As larger utilities seek to limit payments for customer-generated solar power, the ratepayer-owned Block Island Power Company convinced state legislators this session to remove a previous cap on its net metering program.
by Lisa Prevost Energy News July 27, 2021
Block Island, Rhode Island, where the ratepayer-owned Block Island Power Company recently persuaded state lawmakers to remove a net metering cap. Credit: Timothy J. Quill / Creative Commons
A small Rhode Island utility this year did something virtually unheard of in its industry: It lobbied for permission to buy more solar power from its customers.
Net metering, in which utility customers are paid for unused electricity they send back to the grid, has been a contentious subject across the country. Many utilities see it as a threat to their profit-driven business models.
The Block Island Power Company, which serves about 1,600 members on the 10-square-mile island, is in a unique position as a ratepayer-owned nonprofit. The utility recently persuaded state lawmakers to remove a cap that had limited net-metered power to 3% of its peak load.
“We are proud to be one of the few electric utilities that are asking for a net metering cap to be lifted,” said Jeffery Wright, president of the utility, also known as the Block Island Utility District. “That is primarily because we are now a member-owned and -governed utility district.”
Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee signed legislation (SB 22) this month that allows the district — as well as the Pascoag Utility District in the northwestern corner of the state — to set its own maximum percentage, subject to approval by the state Public Utilities Commission.
The district reached the previous cap 18 months ago, and more than 30 applications for solar power have stacked up in the meantime, Wright said.
