2015

Session Update

Budget impasse spawns special session (30 day) Solar incentive bill unable to move so far Republican carbon reduction bill not moving Passage of those two bills may be linked

2015

Solar Bills

HB 1096 Net Metering Changes HB 1097 Incentive Program Changes HB 1927 Incentive Program Changes & Net Metering Changes Net Metering Changes

X

HB 2045 Net Metering Changes & Incentive Program Changes SB 5892 Incentive Program Changes &

X X

SB 5414 Solar Shade Control

X X X

SB 5263 Condos Can’t Say No to Solar

X

To Find the Bill

‘ Go to www.leg.wa.gov

Click Find Bills, enter the bill number (1912), then look for

Committee Materials

April 15 hearing. Click on the bill and then on Amd / Proposed Subs. The first 8 amendments constitute the bill. The ninth amendment is HB 1927 ’ for the

Bill Lineage

HB 1301 + HB 2176 = SB 6541 SB 5892 SSB 5892 HB 1097 + HB 2045 = SHB 2045 PSHB 1912

metering (utility ask)

HB 1096 HB 1927

HB 2176 and 1096 concern net SHB2045 combined the two bills

…so, what’s up with

Net Metering

?

A Brief NEM History

1978 – Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act provides for customer generators 1983 – Minnesota passes NEM law 1996 – NEM law passed in WA 2012 – Discussions of cost-shifting arise 2013 – WA threshold is reached at some utilities and is fast approaching at others 2013 – California AB 327 opens the door to an alternative to NEM 2014 – APS and SolarCity lock horns over proposed $50 solar fee 2014-2015 – Other utilities are changing the rules, rates, and fees for DG 2014 – WA NEM minimum threshold raised from 0.25% to 0.5% of peak 1996 load 2014 – WA utilities propose changes to law

In the early days of NEM, residential system sizes were smaller, and not typically generating many, if any, credits on a bill.

Today, systems are bigger and more customers are carrying credits over the sunny period into the darker one.

If you wanted to store summer production and use it in the winter, you would need one really, really expensive battery

To a customer generator, the grid has value:

•

On a daily basis to ‘firm up’ intermittent generation

•

On an seasonal basis to supply peak loads

•

As a storage ‘device’ To a utility, customer generation has value:

•

To offset the need for some additional generation

•

To conserve water for hydropower during the dry season

•

For grid support

•

To replace retiring fossil or nuclear generation

Washington has over 60 electric utilities ranging in size from a few hundred customers to over 1 million.

Residential electricity rates also vary widely, from 1.2 cents to 13 cents

Washington Electricity Rates - 2015 Name

Grays Harbor Co. PUD #1 Douglas Co. PUD Chelan Co. PUD Okanagan Co. PUD #1 Grant Co. PUD #2 Lewis Co. PUD #1 Seattle City Light Cowlitz Co. PUD #1 Pacific Power Ellensburg P&L Inland P&L Pacific Co. PUD#2 Mason Co. PUD #3 Peninsula Light Benton Co. PUD #1 Clallam Co. PUD #1 Franklin Co. PUD Skamania Co. PUD #1 Mason Co. PUD #1 Okanagan Co. Electric Co-op Avista Corp Tacoma Power Ferry Co. PUD Clark Co. PUD #1 Klickitat Co. PUD #1 Jefferson Co. PUD #1 OPALCO Kittitas Co. PUD #1 Snohomish Co. PUD #1 Tanner Electric Co-op Puget Sound Energy Benton REA Lakeview Light & Power

Resi Charge

39.55 / Mo 0.333 / day 7.70 / Mo 35.00 / Mo 0.55 / Day 0.1451 / day

Resi Rate 1 Resi Rate 2

0.0121

0.085

Comm Basic

48.43 / 75.58 min 0.0233

0.027

0.333 / day 16.90 / 25.35 / Mo 0.0435

0.49 / day or $20 0.04406

0.05356

0.0557

0.06316

0.1189

40.00 / Mo 0.59 / 0.90 / day 0.55 / 1.17 / Day .085 / day 17.00 / Mo 7.75 / Mo 0.5753 / day 19.23 / Mo 0 0.9 / day 17.50 / Mo 11.05 / Mo 0.0611

0.06199

0.0626

0.0634

0.0649

0.0672

0.068

0.0684

0.09817

0.068

0.0729

104.00 / Mo 105+11 / kW / Yr 0.6145 / 1.2757 / day 19.23 / 28.21 / Mo 21 /29 / Mo 1.12 / 1.4 / day 17.50 / 34.00 / Mo 17.55 / 26.35 / Mo 0.766 / day 22.09 / Mo 13.77 / Mo 23.66 / Mo 36.50 / Mo 8.50 / Mo 5.50 / Mo 17.00 / Mo 12.00 / Mo 17.58 / Mo 7.49 / Mo 38.90 / Mo 18.00 / Mo 0.48 / day or-> 19.50 / Mo 7.87 / Mo 0.0693

0.0711

0.0744

0.075

0.075

0.07525

0.0769

0.07828

0.08755

1.78 / day 48.57 / Mo 13.77 / 40.76 / Mo 35.76 / 41.16 / Mo 39.00 / 55.00 / Mo 18.00 / Mo 9.00 / 46.00 / Mo 17.00 / 52.00 / Mo 0.0816

0.082

0.085011 0.103589 51.67 / Mo 0.0855

0.097

54.90 / Mo 0.0875

0.0926

25.00 / Mo 44.47 / Mo 30.00 / Mo 0.0998

0.1004

19.50 / 32.05 / Mo 0.119208 54.27 / Mo 18.50 / Mo 0.075

45.00 / Mo 0.0533

0.03865

0.0744

0.081

0.0595

0.11507

0.03946

0.08706

0.077

0.0621

0.094791

0.087

0.0846

0.0816

0.0922

0.0936

Comm 1

0.0866

0.0233

0.027

0.05308

0.041

0.05461

0.0634

0.0508

0.1036

0.0492

0.0674

0.0712

0.0736

0.04786

0.0485

0.085

Comm 2

0.0522

0.0235

0.0383

0.03653

0.0716

0.0569

0.046

0.08455

0.0408

0.06928

0.097

0.048

0.064

0.0796

0.0678

Demand

10.37 / kW 1.40 / kW > 50 kW 2.40 / kW > 40 kW 5.50 / kW > 50 kW 4.05 / kW > 100 kW 2.24 / kW 6.37 / kW 3.61 / kW > 15 kW 1.64 / 3.69 / kW 6.00 / kw > 50 kW 0.77 / kW > 50 kW 7.97 / kW 8.36 / kW > 50 kW 2.87 / kW 7.73 / kW 5.34 > 35 kW 1.00 - 3.00 / kW 6.00 / kW > 20 kW 7.30 / kW 6.77 / kW > 30 6.11 / kW > 25 kW 9.01 > 50 kW 5.00 / Mo 5.50 / kW > 50 kW 4.20 / Mo > 100 kW 6.00 / kW > 40 kW 9.02 / kW > 50 kW

Green Rate

0.075

0.02

0.02

0.01

0.017

0.015

0.0125

Example: In Grays Harbor County your basic monthly charge is $39.55, and the first tier rate is a little over one cent. In PSE territory your basic monthly charge is $7.87, and the first tier rate is a little over ten cents. Which utility customer has more incentive to conserve or produce electricity?

Example: PSE , where rates are highest, considers solar generation to have less value than retail rates. Chelan PUD, where rates are very low, considers solar generation to have more value than retail rates.

Conclusions & Challenges There are reasons that utility rates and charges are what they are and, until recently, solar customer generation was not among those factors affecting rates. There is still very little solar in Washington, but if you were designing electricity rates to accommodate a significant amount of solar, what would you consider to be fair and equitable? What would you ask of the customer who has reduced their usage through conservation and efficiency?

As these challenges are being met where there is a lot of solar, smart inverters, short-term customer-side storage, and smart grid