Net-metering bill passes through Senate committee

Yahoo

28-01-2025

CHEYENNE — Lawmakers have thrown support behind a bill to revise the state's net metering compensation model, or the rate at which utilities buy surplus energy from small-scale customers with solar panels in Wyoming.
The Senate Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee voted 4-1 to approve Senate File 111, 'Net metering revisions,' on Monday. 'Net metering' means measuring the difference between the electricity supplied by an electric utility and the electricity generated by a small customer who generates their own electricity, that is then fed back to the electric utility over an applicable billing period.
SF 111 would revise how net metering compensation applies to new small customer generators, authorizing the Public Service Commission to use a different system of compensation for excess energy production, if that service is being subsidized by other customers.
Under SF 111, existing small customers who own an electrical production system before Dec. 31, 2025, would be exempted at existing rates, according to bill co-sponsor Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander.
Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander
Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, speaks on the Senate floor last week. Case is a co-sponsor on SF 111, 'Net metering revisions.'
'We have tried to wrestle with the issue of net metering and how it's applied by statute in Wyoming' for years, Case told the committee on Friday. 'There's a lot of confusion about the concept of net metering. It's frequently promoted as a way to 'stick it to the man,' or to 'stick it to your electric utility,' to go off the grid to be energy independent.'
However, net metering simply involves installing a special electric meter or reprogramming an existing meter so that electrical flow can be measured in both directions: electricity flowing from the utility company to the customer, and vice versa, according to the University of Wyoming. Some see it as a way to reduce their monthly electric bill, and some electricity provided by a renewable, local or alternative-generating resource. Opponents argue that net metering has the potential to reduce revenue for utility companies, which will then pass that loss on to other customers in the service area.
Every utility in Wyoming has a tariff structure consisting of a connection charge, as well as a charge for energy, according to Case. The energy charge does recover the cost of the network, and an additional 'customer charge' comes in at $20 to $50, depending on the utility.
'That subsidy is built in. It's not something I like, but it has one purpose, and that's to provide very small users with small bills, so it is a fixed cost that doesn't get recovered from net metering producers,' Case said.
Bills similar to SF 111, Case said, have been debated before, but did not include pre-exemptions.
'This bill is virtually the same as the bills that you've seen before, but there's one significant difference,' Case said. 'Somebody that has an existing system ... is grandfathered under the current system for as long as they have it under existing rates, for as long as they own the system. That's the bottom line.'
If SF 111 is to pass, anyone with a system installed after Jan. 1, 2026, will face new rates set by the Public Service Commission (PSC). Chris Petrie, deputy chairman of the PSC, told the committee on Monday during public comment that the commission exists 'primarily to ensure just and reasonable rates.'
Chris Petrie
Then Wyoming Public Service Commission Chairman Chris Petrie, center, speaks in May 2022 at the PSC.
'We've looked at this bill, and with that in mind, I think that it, in fact, does create a path to establishing just and reasonable rates for utilities, and the treatment of net-metering customers,' Petrie said.
New customer generators would face a rate set according to the PSC's usual public process, according to Petrie. Bruce Asay with MDU Resources said he believes the revision would provide a 'necessary compromise' in the system.
However, many others commented against the proposed legislation on Monday, saying it was a solution in search of a problem. John Burrows of the Wyoming Outdoor Council said the bill directs a foregone conclusion that rooftop solar owners are being subsidized by other ratepayers.
'We think it is premature to require the PSC to revise rates for this small group of customers, when net metering represents such a tiny fraction of electricity generated in Wyoming,' Burrows said.
The idea that rooftop solar owners are 'not paying their share' of a utility's network cost, he said, does not adequately portray the system already in place.
'Consider the example of rural customers who depend on miles and miles of grid network, but still pay the exact same rate as customers who live next to a substation in town,' Burrows said. 'Cost shifting from an urban to a rural customer is a common and accepted practice.'
Natalie Johansen, a renewable energy community organizer for the Powder River Basin Resource Council, said the bill would create 'unnecessary barriers' for rural families who may want to invest in solar energy. Net-metered systems in Wyoming only make up about 0.2% of the system, and so Johansen said the 'bill is solving no real problem.' Wyoming resident Stef Kessler testified on Zoom, similarly saying SF 111 'addresses a problem that doesn't exist, and affects small users.'
'I urge you to consider the little people of Wyoming,' Kessler said. 'I have only ever seen utilities themselves and regulators speak in favor of these bills.'
Sen. Bill Landen, R-Casper, said he would support SF 111.
Sen. Bill Landen, R-Casper (2025)
Sen. Bill Landen, R-Casper
'I am ready to support this one, because we grandfather everybody in at this point, (protecting) those who are passionately involved in this now,' Landen said.
Further, Landen said he trusts the PSC to create a system that is also fair for future users, who he said will likely still see returns for investing in their own energy infrastructure. Sen. Dan Dockstader, R-Afton, said he also would vote in favor of SF 111, citing faith in the PSC process. Also voting in favor were Case and Sen. Cheri Steinmetz, R-Torrington.
Only Sen. Brian Boner, R-Douglas, voted against the measure Monday morning.