NY Set to Place a Cap -- Not on Emissions -- But on Solar

The University of Albany's nanotech research and development center issued a report last May with a promising solar prognosis. Fully open the doors to net metering, it said, and by 2017 New York state could be generating 2000 megawatts of solar energy - enough to power 2 million homes -- equivalent to the juice that would come from one nuclear plant or four coal plants.

Too good to be true? Alas, yes, but not because the report is wrong. It's because utility industry lobbying and Albany politics are gearing up to deliver a tiny fraction of the projected solar potential. Instead of putting a cap on emissions, they're putting a cap on solar. I guess they didn't get the right memo.

Net metering is a free market idea. It provides regulatory permission for homeowners, businesses and schools to sell excess solar energy into the electricity grid. The utility companies can tolerate the intrusion into their territory, as long as the activity remains a hobby, which is what solar energy is in New York state right now. Installed solar capacity? A paltry 12 megawatts, enough to power about 12,000 homes.

A bill before the state legislature, pushed hard by the utilities, wants to keep things that way. The Times-Union reports:

Under a compromise plan being shaped for consideration in the upcoming session, owners of larger solar systems wouldn't be able to make money from any excess power they generate. By barring what is known as net metering, the bill may be able to pick up enough support to pass the Republican-led state Senate....

Businesses would get a monthly credit off bills to reflect the power they generated, but would essentially give away anything beyond what they normally consume over the course of a year.

Give away? Isn't that downright un-American?

The bill would cap net metering payouts the utility industry would have to make at 1% of total demand from all sources -- solar, wind and methane capture.

If fully achieved, it would translate to 350 megawatts of alternative power, enough to power about 350,000 homes.

Solar alone, if unleashed through an open door net metering policy, could deliver almost seven times more power over the next ten years.

And who knows what that might make utility companies do to join the clean energy party, once competition from a lot of small producers changes the market dynamic.

Right now, it's a fat chance that will happen anytime soon. The sun has no lobby and doesn't make fat campaign contributions. We saw what a liability that was in the federal energy bill the President signed into law last week. The sun was left out in the cold there, too.

Politics as usual = business as usual, one more time.

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