About our campaign
Why is net metering under attack?
Customer-sited (or "rooftop") solar provides less than 0.01 percent of the U.S. energy supply -- but the market is growing rapidly, and as costs continue to decline, solar is reaching homeowners of all incomes. This is cause for alarm among utilities that have been providing electric service in essentially the same way for over a century. For many utilities, rooftop solar represents a threat to traditional business models. But the people want it, the grid needs it, and it’s helping us take on some of our greatest challenges.
Key to solar’s growth is net metering. Currently in place in 43 states and the District of Columbia, net metering allows a solar customer’s electric meter to “spin backwards” when she generates more solar energy than she uses, ensuring fair credit for the clean power delivered to the grid. Some utilities are looking to slow the growth of rooftop solar by claiming that net metering shifts big costs onto non-solar ratepayers.
The fact is, the utilities’ net metering math doesn’t add up. The calculations inflate the cost side of the equation, while leaving a rather important piece out of the cost-benefit analysis: the benefits. By using fuzzy math to put net metering on trial in the press, these utilities hope to convince policymakers to put a halt to common-sense solar policies.
What do we want?
First, we want data not drama. State policy makers must require that the utilities back-up their cost claims with an accurate and comprehensive analysis of the economic impacts of net metering, considering all the costs and benefits. Based on recent studies showing that net metering's benefits to the grid outweigh the lost revenue from net metering bill credits, we feel confident that the facts are on our side. Unless the data shows that solar customers as a whole aren't providing benefits to other ratepyaers, policy makers need to protect net metering.