NV Energy will be implementing a new method of reading solar-powered energy, one that solar advocates say may have financial impacts on future customers.
According to Sol-Up Solar's Regional Manager, Nathaniel Lynn, customers who generate excess solar energy typically see that energy credited toward future bills.
"That excess is actually purchased by NV Energy at 75% of retail," he said. "It is then credited towards their future consumption on subsequent bills, right? It's tallied up at the end of the month, though."
However, following a recent vote by the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN), new solar customers in Northern Nevada will no longer have their solar energy netted every month. Instead, starting October 1, NV Energy will credit and measure energy production and usage in 15-minute intervals.
Lynn expressed concern about how these changes may impact low-income customers in particular.
"While NV Energy is only projecting that that is going to add an additional eight dollars on average to the utility bills, as we know with low-income families, it could really be the difference between powering their homes still and putting food on the table," Lynn said.
However, NV Energy says the new policy will lower costs for low-income customers by creating a fairer billing system.
"This allows for more accurate billing and is an improvement over the current private solar credit policy, which is unfair for customers who cannot afford private rooftop solar systems but subsidize those who can," the company said in a statement.
Lynn added that the change will not affect current solar customers:
“These changes will not be as hurtful towards current solar customers since their systems will simply get grandfathered into what they currently have,” he said.
But future solar customers may need to reconsider how they plan their systems.
“Those are the ones that are going to really have to start considering how they size a system and whether or not they want to have batteries be a part of their system as well during these higher peak times,” Lynn explained.
New Demand Charge Approved for Southern Nevada
In addition to changes to solar billing, the PUCN also voted to implement a new demand charge for Southern Nevada customers beginning in April.
The charge is not the same as a time-of-use rate structure, which adjusts rates depending on the time of day. Demand charges are based on a customer’s highest level of energy usage during a billing cycle.
Lynn says the timing of the charge — when energy demand is typically highest between 6 and 9 p.m. — will impact everyday consumers.
“That’s when they’re using their power the most. NV Energy knows that, and that’s when they’re going to be charging everybody the most,” he said.
NV Energy Responds
We reached out to NV Energy for comment, and on Wednesday morning, we received the following statement:
"New private rooftop solar customers in Northern Nevada will be billed on a cycle that measures energy usage and credits every 15 minutes, instead of monthly. This allows for more accurate billing and is an improvement over current private solar credit policy – which is unfair for customers who cannot afford private rooftop solar systems but subsidize those who can. The 15-minute netting policy will apply to new solar customers beginning October 1; existing solar customers will remain on monthly netting billing. NV Energy remains committed to supporting customers who make the choice to utilize a solar resource at their homes – without negatively impacting non-solar customers."
(This story has been updated to clarify details about NV Energy’s new solar billing policies and the recent PUCN vote.)
