News

Mar 25, 2024

Alliant Energy says proposal will better measure solar energy produced by homeowners

Baraboo resident Harry Lutz's home has 36 solar panels installed on various sections of his roof. His home is powered by Alliant Energy, which is seeking to restructure its solar power incentive

Baraboo resident Harry Lutz's home has 36 solar panels installed on various sections of his roof. His home is powered by Alliant Energy, which is seeking to restructure its solar power incentive program.

Alliant Energy is hoping to track energy use from solar customers much more frequently to better gauge charges and savings, the utility said last month.

The company’s proposal before the state’s Public Service Commission seeks to narrow how often solar energy produced by solar panels on customers’ homes is measured from monthly to hourly. Alliant Distributed Generation Services Manager Tyson Cook said the increased measurements would make for more accurate billing and compensation.

Under the existing “net metering” program, Alliant gathers energy use and production from solar power systems monthly and uses the data to bill customers based on how much energy is taken from the power grid versus how much is created by sunlight. Cook said the monthly data does not account for energy cost changes and the amount of power available from the grid at any one time.

Along with potential increased savings, Alliant said the new structure, called “Power Partnership, will prompt more home and business owners to install solar panels, increasing renewable energy use.

“This change better reflects their energy use and also compensates customers for the energy they contribute to the grid,” said Alliant senior communications director Tony Palese in an email.

Alliant plans to enroll solar users with 20 kilowatt or smaller power systems in the proposed structure, Palese said.

“Customers will actually see a slight increase in terms of the money that we’re reimbursing for excess energy put on the grid,” Palese said.

According to Cook’s proposal, the average Alliant solar residential customer installs a 7.07 kilowatt solar system. The proposed system would reduce the effective electricity price by 0.13 cents per kilowatt hour, based on a model of 5,000 system installations.

The monthly net metering system, first implemented in 1978, is a “crude assessment,” of energy use and generation, Cook said.

“The challenge there is that on any given day, any given hour, the cost of energy and the level of service we’re providing for customers can vary,” said Cook. “What we’re proposing now is a shift towards a more advanced net metering tariff.”.

Alliant's new proposal is designed to create more cost and billing balance between solar and non-solar customers and to better reflect energy use and production during varying weather conditions, according to Citizens Utility Board Executive Director Tom Content.

"The idea is to try to make it a little more precise in terms of giving solar customers the benefit when the sun is shining, but also reflecting the costs to the system when the sun is not shining," said Content.

The PSC could possibly delay approval of the proposal to do a statewide investigation of the current net metering monthly structure and how the new proposed plan affects it, according to Content.

"Generally, CUB thinks that the more precise system set up by Alliant is a little more accurate in terms of reflecting the benefits of solar when it's being used," said Content. "It's all about fairness and balance."

In situations where a customer is producing more electricity than they’re using, Alliant will reimburse with bill credits for that period. Under the previous system, Cook said, energy production and usage were “averaged throughout the month.”

“One of the really nice things about this proposal and going to advanced net metering is that we are able to value that higher than what we have in the past,” said Cook. “At this advanced rate, we’re actually able to pay people more for the electricity that they’re exporting, especially in those peak hours when electricity is worth more.”

The current net metering system is "critical to Wisconsin's solar industry" in the industry's current state, according to RENEW Wisconsin, a statewide renewable energy nonprofit.

"This is not the appropriate time to make significant changes to net metering policies which are shown to drive renewable energy adoption," said RENEW Wisconsin Executive Director Sam Dunaiski in a statement. "Proposed changes to this policy will create confusion for consumers, stifling adoption rates for an industry that is just starting to hit its stride."

An overhaul of Alliant's current net metering system could cause demand for rooftop solar systems to decrease, according to Powered Up Baraboo, a clean energy nonprofit in Baraboo. Clean energy workers could be laid off as a result and the new system could increase rates, according to the organization.

Peak hours are during the late morning and afternoon, according to the company representatives who also acknowledged the potential for more solar energy production during that time.

Baraboo resident Harry Lutz’s home, which has 36 roof-mounted solar panels, is powered by Alliant. He said that the summer months provide the most solar power, but winters are more challenging due to less sunlight and the need to keep snow and ice off of the panels.

“I would say in the summer, I’m just about net zero as far as how much I use and what I pay for,” said Lutz, adding that peak summer months can generate roughly six times the amount of solar power as winter months.

Lutz said he is financing the installation of his home’s 12-plus kilowatt solar system, which cost roughly $56,000. He said that solar panels would be a more worthy investment in southern states because of higher power generation potential throughout the year.

Current Alliant customers would be able to remain under the current monthly net metering plan until Jan. 1, 2028, if the proposal is approved. New Alliant customers after Jan. 1, 2024, would begin under the new Power Partnership. Existing customers could switch to the new system before the start of 2028 if desired.

"It would grandfather everybody who has existing solar panels at their homes for four years," said Content.

Reporter John Gittings can be reached via phone at 920- 210-4695.

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