Putting the Potential Rate Impacts of Distributed Solar into Context
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Div.
The rapid growth of distributed solar in a number of states has raised questions about its potential effects on retail electricity prices, prompting concerns by some utilities and stakeholders about costshifting between solar and non-solar customers. These concerns have, in turn, led to a proliferation of proposals to reform retail rate structures and net metering rules for distributed solar customers, often extending to states that have yet to witness significant solar growth. These proposals have typically been met with a great deal of contention and often absorb substantial time and administrative resources, potentially at the expense of other issues that may ultimately have greater impact on utility ratepayers. Given these inevitable tradeoffs, state regulators might ask: How large could the effect of distributed solar on retail electricity prices conceivably be? And how does that compare to the many other factors that also influence electricity prices—and over which state regulators and utilities might also have some control?
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 1469160
- Report Number(s):
- LBNL-1007060; ir:1007060
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
The Shifting Landscape of Ratepayer-Funded Energy Efficiency in the U.S.
Aligning retail rates with market prices: Pricing initiatives for the transition