A Solar Firm Plans to Build Off-Grid Neighborhoods in California

Still, energy experts said the odds were stacked against Sunnova.

The utility industry and its regulators, including California’s utilities commission, have a strong interest in preserving the status quo. The companies typically are much bigger and more politically influential than rooftop solar power installers like Sunnova or Sunrun, the largest rooftop solar business in the country.

Bernard McNamee is a former member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which regulates transmission lines, gas pipelines and other parts of the energy industry. He said that the traditional regulated utility monopoly model might seem antiquated but that it had ensured that everyone, regardless of income, had access to a generally reliable electric grid.

“What we need to make sure of is that the system is designed to provide reliable, affordable electric service to every customer,” said Mr. McNamee, a partner at McGuireWoods, a law firm. “People throw around things like competition and markets. All of these things are complicated.”

But Mr. McNamee acknowledged that regulators needed to figure out how to treat popular new technologies like residential solar and battery systems, which could make it possible for some homes or neighborhoods to generate enough electricity to function without having to draw power from the grid most of the time.

“Regulators are struggling with how to integrate these new technologies,” Mr. McNamee said. “It’s something we need to work through as a country, as states.”

Utilities have been pressing regulators to reduce the compensation homeowners receive for the excess solar energy their rooftop systems send to the grid. The companies have argued that customers with solar panels are being offered generous credits for power that they are not contributing adequately toward the cost of maintaining power lines and other grid equipment.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/01/business/energy-environment/sunnova-off-grid-neighborhoods.html