O P I N I O N

SETTING SUN?

Utilities urge PSC to dim the lights on solar in Louisiana

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electric companies afraid of solar power? I don’t generally dwell on such talk, but current events have me thinking otherwise.

Consider this quote from a recent article:

“I think [utility executives] do now recognize that distributed solar is a mortal threat to their business, and they’re trying to ght” it.

The speaker was David Crane, chief executive of the independent power company NRG. NRG generates 47,000 megawatts of electricity for sale to utilities. Its fuels include coal and natural gas as well as solar and wind power.

NRG’s properties include the “Big Cajun” coal and natural-gas plants at New Roads, near Baton Rouge.

Crane may or may not be correct about solar. Though solar use varies widely by state, it is spreading steadily throughout Louisiana and the United States. Consider the amount of power Louisiana solar users generate compared to the electric companies. Our 1,500 users collectively generate 8,000 kilowatts of electricity, or 8 megawatts. That’s enough to power eight big-box retail stores.

In contrast, the 14 electric utilities regulated by the Louisiana Public Service Commission – investor-owned companies such as SWEPCO and the rural co-ops – have a total peak load of 14,000 megawatts.

That means solar contributes just .06 percent to the overall electric demand in Louisiana.

You might think that a power source totaling less than one-tenth of one percent of load would represent no threat to the utilities.

You might be wrong. Louisiana power companies are using an LPSC investigation of solar and net-metering to pour cold water on this emerging technology. In so doing, they have stirred up a hornet’s nest of protest among solar users and installers.

It started in February of last year, when the manager of one of Louisiana’s rural electric co-ops told the LPSC that solar use was unfair to nonsolar customers. His argument, echoed by other utilities, is that running a power company requires money, and you pay less money to the company when you generate your own electricity.

Yet solar users remain on the grid because their solar panels generally do not meet all of their power needs.

When the co-ops and investor-owned utilities said solar users should pay to help maintain the grid, LPSC staff oated a plan for solar customers to pay $50 plus their monthly bills. When I and others criticized that idea, it was

Campbell

quickly dropped.

Now, LPSC staff is suggesting solar customers be paid for the electricity they generate at a wholesale or “avoided-cost” rate. Solar is currently credited at the retail rate, which is what they pay for power from the utility. Going to wholesale would cut their solar credits roughly in half, by my estimate.

Staff’s proposal to reduce solarpower payments to wholesale is an improvement over the discarded $50 fee. But don’t tell that to the solar users engaged in this debate. My inbox is overrun with statements against any changes in the commission’s netmetering policy. Here is a sample:

• “I am very concerned that the proposed changes in the net metering rules will seriously hamper the future of solar in Louisiana and negatively impact our nation’s move toward energy independence.”

• “I am a single mom and educator that invested in solar power as a way to reduce my electric bill based on the current net metering rules. Please do not allow the utility company to change the rules and kill my investment.”

• “I signed a contract that guaranteed me a fair payback for my electricity generation. A deal is a deal!” Solar users cite the fact that LPSC staff has failed to document the bene ts of solar power. The staff report says bene ts of solar “cannot be clearly quanti ed” while the costs are “much more readily apparent.”

It may be hard to put a price on a clean environment and stable global temperatures. But can you conduct a cost-bene t analysis without the bene ts? If the record is incomplete, how can you reach a conclusion?

Another issue is whether solar has expanded enough to even take up the matter. The commission’s policy on net-metering calls for it to be reviewed once the utilities reach .5 percent participation based on peak electric demand.

Our staff says the large investorowned utilities, which account for 86 percent of the customer base, average .12 percent participation by solar. Participation rates from eight of the state’s 10 co-ops average a slightly higher. 2 percent, but co-ops serve only 14 percent of electric customers in Louisiana.

Clearly, the solar movement has a ways to go before it reaches that threshold of .5 percent. So what’s the rush?

In the short term, this debate is about whether 1,500 Louisiana solar users can count on utilities, and state regulators, honoring their commitments to those who invested in solar power.

The larger issue is whether Louisiana will support a progressive policy that promotes innovation and clean technology or whether it yields to the power of the utility companies and discourages the solar movement at this early stage of development.

Foster Campbell of Elm Grove is the North Louisiana representative on the Public Service Commission. He served in the Louisiana Senate from 1976 to 2002. He can be reached at 676-7464 or foster.campbell@la.gov.