Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb. Photo courtesy of Tony Llama.
In a blow to Indiana’s solar industry, Governor Eric Holcomb signed Senate Enrolled Act 309, an act that eventually eliminates net metering in the state.
According to the Indiana Distributed Energy Alliance, a non-profit organization working to promote renewable energy and distributed generation, the Governor said, “I support solar as an important part of Indiana’s comprehensive energy mix. I understand the concerns some have expressed, but this legislation ensures those who currently have interests in small solar operations will not be affected for decades.”
The Alliance issued a letter in response to the bill’s passage, asking him to create state energy policy processes with all stakeholders and direct the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to do a cost-benefit study of net metering.
SEIA issued a statement Rick Umoff, SEIA’s regulatory counsel and director of state affairs:
“The law protects homeowners who currently have solar by ensuring that they will be able to sell power to the grid for the next 30 years. It also provides a small increase in the state’s net metering cap and allows the IURC to make changes after the cap is reached. These provisions were the product of bipartisan support which overcame attempts by utilities to eliminate net metering altogether.”
“Even so, the bill is a self-inflicted wound on the state. By only protecting net metering for existing customers, the bill creates a disincentive for those consumers considering solar. The Governor seemed to acknowledge this in his statement when he said the ‘legislation ensures that those who currently have interests in small solar operations will not be affected for decades.’”
“The vast majority of states have net metering in place to incentivize solar and other forms of distributed generation—and taking that away hurts consumers and the job growth that the solar industry is delivering all across the country.”
Updated with SEIA’s statement at 4:30 p.m. ET