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V O L . X X I I I N O. X I V J U N E 2 6 , 2 0 1 7 18 E N E R G Y F O C U S retail price rather than wholesale, which doesn't allow the utility to fully recover its costs when it resells the excess power into the wholesale market. "Eventually, what happens is that more people take advantage of the subsidy and there are fewer people to pay for it," he says. Utilities incur other costs from NEB, Earl Ritchie, a University of Houston lecturer, wrote last year in Forbes. at includes billing, support services, grid maintenance and other operational functions to accommodate net metering. "Typically, unrecovered costs are transferred to customers who do not have solar installations by raising elec- tricity rates," Ritchie wrote. With low penetration in the solar market, adds Harwood of Verrill Dana, Maine isn't as far along in the problem as other states. "But I think we're going in the direction where we would be well advised to pause and take a look at it." Piper of Sundog Solar has his own take. He off ers the following example of how the coming phase-down would aff ect a typical residential customer: ¡ A customer with a 10.8kW system of 36, 300-watt solar panels will produce 14,862 kilowatt hours per year. Under net energy billing, the value of that electricity in Central Maine Power territory is $2,229. Fifty-four percent of $2,229 is the T&D portion of the credit, or $1,203.82. ¡ If the customer bought the same system without net energy billing, he would lose 10% of the T&D value in the fi rst year under the new rule. at equals $120 less than the current value. Behind the meter A phase-down might not sound like much dollar-wise, Piper says. But another aspect of the rule allows utilities to charge solar customers a transmission and distribution fee for the power they produce and consume behind the meter. Together, he says, it's an anti-solar policy that will reduce customer interest. Piper off ers a behind-the-meter example: Presuming a customer uses 8,000 kilowatt hours per year on-site while the sun is shining, they will receive a new fee from CMP for T&D for approximately $658. " is is occurring while the sun is out and they're using the power at home," he says. " is little-known aspect of the new PUC rules will be enough to kill the solar industry in Maine." Dylan Voorhees, the clean energy director at the Natural Resources Council of Maine in Augusta, explains that currently, the credit is based on the amount of excess energy that the customer returns to the grid. e new PUC ruling bases the credit on the entire amount of energy generated by the customer, including the energy the customer consumes as well as excess energy. But as the credit steps down, that essentially means the customer will be paying the utility a stepped-up T&D charge for electricity the cus- tomer generated and consumed. " e PUC will require a meter on the solar panels and then charge this delivery fee on the power you're con- suming in your own home," Voorhees says. "It's totally unprecedented." Says Piper, " at's like, you grow tomatoes in your backyard, and the local market charges you a fee for growing tomatoes. at's the biggest thing that I think will be a problem." No clear policy Sundog Solar started in 2009, growing steadily since then. With 13 employees today, the fi rm covers mostly midcoast Maine, but installed its largest system to date, 354 panels for 99 kW, at a Ford dealership in Calais. Piper says he's the fi rst in New England to sell the unique Solaria PowerXT, with overlapping cells that reduce wasted space. A 70% decline in tech costs over the last decade, net metering and the 30% federal tax credit have provided strong incentives to bring in customers daily, he says. Still, says Piper, "We could have grown twice the size, if not more, with the proper support from the state. I've compared our company with a com- pany in New Hampshire, and they're almost triple the size we are in the same time period." According to solarforme.org, Maine ranks last in New England in solar energy adoption and it is the only one of the six regional states without a strong solar policy to encourage invest- ments. at's refl ected in employee » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E • SALES • SERVICE • INSTALLATION • TURNKEY DEPENDABLE BACK UP POWER THROUGH INOVATIVE GENERATOR SOLUTIONS CAN YOUR BUSINESS OPERATE WITHOUT POWER? 207-783-7126 WWW.ELECTRICALSYSTEMSOFMAINE.COM Typically, unrecovered Typically, unrecovered Typically, unrecovered Typically, unrecovered Typically, unrecovered Typically, unrecovered Typically, unrecovered Typically, unrecovered Typically, unrecovered Typically, unrecovered Typically, unrecovered Typically, unrecovered Typically, unrecovered Typically, unrecovered costs are transferred to costs are transferred to costs are transferred to costs are transferred to costs are transferred to costs are transferred to costs are transferred to costs are transferred to costs are transferred to costs are transferred to costs are transferred to costs are transferred to costs are transferred to customers who do not have solar installations by raising electricity rates. — Earl Ritchie University of Houston

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