Today, three groups representing advanced energy companies – Advanced Energy Economy Institute, its state partner in New York, and its regional partner in New England – issued the following statements in response to the release of a Department of Public Service (DPS) report outlining the staff’s proposal for an interim successor tariff to replace net energy metering for certain distributed generation projects, principally community solar and larger on-site installations. The report and recommendations, which follows extensive stakeholder input, is another significant step forward in the ongoing New York Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) proceeding, in which the three organizations have been active participants.

The report, which will now be subject to a formal comment process before the Public Service Commission issues an order, lays out a framework for determining a more precise valuation of distributed energy resources such as solar, fuel cells, and energy storage. It also contains mechanisms aimed at providing the certainty needed for customers and DER developers to get projects financed and built. With a focus on larger behind-the-meter projects and community distributed generation, the interim methodology proposed by DPS staff keeps retail net energy metering in place for residential and small commercial projects, mainly on-site solar installations.

“Thanks to supportive policies, New York has seen a huge increase in development activity for distributed energy resources, including solar, fuel cells and energy storage. We remain optimistic that an interim successor to net metering will continue to unlock this potential and help make the REV vision of a more distributed energy system a reality, for the benefit of electricity customers in New York,” said Lisa Frantzis, senior vice president for strategy at Advanced Energy Economy, the national business group affiliated with AEE Institute. “This report represents an important milestone and we appreciate the significant efforts DPS staff have made to engage and listen to a wide range of stakeholders during the process. We look forward to continued participation in this proceeding.”

“The challenge in transitioning from net metering is to move to a precise valuation of solar, fuel cells, and other distributed resources, while not disrupting these emerging markets, and to do so with the limited data that is available,” said Anne Reynolds, executive director of ACE NY. “New York has taken on this challenge and developed a thoughtful proposal on how to balance these competing needs.”

“The advanced energy community shares New York’s vision of an increasingly distributed and clean energy future and this staff report is another step in that direction. It importantly recognizes the need to provide a smooth transition from current policies for solar, fuel cells and other clean energy technologies so that investment will continue to increase in the state,” said Janet Gail Besser, executive vice president of NECEC (Northeast Clean Energy Council). “We look forward to working with our partners ACE NY and AEE and other stakeholders to ensure that the final policy achieves New York’s ambitious clean energy goals.”

The DPS report and recommendations, developed over the course of the past 10 months, follow the submittal of several proposals by stakeholders as well as a DPS staff-led collaborative process that involved the participation of dozens of stakeholders. The New York PSC will now be reviewing the report and comments that will be filed in response to the report and is expected to issue an order in early 2017.

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Background Material:

The New York DPS Staff report can be downloaded here. For background on the successor to net metering issue in the New York REV proceeding, see AEE’s blog post here.

About AEE and AEE Institute

Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) is a national association of businesses that are making the energy we use secure, clean, and affordable. AEE’s mission is to transform public policy to enable the rapid growth of advanced energy companies. The Advanced Energy Economy Institute is a nonprofit educational and charitable organization whose mission is to raise awareness of the public benefits and opportunities of advanced energy.

About ACE NY
The Alliance for Clean Energy New York is a broad coalition dedicated to promoting clean energy, energy efficiency, a healthy environment, and a strong economy for the Empire State, and is New York’s premier advocate for the rapid adoption of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. www.aceny.org About NECEC

NECEC is a regional non-profit organization representing clean energy companies and entrepreneurs throughout New England and the Northeast. Its mission is to create a world-class clean energy hub in the Northeast delivering global impact with economic, energy and environmental solutions. www.necec.org