MORGANTOWN – Public Service Commission staff has issued a final recommendation to the PSC in what many believe will affect future net-metering projects across the state.
Staff said the solar power setup at Huntington-based Coalfield Development Corp.’s West Edge Factory warehouse is not a net-metering setup and Appalachian Power Co. is not required to treat it as such.
Coalfield Development is a nonprofit incubator devoted to revitalizing coal communities through renewable energy workforce development projects. It installed 120 kilowatts worth of solar panels on its West Edge Factory warehouse roof and wants to begin net metering service with APCo, but APCo has refused and both sides presented their views in this complaint filed by Coalfield Development.
A photo and some diagrams included in staff’s recommendation illustrate the problem. The warehouse receives power from APCo via a meter on an alley-way wall connected to an APCo pole. The solar meter is a few feet away on the same wall with a line going to the same pole that feeds power into APCo’s system.
Staff agreed with APCo that this doesn’t fit the definition of net metering under state law or PSC rules because incoming and outgoing power must run through a single interconnection in order to measure the “net” – the power the solar panels would generate in excess of the building’s needs to qualify for credits against Coalfield’s electric bill.
Also, Coalfield does not own or lease the solar array – it belongs to the Solar Holler development company – and so does not qualify as a customer-generator under state code.
Staff told the PSC that Coalfield’s intended to avoid the complications and expense of hooking up to the existing meter. It also wanted to virtually “aggregate” the input and output of the two meters, and aggregate the solar output across all of its metered accounts.
Staff said Coalfield’s desire to aggregate the output would amount to “retail wheeling, ‘an impermissible practice by which customer-generators could use the utilitiy’s electric grid to distribute power from one account to another over utility-owned infrastructure,’” essentially using APCo distribution and transmission facilities for free and allowing other APCo customers to bear the cost.
In discussing the statewide implications, staff talked about some Solar Holler projects that will be more difficult and expensive if they are required to connect through existing meters. In one, connecting through an existing meter cost a church an extra $12,000, and a high school project will cost an extra $75,000 if they have to use an existing meter.
Solar Holler is planning a project for 21 Wayne County schools, and another for Mingo County High School, which will save the schools millions of dollars, Coalfield said. But meters aren’t always located where the panels need to go, leading to extra costs and reduced savings.
Staff said these issues could lead to more such proposals for PV meters (one-way meters that measure the solar output) and create more customer vs. utility disputes. So, to provide guidance and avoid future complaints, staff believes the issue should be addressed now.
Coalfield didn’t come out totally on the losing end of staff’s recommendation. Staff said that because Coalfield has been delivering power into APCo’s system since 2021 and has not been compensated because of the ongoing dispute, APCo should compensate Coalfield once Coalfield rearranges its system for genuine net metering. APCo had proposed an amount based on PJM wholesale rates but staff said the compensation should conform to the current 1:1 net-metering credit.
Email: dbeard@dominionpost.com
