Michigan Passes Full Net Metering Law
The Michigan Legislature passed a new statute that will require full net metering. Unlike many other net metering laws, the new statute allows credits to be carried forward from one billing period to another without expiration.
Unlike the most recent Massachusetts net metering legislation, the Michigan statute does not allow for the sale of credits. However, the non-expiration of the credits is a major milestone for distributed generation resources.
Further, the statute provides that the credit for excess generation shall be at "full retail rates". This is defined in the statute as the average real-time locational marginal price at the commercial pricing node or the full retail rate. The end-user is not credited for transmission or distribution charges.
In addition to these benefits, the statute caps a utilities application fee for net metering at $100.
On the downside, any system capable of generating over 150 Kw must pay interconnection costs and standby power costs. The cost of administering the program will be put into the utilities rate base. The Michigan Public Utility Commission must enact rules to implement the program within 180 days of the statute's enactment.
