Arnold with Rep. Ron Bacon, a conservative Indiana representative who owns solar panels and opposes SB 309
By Laura Ann Arnold, president of the Indiana Distributed Energy Alliance
SB 309 is on its way to Governor Eric Holcomb’s desk for his action.
Enrolled acts signed by the speaker of the house and the president pro tempore are sent to the office of the lieutenant governor for signature, then returned to the office of the secretary of the senate and then go to the office of the governor. From there, the governor reviews all legislation and has seven days to sign or veto the bill. If he does not sign it, it automatically becomes law on the eighth day after receipt.
We are now in the final days of the 2017 session of the Indiana general assembly. Although by state law the session must adjourn by April 29, state legislators are hoping to wrap up the session by April 21.
Solar companies are scheduled to meet with the governor’s office next week to urge Governor Holcomb to veto SB 309.
Several amendments were made to the bill including:
- Removing the “buy all, sell all” provision and adding grandfathering for the existing 1,153 net metering customers plus any additional net metering customers by 12/31/17 for 30 years
- Giving net metering customers 10-15 years grandfathering over the next 5 years or until an electric utility reaches its 1.5% summer peak load
Despite the amendments, the bill eventually eliminates net metering and prohibits electric utilities from offering it in the future. The new rate for any net excess credit for solar customers will be “the average marginal price of electricity paid by the electricity supplier during the most recent calendar year multiplied by 1.25%.” SB 309 author Senator Brandt Hershman said several times that this is an arbitrary rate and hence does not meet both federal and state requirements to be “just and reasonable” and will likely make the bill subject to litigation.
Although the amount of net metering varies with each of the five investor owned electric utilities impacted by SB 309, all net metering is just under 11% of the current 1% of summer peak load.
The biggest outcry over SB 309 comes from southwest Indiana, where the utility, Vectren, has the highest electric rates in the state.
Laura Ann Arnold is the president of the Indiana Distributed Energy Alliance, an organization that works to promote renewable energy and distributed generation.