Inequity in costs from home solar systems discussed at Energy Issues Summit
The annual summit brings together industry experts to learn about current issues, discover cutting-edge technology and explore ways to continue providing their members with affordable and reliable electricity. Several sessions at this year’s summit covered the topics of net metering and distributed energy resources.
During a panel discussion, Jenny Glumack, director of government affairs for the MREA, highlighted the origins of net metering.
“It began in the 1980s to help get solar and distributed energy started,” she said. “It is expensive, inequitable and outdated and needs to be updated.”
Joining Glumack on the panel were Ryan Fedie, VP of energy services at Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperative; Adam Heinen, VP of regulatory at Dakota Electric Association; and Pier LaFarge, CEO of Sparkfund, an energy transition partner for utilities. The panel, moderated by Dan Lipschultz, former utility commissioner and energy consultant, discussed changes in net metering policies happening across the country. Some of the changes include program caps, size limits on systems, adjustments in compensation rates and more. Net metering refers to the electricity rate paid when utility customers install their own energy systems — usually solar — and sell some of the output back to the utility at retail prices.
The panel discussed changes enacted in other states to address net metering cost shifts from those who can afford solar to all the other utility consumers, including those that are least able to afford it. The panel emphasized the need for similar reforms in Minnesota.
The Minnesota Rural Electric Association is a nonprofit trade association serving Minnesota’s electric cooperatives. MREA provides legislative and regulatory representation, director and employee education programs, technical training for electric cooperative line workers, and serves as the focal point for cooperation among cooperatives. Minnesota’s 44 distribution cooperatives serve about 1.7 million Minnesotans in all 87 counties and operate the largest distribution network in the state with more than 135,000 miles of electric lines.