV Energy

Source: knpr.org/knpr/2016-09/after-solar-decision-whats-next-nevadas-renewable-energy

August 31, 2016, 4:32 PM EDT

State regulator had decided that customers would get less money for selling solar energy.
(Reuters) – SolarCity said on Wednesday it was disappointed with a decision by Nevada regulators to exclude the company from a proceeding to decide how existing customers would be compensated for the excess energy their rooftop solar panels sent back to the power grid.
Nevada’s Public Utilities Commission had voted unanimously in February to require households with solar panels to move to a new, less generous rate structure.
NV Energy, a Nevada utility owned by billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, asked the commission in July to maintain previous rates for customers with solar systems installed before Dec. 31, 2015. SolarCity last week requested permission to take part in the proceeding on whether or not to grandfather these customers.
No other solar companies have sought to intervene, according to documents filed with the commission.
The commission on Monday denied SolarCity’s request, saying its customers were adequately represented by the state’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.
For more about SolarCity, watch:
It added that the outcome of the proceedings would not affect SolarCity’s existing contracts.
SolarCity SCTY -1.70% said in a statement that the commission’s decision deprived Nevada solar customers of the chance to help decide policies that affect them.

Source: http://fortune.com/2016/08/31/solarcity-nevada-solar-rate-case/

Nevada Electrical Laws are constantly Changing (Most rapidly in the Solar industry). Peak Electric is adamant about keeping up with any new changes that could affect the business or its customers.

​This is the first post but roughly once a week Peak Electrical will share a news story with any of its website viewers. 

Enjoy! 

-Peak Electric

By Daniel Rothberg (contact)
Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016 | 1:53 p.m.
Under a prior energy rate structure, current rooftop solar customers cost nonsolar ratepayers in Nevada $36 million, according to an updated study from Energy + Environmental Economics, the firm that valued rooftop solar as a benefit to ratepayers in its original study two years ago.
With rooftop solar incentives receding, the future cost of these customers would be about $15 million, according to the new study.
A steep decline in the cost of large-scale solar farms since 2014 has made rooftop solar relatively less economical, the study found, and was one input that contributed to the reversal in E3’s findings. The difference in the findings between the original and updated E3 studies, which relied on similar methodologies, highlights the difficulty of valuing rooftop solar over time.
“Overall, for the state of Nevada, (net metering) generation is a costlier approach for encouraging renewable generation than utility-scale renewables,” the report’s authors wrote.
SolarCity today said the findings need more probing. Attorney Kathleen Drakulich, representing SolarCity, said the lack of participation by interested parties in the study puts stakeholders “in real jeopardy.” SolarCity plans to weigh in during Public Utilities Commission proceedings.
The $36 million value incorporates a $20 million incentive that has been largely exhausted. The adjusted value of the subsidy is about $15 million, consistent with what regulators have found.
The finding comes during heated debate over the value of rooftop systems, one that has turned into a political fight between rooftop solar companies and the utility, which believes that deploying large-scale solar projects is a more cost-effective way of sourcing clean energy.
In the middle is the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, which created new rates for rooftop solar customers in December. The rates, phased in over 12 years, increase bills by tripling a fixed fee and decreasing the amount NV Energy reimburses customers for excess energy they send back to the grid. The rates prompted SolarCity and Sunrun to pull operations from the state.
Utility regulators said the rates would eliminate a cost shift over time, though some criticized them because the Legislature had tasked the PUC with eliminating an “unreasonable” cost shift.
The study predicted that nonsolar ratepayers would have seen a small rate hike under the old rates. According to the E3 report, the increase would have likely amounted to about 0.5 percent.
There are more than 30,000 NV Energy customers in Nevada who have installed or are in the process of installing rooftop solar panels. Though the PUC applied the new rates to existing customers, nearly all parties, including NV Energy, believe they should be grandfathered under the old rates. The E3 study says grandfathering will result in an annual cost shift of about $15 million.
Debate over the value of rooftop solar has prompted several studies in Nevada.
The E3 report contradicts another study that SolarCity, which has poured about $2 million into a campaign to reverse the new rates, commissioned this year. In partnership with the Natural Resources Defense Council, SolarCity’s study found that the benefits of rooftop solar outweigh the costs to all ratepayers. The PUC has also asked NV Energy to provide a cost-benefit analysis.
Determining the value of rooftop solar is far from over. A spokeswoman for Bring Back Solar, the political group organizing SolarCity’s effort, called for the E3 study to be peer-reviewed.
“We look forward to working with other stakeholders to review this draft study, and provide input on the data and analysis through a transparent peer-review process,” Chandler Sherman, deputy campaign manager of Bring Back Solar, said in a statement. “The public deserves a rigorous and fair accounting of the costs and benefits of solar, and we will work with the PUC and other leadership to ensure the final study meets the high standards the public expects.”
NV Energy did not respond to a request for comment.
The PUC commissioned the updated report after the Legislative Committee on Energy asked for data that better represented current conditions. An interim energy committee is meeting Monday.
“An updated, independent study prepared by E3 will provide a foundation as we continue the discussion of ensuring that all customers benefitting from using the electric grid are paying appropriately to endure grid functions,” committee chairs Assemblyman Stephen Silberkraus and Sen. James Settelmeyer wrote in May.
Las Vegas Sun reporter Cy Ryan contributed to this report.

Source:
https://lasvegassun.com/news/2016/aug/18/study-says-solar-customers-shift-utility-costs-to/
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