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Wrong statements by Sen. Hershman on solar energy bill stir backlash

Posted by Laura Arnold / February 26, 2017 / Posted in Uncategorized / No Comments

FEBRUARY 26, 2017 2:04 PM

Wrong statements by lawmaker on solar energy stir backlash

BY BRIAN SLODYSKO; Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS

The third-ranking state Senate Republican wrongly said that an Indiana financial incentive for installing solar panels would disappear unless lawmakers supported his bill to revamp it.

At least one lawmaker says he voted for Sen. Brandt Hershman's measure in committee based partly on the inaccurate information.

The bill would sharply curtail the benefit that homeowners, churches, businesses and schools reap from using solar panels.

Hershman wrongly said that everyone who currently benefits from a state "net metering" program would be kicked off once a cap was met.

That's not true and prompted concern from some of the roughly 1,000 utility customers in Indiana who get credit on their bill.

Hershman retreated from the comments in a statement Friday.

The measure could come up for a full Senate vote this week.

The third-ranking Republican in the Indiana Senate wrongly said that a financial incentive for installing solar panels would likely disappear unless lawmakers supported his bill to revamp the benefit.

At least one lawmaker said that Inaccurate testimony by Sen. Brandt Hershman during a recent Statehouse hearing led him to back the proposal. The bill would sharply curtail the benefit that homeowners, churches, businesses and schools now reap by harnessing the sun's energy.

Hershman, of Lafayette, painted a dire picture when he promoted the bill. He inaccurately stated that without changes included in his measure, everyone who currently benefits from a state "net metering" program would be kicked off once a cap was met.

"Gone. No grandfathering. No guarantee. Nothing," he said during a Feb. 16 hearing. "People ask for a reason for the bill — this is part of it."

If that were true, roughly 1,000 utility customers in Indiana who get credit on their bill for feeding — or "net metering" — surplus power back into the grid would face the possibility of a major financial loss on their investment in alternative energy generation.

The measure, which is expected to come up for a vote before the full Senate this week, was ultimately approved by the committee on an 8-2 vote.

Hershman backed down from his comments in a statement Friday, though he insisted that his testimony was "accurate" and declared it "a non-issue."

"This is a manufactured controversy from a liberal special interest group seeking to perpetuate a program that, as it grows, will hurt consumers while financially benefiting the group's clients," Hershman said.

Indiana law currently mandates that solar panel owners are allowed to feed excess energy they generate back into the power grid, which they must be compensated for.

But utility companies say the current rate of compensation offered through net metering is too generous, and Hershman hopes to reduce the rate through his bill. Solar energy proponents say the current rate is needed in order to break even during the useful life of a solar panel system.

The law currently requires utilities to allow new customers to join net metering programs until about 1 percent of the utility's energy comes from an alternative energy source, such as solar.

Once the cap is met, utilities are still required to offer the benefit to existing participants, though they may turn away additional people who want to net meter, according to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.

But that's not what Hershman told fellow lawmakers. And opponents suggest that his false statements were intended to drum up support for his bill.

The Indiana Distributive Energy Alliance, an alternative energy advocacy group, said in a letter to lawmakers that "misstatements" by Hershman about Indiana's net metering rules "simply are not true" and were "so egregious we think they may have unfairly influenced (the) committee vote."

On Friday, Hershman said he wanted to clarify his comments, and he acknowledged that "existing customers would be grandfathered" under the current rule.

Democratic Sen. Lonnie Randolph, of East Chicago, said he initially planned to vote against the bill, but was persuaded during the hearing.

"Knowing what I know now, I would not vote for the bill," said Randolph.

Growth in the solar energy market could eventually eat away at the business of the big utilities — in Indiana Duke Energy, Vectren and Indiana Michigan Power — which have a powerful voice and support Hershman's bill to curb the solar power benefit.

Read more here: http://www.islandpacket.com/news/business/article135107384.html#storylink=cpy

Indiana SB 309 to change solar/wind net metering as amended still BAD

Posted by Laura Arnold / February 26, 2017 / Posted in 2017 Indiana General Assembly, solar, wind / No Comments

Solar bill passes out of committee

Amendments relax restrictions on net metering, but solar advocates remain flustered

Devin Zimmerman, Feb 23, 2017

Despite changes to the regulations proposed to Senate Bill 309, solar advocates remain wary of State Sen. Brandt Hershman’s legislation.

Last week the Senate Utilities Committee convened to vote on SB 309, which includes sweeping reforms that solar advocates argued could have removed many of the benefits associated with homeowners adopting their own solar arrays. The day of the meeting, amendments were introduced to the bill that eased some of the restriction’s previously posed against the renewable energy industry, but opposition to the bill remained concerned.

Sen. Michael Delph introduced the amendments to SB 309, which relaxed some of the restrictions proposed in the first version of the legislation. Since the amendments were introduced, the proposal passed out of the Senate Utilities Committee after an 8-2 vote.

With the amendments, those who already have solar arrays in place will receive the present retail rate for their excess energy for another 30 years. Those who adopt renewable energy technology over the next five years also receive a higher retail rate for energy sold back to the utility companies until 2032. After 2022, should a consumer construct his or her own renewable energy infrastructure, the incentive shrinks even more.

But still, when these deadlines are reached, clean energy advocates worry that the industry still will suffer greatly.

“When I export energy if this bill is law, the exported energy won’t be reimbursed at a one-for-one rate (after the deadlines are reached),” said Chris Rohaly, the president of the solar panel construction company Green Alternatives. “It will be credited at what they call the avoided cost, which is, from a utility perspective, either I can buy from the coal plants or I can buy from a private solar array. That’s down to about three cents per kilowatt per hour, approximately.”

At three cents per kilowatt an hour, the rate after the deadlines is reached is much lower than the 10 or 11 cents, depending upon location in Indiana, that is the present market rate. So, when that rate takes place, a large savings incentive is lost to solar users.

Additionally, the amendment also altered the percentage of a grid’s total energy that could originate from renewable energy. Before, a cap was set at one percent. When one percent of a grid’s energy came from renewable energy, anyone above that limit would not be eligible for net metering. Under the amendment, the cap increased to 1.5 percent.

Again, solar advocates worried about the cutoff’s impact on clean energy industry growth.

“That extension only applies as long as we are under that 1.5 percent cap,” said Rohaly. “As distributed energy grows in popularity, it’s quite possible that cap will be met well before the extension order runs out. Right now that’s whatever comes first … I will say Indiana is really low there as well. For instance, I just found out that in West Virginia, they just reduced their cap to three percent. They’re still twice what we are. Our neighbors I believe, Illinois and Ohio, are five percent. We’ve got a very low cap.”

In last week’s meeting, Hershman defended his bill vehemently.

Primarily, he argued that the extensions the amendments provide are generous and that five years is time enough for those seeking to adopt the technology.

He also claimed that if net metering persisted, it could have a negative impact on the prices for utility users.

“Yes, there is a reason not to do this forever and at this rate because, as it grows, the subsidy that was demonstrated by these independent authorities grows to a point where it will have a negative impact on rates for all consumers,” said Hershman during the hearing. “Not only residential but industrial as well.”

The Hoosier Environmental Council, which already expressed displeasure with Hershman’s proposal, also issued the following statement after the proposal passed out of committee.

“Governor Eric Holcomb made innovation one of the central themes of his State of State Address. Gov. Holcomb has made fostering entrepreneurship a central priority of his new Administration. Those priorities — innovation and entrepreneurship — are presumably ones embraced by his Indiana State Senate counterparts. But those priorities are not reflected in the amended version of SB 309.

“This bill, without any disclosed, objective, Indiana-specific study to justify this enormous change in policy, worsens the investment landscape for rooftop solar by forcing an arbitrary reduction in the value that our electricity grid assigns to solar energy and enabling the possibility of utilities imposing a new fixed fee on customer-owned solar generation; these concerns remain even with the amendment in Committee today.

“SB 309, if adopted into law, may well have long-term impacts in terms of deterring investment in solar energy by both homegrown entrepreneurs and those who may otherwise see Indiana as a promising investment destination for solar. The most constructive way forward is for the Indiana State Senate to call on the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to do a study that transparently assesses the benefits and costs of solar and offers recommendations on changes needed to Indiana’s solar energy-related policies in order to ensure that our state is at the forefront of welcoming solar entrepreneurs and advancing solar innovation.”

Kokomo High School with wind turbine on net metering worried about financial impact of SB 309

Posted by Laura Arnold / February 24, 2017 / Posted in 2017 Indiana General Assembly, solar, wind / No Comments

Northwestern concerned about Senate energy bill

By Caele Pemberton Kokomo Tribune

KOKOMO - A bill in the Indiana Senate could change the way schools look at renewable energy.

Senate Bill 309, titled Distributed Generation, would change how people and organizations sell energy back to energy companies. For schools that have already invested in solar panels and wind turbines, the bill could lead to lower paybacks.

The Northwestern School Corporation installed a wind turbine in 2012 after the Indiana Utilities Regulatory Commission approved net metering, allowing individuals and organizations, including businesses and school corporations, to be credited at the retail price of electricity.

“When they passed net metering, that made it financially attractive for us to go ahead and proceed (with the turbine),” said Ryan Snoddy, Northwestern superintendent.

Snoddy estimates that the school would lose 5 to 7 cents per kilowatt of electricity produced by the turbine if net metering is removed, which could add up to more than $40,000 a year, he said. The turbine produces just under 1 megawatt of energy a year.

Earlier this month, an amendment was added to the bill that would allow certain qualifying entities, such as Northwestern and other schools, to continue net metering for the next 30 years. An earlier version of the bill would have extended net metering for these entities for the next 15 years.

Snoddy said the extension, which would mean the school would be able to continue net metering until 2047, improves the bill, but it still doesn’t make it appealing. The school will eventually have to consider replacing the top of the turbine, but only if the investment in alternative energy is still worth it, he said.

“I’d like to see schools and cities exempt,” he said.

The school has considered adding solar panels as well, but Snoddy said the return on that investment would be smaller than on the turbine. They still could add wind turbines in the future, he said.

“The benefits to us for doing solar would be a hedge against inflation and utilities cost, and the fact that we could demonstrate green energy,” he said.

The bill’s author, Brandt Hershmann, said the bill doesn’t discourage alternative energy, but it will protect other energy rate payers.

“The wholesale price of energy is somewhere between 3 and 4 cents, but retail is between 11 and 12 cents,” Hershmann said. “If you have a solar panel on your roof, you can generate energy for your own use, and anything you put back, you’re credited for at full retail rates. The cost pressure of that, it amounts to a significant subsidy.”

Hershmann said people can still receive that subsidy until net metering is no longer allowed, and he said that’s fair given the declining cost of alternative energy technology.

“As we see the cost of alternative generation going down because of improvements in technology, it is becoming more and more competitive with traditional means of generation,” he said. “We think it will be able to compete very well on its own without a subsidy.”

The Kokomo School Corporation is planning to add solar panels to Pettit Park Elementary, but Kokomo Superintendent Jeff Hauswald said the panels would not create enough energy to make a financial difference for the school. However, he said the bill appears to look backward for Indiana.

"Alternative energy is a reality for many people," Hauswald said. "The market will drive change, and anytime we pass legislation that can negatively create a roadblock to progress, it doesn't make sense."

Education Reporter Caele Pemberton can be reached at 765-454-8587, by email at caele.pemberton@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter @CaelePemberton

IndianaDG Asks Sen. Merritt to Hold Committee Report on SB 309 Until Info Corrected on Existing Net Metering Rule

Posted by Laura Arnold / February 20, 2017 / Posted in 2017 Indiana General Assembly / No Comments

February 20, 2017

Open Letter to Sen. Jim Merritt, Chair of the Senate Utilities Committee:

The owners of several Indiana solar companies and their customers are deeply troubled over what they believe are serious misrepresentations of Indiana’s current net metering rule during the discussion of SB 309 at the Senate Utilities Committee hearing Thursday, Feb. 16.

Many of them did not have a chance to watch the video of the proceedings until the weekend. When they did, they heard Sen. Brandt Herschman make some statements about the existing net metering rule in 170 IAC 4-4.2 to the committee that simply are not true.

In fact, some of his misstatements are so egregious we think they may have unfairly influenced Thursday’s committee vote. For this reason, we strongly urge the committee not to move forward on its report on SB 309 until these errors can be rectified. We also believe committee members should have a chance to change their vote after they receive the correct information.

First, Sen. Hershman said: "Currently, under existing net metering rules from the IURC, when any individual utility reaches the renewable part of their portfolio, that is people net metering, that is equal to 1% of their baseload generation, net metering goes away. Gone. No grandfathering, no guarantee, nothing except wholesale rates." That is false.

Second, in response to a question from Sen. Houchin, Sen. Hershman says and if the 1% net metering caps were met the utilities could go to a "buy all, sell all" mechanism under existing law. That also is false.

These inaccurate statements by Hershman already have gone viral on social media and may well cause Senate phone lines to further light up this week as a growing number of people learn of them.

We know your committee members want to be as well informed as possible as they work to sort through SB 309, and that they also value their credibility with the public. In that spirit, we implore you to reconvene the committee so this critical misinformation can be brought to light.

On behalf of solar energy companies who are members of IndianaDG and their customers, we thank you.

Laura Ann Arnold, President

Indiana Distributed Energy Alliance (IndianaDG)

Laura Ann Arnold, President

Indiana Distributed Energy Alliance (IndianaDG)

Laura.Arnold@IndianaDG.net

(317) 635-1701 office; (317) 502-5123 cell

CC: Members of the Senate Utilities Committee

KPC News.com: Fair solution needed for solar energy

Posted by Laura Arnold / February 19, 2017 / Posted in 2017 Indiana General Assembly, solar, Uncategorized / No Comments

KPC NEWS.COM

Fair solution needed for solar energy

(Sorry for formatting problems. Please click headline to read.)

Posted: Saturday, February 18, 2017 11:00 pm

One of the hot controversies in the Indiana Legislature is about to land in the lap of a local lawmaker.

Rep. Dave Ober, R-Albion is the new chair of the House Utilities, Energy and Telecommunications Committee. A bill involving solar energy is poised to hit his desk next month.

Ober expects to be the House sponsor of Senate Bill 309, which changes the rules for selling excess solar energy to utility companies.

Ober said the bill is taking up at least 80 percent of his time. It’s being cast as a battle between small solar energy users and utility companies.

“They see this as the big-monopoly utilities trying to muscle out the growing renewable energy in the state. I don’t see it that way,” Ober said.

Ober believes he can steer the bill toward a win-win outcome. Better yet, win-win-win, because the rest of us have something at stake, too.

“Net metering” is at the core of the issue, and Ober does a good job explaining it.

If you have solar panels on your roof, or outside a factory, you can have an electricity meter than runs both forward and backward. Sometimes you’re producing power and sending the excess back to your local utility. Sometimes you’re using more power than you’re making, so you’re drawing from the grid.

If you make 5 kilowatts of energy and use 6 kilowatts, you pay the utility company for 1 kilowatt.

Under present rules, you buy and sell the electricity at the same rate. A disputed feature of SB 309 would change that. The utility would buy it from you at a lower rate — the wholesale price it pays for other generated power — and sell it back to you at a higher retail rate.

One proposal, called “buy all, sell all,” says the utility would buy all of your kilowatts at the lower rate and sell all of its kilowatts back to you at the higher rate.

A “buy all, sell all” rule could be the nation’s worst for solar users, critics say. Utilities say it would be fair to other customers, because right now utilities are overpaying for solar electricity.

Under present rules, other customers are subsidizing solar-energy users, who don’t pay for maintaining the grid, the utilities say. Today, the subsidy may not amount to much. Indiana has fewer than 1,000 users of net metering, although the number is growing rapidly.

Another feature of the bill would set a time limit of 2027 for the practice of net metering.

Fans of solar power say the whole package would make it less attractive to use the sun’s energy in Indiana.

Ober sees an advantage for solar power users, however. It would give them certainty about how long they can count on net metering. That’s lacking now, he said.

The existing state rule says Indiana utilities must offer net metering until it reaches 1 percent of their peak demand. When it hits that level, they can end the program, Ober said. At least one utility — Duke Energy — is almost there.

“I don’t think many people understand that this program is uncertain in the future,” Ober said.

The bill would grandfather net metering for existing customers for 30 years or until their equipment wears out, Ober said. New solar users would know the rules for the next 10 years.

“This thing’s not chiseled in stone. It’s likely to change,” he added. He expects the “buy all, sell all” rule to be tweaked. Rates for buying and selling could be adjusted.

“We’re going to try and come up with a compromise that everyone can live with,” Ober pledged. “If the bill dies … we go into the future with quite a bit of uncertainty about how we treat our solar customers. I think that’s a disservice to them.”

Ober said he’s not against encouraging solar energy. However, he said, “The cost is coming down to the point where it’s not necessary to incentivize it as much as we have in the past.”

Ober told Midwest Energy News, “I hope I’ve built up a reputation in the Statehouse as someone who is a little more thoughtful in trying to find what’s good policy.”

We encourage Ober to keep building that reputation by finding a solar-energy solution that’s fair to everyone.

OUR VIEW is written on a rotating basis by Dave Kurtz, Grace Housholder, Michael Marturello and Barry Rochford. Publisher Terry Housholder is also a member of the editorial board. We welcome readers’ comments.