House Hearing on Net Metering Bill Monday afternoon, Jan. 11th

Editor's Note: A new organization has been formed named, Indiana Distributed Energy Advocates (IDEA) as a 501(c)(6) or trade association. The mission of this new group is to lobby for renewable energy policies in the State of Indiana including net metering. Therefore, IDEA will take positions on issues such as net metering and lobby members of the Indiana General Assembly NOT the Indiana Renewable Energy Association. More details on IDEA forthcoming soon!

For more information on net metering, please see Net Metering: Policy Recommendations for Indiana, prepared by Eric Cotton, ECI Wind and Solar and Laura Ann Arnold, The Arnold Group; prepared for Indiana Distributed Energy Advocates, Inc. (IDEA).

AGENDA FOR: House Commerce, Energy, Technology and Utilities

MEETING: January 11, Upon Adjournment, 156B, State House, Indianapolis,

CHAIR: Rep. Win Moses, Jr., Chair (D-Fort Wayne)h81@in.gov

VICE-CHAIR: Rep. Matt Pierce, Vice Chair (D-Bloomington)h61@in.gov

MEMBERS:
Rep. Kreg Battles (D-Vincennes) h64@in.gov
Rep. Sandy Blanton (D-Orleans) h62@in.gov
Rep. Ryan Dvorak (D-South Bend) h8@in.gov
Rep. Scott Reske (D-Pendleton) h37@in.gov
Rep. Dan Stevenson (D-Highland) h11@in.gov
Rep. Jack Lutz, RMM (R-Anderson) h35@in.gov
Rep. Eric Koch (R-Bedford) h65@in.gov
Rep. Robert Behning (R-Indianapolis) h91@in.gov
Rep. David Frizzell (R-Indianapolis) h93@in.gov
Rep. Ed Soliday (R-Valparaiso) h4@in.gov

AGENDA: HB 1094

The Indiana House of Representatives is scheduled to go into session at 1:30 pm on Monday, January 11, 2010. Therefore, the House Commerce, Energy, Technology and Utilities Committee hearing could be as early as 2:00 pm but most likely it will begin at 2:30-3:00 pm.

To call Representatives while the Legislature is in session telephone:
(317) 232-9600 or (317) 232-9700;
Toll free 1-800-382-9841 or 1-800-382-9842.

To determine your state legislators, please visit the Indiana General Assembly District Look-up Service. Please enter your zipcode + four with your street address and city.

Here is a quick summary of HB 1094:

The bill directs the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) to adopt new net metering rules as follows:

(1) Require an electric utility to offer net metering to all customer classes.

(2) Allow a net metering customer to interconnect to an electric utility's distribution facility a generating facility with a nameplate capacity of:

(A) twenty (20) kilowatts or less, in the case of a residential customer;

(B) two hundred (200) kilowatts or less, in the case of a commercial customer other than an industrial customer;

(C) two (2) megawatts or less, in the case of: (i) an industrial customer; or (ii) an agricultural customer; or

(D) five (5) megawatts or less, in the case of any of the following customers: (i) The state. (ii) A unit (as defined in IC 36-1-2-23). (iii) An elementary or a secondary school attended by students in kindergarten or grades 1 through 12. (iv) A school corporation (as defined in IC 20-43-1-23). (v) A postsecondary educational institution (as described in IC 6-3-3-5).

(3) Allow a net metering customer to interconnect a facility that generates electricity through any of the following technologies:

(A) Solar.

(B) Wind.

(C) Microhydroelectric facilities.

(D) Hydroelectric facilities at dams existing before January 1, 2010.

(E) Microturbines using renewable fuels.

(F) Fuel cells using renewable fuels.

(G) Biogas, including anaerobic digestion.

(H) Methane from landfills.

This information brought to you by the Indiana Renewable Energy Association.