Nevada legislature boosts clean energy, bringing back rooftop solar companies

The Nevada legislature has decided to right a wrong against the solar industry — and solar companies are eager to get back to business in the state.

The state assembly and senate passed a bill this week, widely expected to be signed into law by Gov. Brian Sandoval (R), that allows solar customers to be paid for electricity they put on the grid at nearly retail rate. The bill comes 18 months after the state’s electricity regulators gutted the popular net metering program.

Just before Christmas in 2015, the Nevada Public Utilities Commission (PUC) voted to stop letting solar customers get full retail rate for electricity they put onto the grid. Instead, customers would be paid wholesale rate, as though they were power companies. (Ironically, the Nevada PUC had previously issued a report finding, even under net metering, rooftop solar customers are a net benefit to the grid.)

The move was a massive blow to the state’s solar industry. Sunrun, a popular residential installer, moved out entirely. And while utility-scale solar continued apace — Nevada has been fourth in the nation for installed solar capacity the past two years— the residential market tanked. Jobs for solar installations fell by a third, with 2,500 fewer solar installation jobs from 2015 to 2016.

Both Tesla, which owns SolarCity, and Sunrun applauded the news Monday, saying they would reenter the Nevada market.

https://thinkprogress.org/nevada-solar-bill-e5e7f537c323