Anyone else dealing with TVA's net metering policy changes? Had three clients in Knoxville get nasty surprises on their bills last month. Instead of getting credited at retail rate like before, they're now getting wholesale rate - about 3 cents per kWh instead of 9 cents. One client with a 12kW system lost about $180 in credits they were expecting. TVA is saying this was always the policy but that's BS - I have bills from 2011 showing retail rate credits. Anyone have documentation on when this actually changed?
TVA net metering credit rate changed - clients getting screwed
Same thing happening in Ohio with FirstEnergy. They quietly changed their net metering tariff in March but didn't notify existing customers until bills started showing the difference. I've got a commercial client in Youngstown with 50kW array who lost over $400 in credits last month alone. The worst part is they backdated it to January 1st and want customers to pay the difference. Fighting this one hard.
Louisville Gas & Electric did something similar but at least they grandfathered existing customers for 10 years. New installs after June 2012 get the lower credit rate. Problem is they're not clearly explaining this on the bills - customers think there's an error. Had to explain to six different clients why their solar credits dropped by 60%. LG&E customer service reps don't even understand their own tariff changes.
Duke Energy Carolinas is talking about doing the same thing. They filed a petition with the NC Utilities Commission to reduce net metering credits from retail to avoided cost rate. That would drop credits from about 10 cents to 4 cents per kWh for my Charlotte area clients. Public comment period ends next month - everyone needs to file opposition. This is going to kill the residential solar market if it goes through.
Georgia Power already made this change last year and it's been a disaster. Residential customers with solar are seeing 50-70% reduction in credit value. What's worse is they added a $25/month "grid access fee" for any customer with distributed generation. I've had three clients disconnect their systems rather than deal with the economics. The utility is basically punishing people for going solar.
CPS Energy in San Antonio is one of the few still doing true net metering at retail rates. But they're capping it at 5% of peak demand and we're getting close to that limit. Once we hit the cap, new customers will go to a "value of solar" rate that's about 30% lower. The writing is on the wall - utilities are trying to kill distributed solar any way they can. Need to document everything for future legal challenges.
Update on my TVA situation - found the smoking gun. They changed the net metering tariff in Schedule NM-1 effective April 1, 2012 but didn't update their website or notify customers. The old tariff clearly stated retail rate credits. New one says "avoided cost rate as determined by TVA." Filed complaints with Tennessee Public Utility Commission for all three clients. This is deceptive billing practices at its worst.
Cleveland Public Power tried something similar but backed down after public backlash. The key is getting media attention and organizing customers to complain. Utilities hate bad publicity more than anything. Also check if your state has any consumer protection laws about notice requirements for tariff changes. Many utilities are violating their own procedures by making these changes without proper notice periods.