Homes and businesses with solar panels deliver more value to power customers and society than they receive through programs like net metering, a report said today.
The Environment California Research & Policy Center report, Shining Rewards: The Value of Rooftop Solar Power for Consumers and Society, comes as California answers critical questions about the future of net metering and solar energy. Earlier this year, Governor Brown called on California to increase the amount of electricity generated by renewable energy sources, such as solar energy, to 50 percent by 2030. Meanwhile, regulators at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) are working to decide by the end of 2015 what the net metering rules will be for customers who go solar after the current program sunsets.
Of the 11 net metering studies reviewed in the report, all found that solar panel owners offered power customers net benefits, such as reduced capital investment costs, avoided energy costs, and reduced environmental compliance costs. In addition, solar energy creates valuable benefits for the environment and society at large, including avoided greenhouse gas emissions, reduced air pollution that harms public health, and the creation of local jobs. Eight of the 11 studies also found that the value of solar energy was higher than the average local residential retail electricity rate. The median value of solar power across the studies was nearly 17 cents per unit, compared to the nation’s average retail electricity rate of about 12 cents. In other words: utilities that provide retail rate net metering tend to underpay solar panel owners, not subsidize them.