US state attorneys general join outcry against NERA net metering petition

Image: Flickr/Matt Wade.

A total of 15 attorneys general have leapt to the defence of solar net metering in the US, adding to the chorus of support for the domestic PV framework seen this week.

From California to Michigan and New York, the top law enforcement officers of 15 states earlier this week a protest against a petition launched by the New England Ratepayers Association which seeks to bring net metering under federal control.

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the state attorneys general urged, must quash the request or else risk bringing about an “arbitrary and capricious result” that would “overturn nearly two decades of precedent”.

“Rather than proceeding in a manner that is consistent with the procedures required by PURPA’s enforcement scheme, NERA ignores the federal district court’s role in enforcing the law and fails to allege it is a proper party to bring any request for enforcement. The Commission should deny the Petition based on these substantial procedural flaws alone,” the protest document reads.

State attorneys general to have signed the letter include representatives from California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin.

Meanwhile, energy regulator signatories include the California Energy Commission, the California Public Utilities Commission and the Rhode Island Division of Public Utilities and Carriers.

Earlier this week various trade bodies and activist groups made known their defence of net metering, warning that recent attempts to curtail it risked damaging low income and ethnic minority groups.

Tags: us, ferc, nera, net metering, legislation, policy, residential solar