NC WARN also redoubles call for Governor, Attorney General to demand transparency in utility’s two-pronged attack on local solar, as “customer calculator” remains a failure
Unable to openly justify a major rule change for solar used by businesses, faith groups, schools and nonprofits, Duke Energy buried its proposal under thousands of pages in an unrelated case, hoping state regulators will go along with the ruse.
NC WARN has filed testimony by two engineers showing Duke presented virtually no evidence to support its attack, and we are calling for the NC Utilities Commission (NCUC) to move this climate-wrecking proposal into a separate review process where it belongs.
Today we also redouble our May 11 call – signed by dozens of solar companies, faith groups and others – for Governor Roy Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein to demand an open and careful review of the Duke Energy proposal that could cripple the state’s solar industry.
Duke Energy leaders are seeking to complete a decade-long effort by US utilities to stanch the growth of the main competition to their monopoly stranglehold: customer-owned solar that feeds excess power onto the local grid in a process known as net energy metering (NEM).
- The pre-filed testimony by NC WARN engineers Bill Powers and Rao Konidena cites Duke’s lack of evidence for the rules change, and that Duke’s own witness admitted that the non-residential NEM changes were presented only during an informal stakeholder process. The engineers wrote that such a shallow discussion with “stakeholders of widely varying knowledge levels in no way can substitute for a formal and rigorous application proceeding.”
- They also reiterate that state law firmly requires the NCUC to conduct a full cost-benefit analysis while considering any changes to net metering.
- The NC Sustainable Energy Association told the NCUC in a related docket that a separate proceeding is required to assess the non-residential changes. The group detailed a host of problems the change would create for a range of business and nonprofits considering solar investments.
- NCSEA even cited Duke Energy’s own witness describing complexities of the proposed system. NC WARN appreciates and formally supports NCSEA’s detailed critique.
RESIDENTIAL SOLAR, COURT APPEAL AND CALCULATOR
A parallel case involving residential net metering is heading to the NC Court of Appeals by September. NC WARN, Environmental Working Group and other allies* are seeking to prevent the NCUC-approved rules change from taking effect on October 1.
Foremost among our arguments is the NCUC’s failure to adhere to the state law requiring analysis of costs and benefits of NEM; we and others presented copious evidence to the NCUC that NEM benefits even Duke’s customers without solar panels. Duke vigorously opposes an independent analysis.
Also, Duke Energy recently signaled its “customer calculator” still won’t be complete by October 1, or even by year-end. Solar installers need the tool to show potential residential buyers the economics of a solar investment amid the myriad complexities of Duke’s new rules.
In May, Duke said it hoped the calculator could be a “minimum viable product” when the rules change takes effect. Corporate officials pledged to resolve numerous problems over time based on customer complaints, a ridiculous proposal that leaves solar companies in the lurch.
Stein had earlier taken a strong position mirroring the demand by NC WARN, EWG and others against Duke’s attempt to change the economics of residential solar net metering, but he has not joined the appeal and has remained virtually silent on the commercial-nonprofit side of Duke’s attack.
Speaking to NC WARN last week, a prominent solar industry official said, “It’s been happening in other states already. Duke Energy’s changes, if implemented, will deeply hurt our industry because sales become much more complicated and the return on investment is weakened.”
Duke Energy is making a mess of our once-growing rooftop solar industry although local solar-plus-storage is the fastest, cheapest way to address the climate crisis. The NCUC has been too friendly with Duke, so Cooper and Stein simply must step up and protect North Carolina at this crucial time.
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* 350 Triangle, 350 Charlotte, the NC Alliance to Protect Our People and the Places We Live (NCAPPPL), NC Climate Solutions Coalition, Sunrise Movement Durham Hub, and pro se intervenor Don Oulman
