States Graded on Net Metering Policies and Interconnection Standards
The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), The Solar Alliance, The Vote Solar Initiative and Network for New Energy Choice (NNEC) have compiled their 2008 list of best and worst states for net metering and Interconnection standards. In a report entitled "Freeing the Grid", the group analyzes all 50 states' policies and provides a detailed ranking for each state with pros and cons for each as well.
For net metering standards, Colorado tops the list with Maryland, Florida, New Jersey, Oregon, and Pennsylvania all getting grades of "A". My home state of Connecticut ranked tied for 8th with a "B" Grade. At the bottom of the list is Texas, Michigan, North Carolina, West Virginia, South Carolina and Idaho with "F" grades and Alabama, Alaska, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Dakota and Tennessee with "n/a" ratings because they did not have programs.
For interconnection standards, no state received a higher grade than "B", with Illinois at the top of the list. Other "B" rated states are New Jersey, New Mexico, Maryland, Massachusetts, Oregon, Pennsylvania, California, Nevada, Arizona and North Carolina. My home state of Connecticut received a "D". At the bottom of the list was Wyoming with an "F" rating. 14 other states received "F" ratings and 13 states had "n/a" ratings because they did not have programs.
The top ten Solar Markets by Installed Grid Connected PV Capacity were California (329 MW), New Jersey (44 MW), Nevada (19 MW), Arizona (19 MW), New York (15 MW), Colorado (15 MW), Massachusetts (5 MW), Hawaii (4 MW), Texas (3 MW), and Oregon (3 MW). All other states had 20 MW.
The top ten Solar Markets by PV Installed Per Person are California (9.1 W), Nevada (7.8 W), New Jersey (5 W), Arizona (3.1 W), Colorado (3.1 W), Hawaii (3 W), Delaware (1.4 W), Vermont (1.2 W) and Connecticut (0.8 W).
In addition to the lists, the report provides an excellent summary, on a state by state basis, of net metering and interconnection requirements and issues. In addition, recommendations are made for each state to improve their rankings.
Overall, this document is a must read for anyone in the distributed generation field. However, it is also a must read for any developer that is contemplating adding any form of on-site generation to their portfolio.
