A Triad company is one of 15 North Carolina solar installers opposing proposed changes in how Duke Energy pays customers for electricity generated by rooftop panels.
Renewable Energy Design Group of Lewisville and the group of competitors argue that the new rules would discourage customers from adding panels in the future. That, the companies say, would threaten their businesses, stifle future North Carolina job growth in a rapidly expanding industry and slow the state’s efforts to combat climate change.
The coalition of installers laid out their objections in a letter Thursday to Gov. Roy Cooper, Attorney General Josh Stein and the N.C. Utilities Commission.
Renewable Energy Design Group co-founder and co-owner Jeff Redwine added another concern to the list.
“It makes a complicated process even more complicated,” Redwine said in describing existing and proposed rules on how Duke buys electricity from customers.
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Under current “net metering” rules, Duke credits customers for any electricity generated by solar panels beyond what is needed to power a property. The rate for the credit is the same rate the customer would pay Duke for electricity. Duke then sells that excess electricity to other power users at the same rate.
Duke wants to reduce the rate of those credits and adjust them based on time of day and energy demand, as well as charge solar customers a $10 monthly fee in addition to the fee all customers currently pay.
The proposed changes are part of a settlement agreement reached in November between Duke Energy, the N.C. Sustainable Energy Association; the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of Vote Solar and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy; Sunrun Inc. and the Solar Energy Industries Association.
The agreement was filed in November with the N.C. Utilities Commission, which must approve the changes.
South Carolina approved similar rules for Duke Energy that went into effect last year.
The N.C. General Assembly passed legislation in 2017 mandating that the utilities commission establish rate guidelines that ensure fairness for rooftop solar customers and utilities by Dec. 31, 2026.
Supporters of the proposed new rules, including some solar industry and environmental groups, say making the changes now insulates the industry from uncertainty.
“The closer we get to that date without a successor net metering rate, the harder it is for customers to adopt solar,” the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Vote Solar and the Southern Environmental Law Center said last month in a joint report supporting the agreement.
But Redwine, of the Renewable Energy Design Group, insisted the new rules would only make an already-complex process even more confounding to customers.
"Also, some sales organizations from outside the state that sell (solar) in North Carolina may not understand these complicated regulations and relay misinformation to homeowners," he added.
For its part, Duke argues that the proposed rules would bring a sense of fairness to the process.
“Duke Energy’s proposed changes to net metering in North Carolina do not hurt rooftop solar customers,” company spokesman Randy Wheeless said Friday. “We will compensate solar owners for their power back to the grid at rates that match the value of power to the company at that given time.”
In their letter, however, the North Carolina panel installers say the new fees and variable rates would reduce the value of rooftop power sold to Duke by 25-35% for the average customer.
When asked, Wheeles did not specifically address whether Duke agreed with that estimate.
“Our settlement with many leading solar groups ensures fair and reasonable treatment for all customers whether they choose to install solar or not,” he said.
The solar companies, however, insist Duke’s aim with the agreement isn’t so altruistic.
“We believe the proposed changes could harm a growing industry on behalf of a single corporation, cause the loss of thousands of well-paying jobs in the North Carolina solar industry, threaten your climate goals and hurt all electricity customers by limiting the delivery of low-cost power to the grid,” they say in their letter to the governor, attorney general and utilities commission.
Redwine agreed.
“I don’t see any benefit in doing it other than for the utility company,” he said.
Redwine added that smaller operations like his would be especially hard hit if potential customers decide they won’t recoup their investment in rooftop panels fast enough to make the purchase worthwhile.
“I do 50 to 60 properties a year,” he said. “What kind of bite is going to be taken out of it if the changes go through?”
If approved, the updated rate structure would go into effect for new net metering customers Jan. 1, 2023.
