Virtual Net Energy Metering is coming: benefits for California businesses with multiple meters

August 16, 2013 Author: Tom Millhoff There is great news for California growers, food processors and other businesses seeking to reduce their electric bills. If you have multiple electric meters, recent policy changes create new opportunities to use solar and other renewable energy sources to profitably reduce your energy bill. Policymakers recently expanded the Virtual Net Metering (VNM) policy, which allows select users to aggregate renewable energy production at one location, and to offset bills elsewhere.

How Net Metering Works

Net metering policies allow you to use the utilitys grid like a free battery, effectively banking excess renewable electricity production for future credit. If your on-site power facility generates more energy than you consume for a period, your utility meter spins backwards and generates a bill credit that can be used to offset your bill when your consumption exceeds your energy generation.

An agricultural firm need not sacrifice trees or crops to enjoy the benefits of renewable energy.

Why Virtual Net Metering Matters

Emerging VNM policies have been a success because they allow system owners to aggregate a multiple-meter facilitys energy production at one meter location, while offsetting energy expense at many locations. This provides economies of scale and location: it is cheaper to build and own a single energy production facility that yields the same energy output as many smaller systems. For example under VNM an apartment complex can build one large solar Installation in a central location instead of many small systems on the roof of each unit. Or a municipality could install a single distributed generation solution at a remote storage yard and use excess generation to offset expensive downtown office electric bills. To date VNM policy deployment has been very limited.

A Breakthrough for Commercial & Ag: Expanded Virtual Net Energy Metering
Senate Bill 592 (Wolk) expands VNM by permitting customers to aggregate energy loads across multiple meters anywhere on their property or on contiguous parcels. Policy implementation has been under review and last week the CPUC announced that it will order the utilities to deploy VNM in late September of this year (details below). Thus an agricultural firm need not sacrifice trees or crops to enjoy the benefits of renewable energy they can simply install a qualified power facility on remote, unproductive soil and virtually net meter the bill credits to offset irrigation loads on productive lands. Similarly a food processor can implement a distributed generation facility at a convenient location and offset energy bills at meters throughout their facility.

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HelioPower is the VNM Leader

HelioPower understands VNMs economic levers, and we have deep experience navigating the VNM policy to engineer and deliver solutions which leverage the economies of scale and location afforded by VNM policy. VNM was piloted under the California Solar Initiatives Multifamily Affordable Solar Housing Program (MASH), and HelioPower played a leading role deploying some of the earliest VNM projects at Las Serenas in SDG&E, and Sunrise Vista in SCE and Sherwood Village in PG&E territories. Weve also helped California municipalities develop projects that leverage the Renewable Energy Self-Generation Bill Credit Transfer Program (RES-BCT) policy, which permits allocation of excess bill credits within their jurisdiction.

Policy Details
Last week the CPUC submitted Draft Resolution Resolution E-4610, in which removed a key hurdle to VNM expansion by clarifying that the policy would not burden non-benefitting customers. The CPUC will hear this resolution on Sept 19, and within 2 weeks it appears likely the big 3 utilities will have to modify their rates to accommodate Expanded Virtual Net Energy Metering. Here is a summary of that resolution:

PROPOSED OUTCOME: The Commission finds that allowing eligible customer-generators to aggregate their load from multiple meters, pursuant to Senate Bill (SB) 594 (Wolk, 2012), will not result in an increase in the expected revenue obligations of customers who are not eligible customergenerators. Within fourteen (14) days of the issuance of this resolution, Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), Southern California Edison Company (SCE), and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) shall each file a Tier 2 Advice Letter revising their Net Energy Metering (NEM) tariffs to enable meter aggregation pursuant to SB 594.

About The Author

Tom Millhoff is HelioPowers VP of Business Development and oversees their Agriculture, Food Processing and Multifamily Housing energy practice areas. He has developed Virtual Net Metering projects in PG&E, SCE and SDG&E utility territories. To stay abreast of VNM developments follow the blog at http://heliopower.com/blog/ or on Twitter: @tmillhoff If you have questions or comments, feel free to email him at tmilhoff@heliopower.com.

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