Bill could eliminate financial incentive for Hoosiers to install solar panels

The concept is fairly common across the U.S. If you generate your own electricity through wind turbines or solar panels, you consume what you need and send the rest to a participating utility's grid. According to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, if the amount of energy the customer receives from the utility is less than the amount delivered to the utility, the customer receives a credit on the next bill for the difference. If the amount of energy the customer receives from the utility is greater than the amount delivered to the utility, the difference is charged to the customer. The current retail rate credit is about 11 cents a kilowatt-hour, the rate that household customers pay. Under the bill, solar customers would sell their power to the utility at about 3 cents a kilowatt hour and then buy it back at a higher retail rate.

How does net metering affect me?

About 1,000 Indiana homes have solar panels; about 1,500 Hoosiers work in the industry. Alternative energy advocates say the bill would discourage customers from purchasing new energy sources. Jesse Kharbanda, executive director of The Hoosier Environmental Council, says the bill discourages smaller uses such as residences, places of worship, community centers and schools, among others, that wish to align their energy choices with their values. Supporters of the bill, however, say the proposal would encourage the development of larger scale wind, solar and clean energy options by eliminating a requirement for a regulatory certificate of need for projects that are 50 megawatts or less (the 76,228-panel solar farm at Indianapolis International Airport will produce about 17.5 MW), among other provisions. Currently, investor-owned power companies don't have to offer net metering to customers once they reach a cap of 1 percent of the company's summer peak generation. Mark Maassel, president of the Indiana Energy Association, a trade group for electric power companies, said the bill increases that to 1.5 percent which would encourage solar expansion.

What's the timetable for changes?

Customers with existing renewable power generating systems would receive credit until 2047 after which they would pay retail. Customers who install before 2022 would receive credit until 2032. Customers installing after 2022 receive credit for power they generate and consume.

Who will testify?

Proponents of the bill include utility companies and power company lobbyists.Opponents include environmental groups and homeowners with solar panels.