Solar advocates in N.S. call for rebate payments to remain

Solar power users and advocates are praising the Nova Scotia government's efforts to protect the industry, but are expressing concern with a decision to cap the amount of power they can sell to the grid.

The government tabled amendments to the Electricity Act last week, partly in response to efforts earlier this year by Nova Scotia Power to increase user fees that many people feared would cripple the solar industry.

While measures that would prevent such charges and the ability for users to get their electricity bill to zero without penalty are being celebrated, the decision not to compensate customersfor generating more energy thantheir home requires in a year has not beenwell received. The measures apply to Nova Scotia Power customers.

Chris Sheppard, who lives just outside Port Hawkesbury, N.S., can generate all the power his home needs from May to November using his 11-kilowatt solar array. In the years since he installed it, his annual cheques from Nova Scotia Power for excess energy his system produces for the grid have ranged between $380 and $1,000.

'They're just stealing the energy'

Given how expensive systems can be, Sheppard said the ability to make some money from them each year to help defray costs is a welcome benefit. He's frustrated the amendment before the House will mean the end of those annual cheques.

"For them to remove the rebate for the power that I'm generating, when you really think about it, they're just stealing the energy that I'm making and they're taking the profit from it, where I get nothing,"Sheppard said.

Natural Resources and Renewables Minister Tory Rushton said this isn't a complaint he's heard much about. Rather, he said people are telling him they're glad to have protection for the solar industry.

"I've just heard the fact that [people] were very pleased that the solar industry was saved, per se, and that people are going to be able to move forward without that increased cost to get onto the net metering program," said Rushton.

The minister said few people are getting any kind of notable returns for their excess powerproduced. The intent of the changes is to encourage people to install systems that meet the needs of their households, he said, while being able to get their electricity bills to zero, if possible.

David Brushett, chair of Solar Nova Scotia's board, said the aim of installing solar arrays is to have something that is big enough to meet a homeowner's consumption needs. In some cases, he said, buying a system a little larger might make sense for future planning if someone is thinking about buying an electric vehicle or another change to their home that would necessitate more consumption.

"The net metering program was never intended for people to make extra cash," he said.

Advocate addresses legislative committee

But Gurprasad Gurumurthy, an energy co-ordinator with the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax, said the government should be looking to get more people producing excess green energy to supply the grid and not removing incentives for people to do so.

Like Sheppard, he's concerned the change related to rebates could stymie people entering the solar market. Hebrought that worryto the attention of MLAs during a presentation Wednesday at the legislature's law amendments committee.

Gurumurthy said putting a cap on how much energyNova Scotia Power has to pay for might make sense for some small utilities, but not one with a guaranteed rate of return such as NSP.

"In fact, the so-called issue of cost subsidizing between non-solar and solar customers is the utility's monopolistic view, which sees distributed solar generation as competition to its profit-making model," he said.

If the intention of the changes is to create a rapid increase in solar power generation, the government should revisit the idea of capping payments to customers, said Gurumurthy.

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