Melissa Ross
Solar activists are crying foul about proposed changes to JEA’s net metering program.
They’ll be airing their concerns at a community forum on solar Wednesday evening at Jacksonville University.
The JEA board is considering whether to adopt reductions in the credit that is provided to customers who send power back to the grid through JEA’s net metering policy. Net metering allows residential and commercial customers who generate their own electricity from a solar system to feed electricity back to the grid.
“The tension between distributed energy and utilities with old business models is being played out across the U.S. in addition to right here in our back yard,” says Sarah Boren, Director of Policy and Programs for the USGBC Florida Chapter.
Boren says the USGBC’s goal is to find alternative energy solutions while also promoting the local rooftop solar industry, which has seen 20 percent growth in recent years, along with other sectors such as development of the “smart grid.”
Meanwhile, JEA says it “has the responsibility to balance affordability, environmental requirements and reliability of its service on behalf of its customers.”
