National Grid s Solar Initiatives and Net-Metering Tim Roughan Director of Distributed Resources, National Grid EBC, February 4, 2010
Agenda Who we are National Grid s Solar Projects Net-Metering changes in MA, RI, and NH
National Grid: an international electricity and gas company 50% US, 50% UK Gas 27,000 employees Distributes electricity to 3.3 million customers Provides natural gas to 3.5 million customers Services 1.1 million customers of Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) Electricity Currently owns over 4,000 MW of generation
MA Solar Project Highlights 5 National Grid owned sites 4 of the sites were historically manufactured gas plants 1 site is an active materials distribution center Approved by DPU Oct 23, 2009, construction has begun NEDC (Sutton) project aiming at an on-line date of late March Civil work on-going at Haverhill, Revere, and Everett sites Still working on procuring permits for Dorchester Site Estimated Annual Installed Location Description Capacity (MW) Output (kwh) Cost Dorchester Former MGP 1.3 1,557,549 $9,374,286 Everett Former MGP 0.62 837,032 $3,902,902 Haverhill Former MGP 1 1,327,604 $5,881,440 NEDC Warehouse Roof 1.2 1,247,425 $6,513,183 Revere Former MGP 0.75 886,319 $5,406,492 Total 4.88 5,855,929 $31,078,303
Conceptual Designs Dorchester, MA 1,320 kws Everett, MA 620 kws
Conceptual Designs Haverhill, MA 1,000 kws Revere, MA 750 kws Sutton, MA 1,200 kws
New MA net-metering regulations (effective 12/1/09) Solar and wind only up to 2 MWs Class I all current net-metered accounts (less than or equal to 60 kws) The non-solar and wind units will still get paid average clearing price at the ISO-NE Solar and wind get basic service in load zone, distribution energy charge, transmission energy charge, and transition energy charge Class II 60.1 kws to 1 MW Class II 60.1 kws to 1 MW Credits are the basic service in load zone, distribution energy charge, transmission energy charge, and transition energy charge Class III 1.01 MWs to 2 MWs Credits are the basic service in load zone, transmission energy charge, and transition energy charge If a municipal or State of MA account, they also get the distribution energy charge Neighborhood net-metering any size same credits as Class III
Rate application for net-metered customers in MA For a behind the meter application, the customer s current imported usage will determine the proper rate to be used for billing imported usage as well as calculate the renewable energy credits For a stand-alone system with no customer loads except parasitic loads, the customer s usage on the import channel will determine the proper rate to be used for billing imported usage as well as calculate the renewable energy credits E.g. a 1.5 MW wind turbine installed last year has a load of approximately 1,500 to 2,000 kwhs and 3-12 kws of peak demand per month, so they would be put on the G-1 rate for both imported usage as well as to calculate credits
MA net-metering credits per exported kwh Credits per kwh effective 1/1/10 for National Grid-MA Basic Svc Credits for Class I Credits for Class II Credits for Class III R1 rate (<600 kwhs) $0.08827 $0.13340 N/A N/A RI rate (>600 kwhs) $0.08827 $0.14015 N/A N/A G1 rate (<2,000 kwhs) $0.08720 $0.13374 $0.13374 $0.11921 G1 rate (>2,000 kwhs) $0.08720 $0.15197 $0.15197 $0.13744 G2 rate basic service - SEMA $0.07690 $0.09367 $0.09367 $0.07959 basic service - WCEMA $0.07809 $0.09486 $0.09486 $0.08078 basic service - NEMA $0.07733 $0.09410 $0.09410 $0.08002 G3 rate basic service - SEMA $0.07690 $0.09782 $0.09782 $0.08590 Offpeak 9pm to 8 am $0.09008 $0.09008 $0.07816 basic service - WCEMA $0.07809 $0.09901 $0.09901 $0.08709 Offpeak 9pm to 8 am off peak $0.09127 $0.09127 $0.07935 basic service - NEMA $0.07733 $0.09825 $0.09825 $0.08633 Offpeak 9pm to 8 am off peak $0.09051 $0.09051 $0.07859 Note: For municipal or State accounts, Class III facilities are paid the same credits as Class II facilities
Allocation of net-metering credits in MA New regulations allow for customers to either use netmetering credits for their own future use Or, can allocate to as many other customers as they want within the same load zone by filling out schedule Z Needless to say, the internal Company billing issues are significant Will need to manually transfer credits for some time
Other issues MA Overall limit is 1% of NGrid-MA s delivered load Peak load was 5,067 MWs in 2006, so 1% would be 50.67 MWs. Limit was set to make sure the new law was benefiting MA ratepayers likely to be expanded if the benefits to ratepayers can be shown We are at 9.6 MWs, and have another 17 MWs in the interconnection process To apply for net-metering, need to follow the interconnection tariff One small change in interconnection tariff is that Municipalities and the State of MA do not need to provide insurance for solar projects under 500 kws. Over 500 kws, the utility will purchase insurance and charge back the costs for municipal and state entities
New RI net-metering regulations (effective 9/15/09) For facilities which utilize solar or wind technology and are 1.65 megawatt (MW) or less, or are 2.25 MW or less and are developed but not owned by cities or towns, but are located on city or town owned land and provide power solely to the city or town that the project is located in, or are 3.5 MW or less and are entirely owned by cities and towns of Rhode Island, state agencies and the Narragansett Bay Commission
New RI net-metering regulations (effective 9/15/09) The renewable generation credit is defined as: the excess kwhs generated multiplied by the sum of 1) the Standard Offer or Last Resort Service charge, if applicable; 2) the distribution kwh charge for the applicable rate class; 3) the transmission kwh charges for the applicable rate class; and 4) the transition charge. Unless otherwise requested by the customer, the customer shall be compensated monthly by a check from the Company for the Renewable Generation Credits. Upon request by the customer, the renewable generation credit may be credited to the customer s bill in the following billing period and carried forward to subsequent billing periods through the end of the netting period. Any unused credits remaining on the customer account at the end of the netting period shall used to offset recoverable Company costs. We have sent letters to all net-metered customers in RI asking they fill out a new Schedule B to select either a check or a credit to their account.
Allocation of RI net-metering credits Any Rhode Island city or town, state agency, educational institution, non-profit affordable housing, farm, or the Narragansett Bay Commission, whose account is not currently in arrears, may elect to apply any credits earned to other accounts, up to a maximum of ten, owned by it. Non-profit affordable housing as defined by Rhode Island General Law subsection 39-26-2(19) shall use the Renewable Generation Credits to benefit the residents of the eligible affordable housing development. All Customers eligible under the provisions of this section will be required to complete Schedule B.
Rate application for net-metered customers in RI The selection of the appropriate retail rate will be determined as follows: facilities with generating capacity of less than 10kW, the appropriate residential or small general service rate will apply unless the customer s imported load necessitates use of G-02, G-32, or G-62 rate; facilities serving non-profit affordable housing, Residential Rate A-16 will apply; facilities with generating capacity of at least 10kW but not more than 200 kw, Rate G-02 will apply, unless the customer s imported load necessitates the use of the G-32 or G-62 rate; facilities with generating capacity of at least 200kW but not more than 3,000 kw, Rate G-32 will apply unless the customer s imported load necessitate the use of the G-62 rate; facilities with generating capacity of 3,000 kw or more, Rate G-62 will apply.
RI net-metering credits Credits per kwh 01/01/10 for RI Standard Svc Last Resort Service A-16 (residential) $0.14311 $0.14311 C-06 $0.14659 $0.13574 G-02 0.11276 0.09841 G-32 $0.11388 $0.09953 G-62 $0.10499 $0.09064 Please contact the Company for actual values, the standard offer and/or last resort service charges change monthly for the C/I rates above
Other issues RI A maximum of two percent (or 19.3 MWs) of peak load of aggregate installed capacity shall be allowed to be net metered provided, however, at least one (1) megawatt is reserved for projects less than twenty-five (25) kilowatts (kw). Upon reaching this maximum, the Company shall notify the Public Utilities Commission. We have 1.4 MWs under 1 MW size, and 1.5 MWs over 1 MW currently Net metering shall be limited to charges assessed on a per kilowatt-hour basis. Customers with demand meters will continue to pay all demand charges billed on a kilowatt and/or kva basis as well as.
NH changes Up to 100 kva of renewable generation Excess kwhs are carried forward month to month, no actual dollar credits are calculated Study committee is looking at expanding to 1 or 2 MWs