NH Senate Bill 333 Testimony 2016

7/25/2019 NH Senate Bill 333 Testimony 2016

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TO: NHSENATE,ENERGYANDNATURALRESOURCESCOMMITTEE

HEARING: PROPOSEDSENATEBILL333 January13,2016

FROM: HaroldTurner,PE

REPRESENTING: NHCleanTechCouncil,asAdvisoryBoardMember

NHCenterforEconomicPolicy,asChairmanoftheBoard

EXECUTIVESUMMARY

Throughoutthecountry,therearebattlesbeingfoughtatstatelegislaturesandpublicutility

commissionsovertheimplementationofNetMetering. Fundamentally,thiswarislargelybeing

foughtbetweenthefinancialinterestsofthestockholdersofinvestorownedutilitiesversusthoseofthe

stockholdersofinvestorownersolarenergycompanies. Itsalsofairtosaythatpoliticsisattachedto

thiswaraswell.

Firstandforemost,IurgeyoutodaytoAVOIDthetrapofpassinglegislationthatisdesignedtopick

winnersandlosersbetweenthesetwospecialinterestgroups,andtakeastepbacktoconsiderthe

effectsofyourproposedlegislationontheelectricalenergyconsumersinNewHampshireandthe

overallwellbeingofallitsbusinesses,andinhabitants. Iurgeyou,underanylackofcertaintyinyour

dataoryourconvictions,toerronthesideofthepeopleofNewHampshireandnotsidewitheitherof

thesetwobigspecialinterestgroups.

Withthatbackdrop,itismyrecommendationthatthecurrent50MWcapbeimmediatelyraisedto

100MWorremovedinitsentirety,andthatnochangesaremadetotheexistingnetmeteringrate

structureforaperiodof5years. Additionally,Irecommendthattheexistingsingleprojectgenerating

capacityof1MWbeincreasedto5MW,andanyrequirementthatpotentialgroupnetmetering

customersalsobecurrentutilitydefaultservicecustomers, beremoved.

THEBASICS

First,simplystated,whatisnetmetering?Itistheprocessof usinganewsmartmetertomonitor

andrecordtheflowofelectricityatyourhomeorbusinessormunicipalbuilding,bothtoandfromyour

localelectrical

utility.

My

smart

meter

has

been

in

place

in

Concord

from

Unitil

Electric

for

4years

now

(i.e. newisarelativeterm).Withouttheabilitytonetmeterwithyourlocalutilitybyusingasmart

meter,youcan'teconomicallygenerateanyofyourownelectricityforyourownusewithoutgoingoff

grid.asinnotconnectedatalltoyourlocalelectricutility. Today,mostpeople(homeowners)only

gooffgridwhenitistooexpensivetopayfortheutilitydistributionwirestoreachyour(remote)

location..or,forwhateverpersonalreason,youwanttobecome100%selfreliantwithnoutilitytieat

all. Obviously,itrequiresalotmoreupfrontequipment(storagebatteries,etc.)andbiggerpower


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generationsystemstogooffgrid..and,thenfunctionmuchaseveryoneelsedoesinahomeor

business. Inthefuture,withcontinuedadvancementinstoragebatterytechnologyandlowersystem

capitalcosts,itmaybepossibletogooffgridforthepurelyeconomicreasonsofseeingselfgeneration

costsbecominglowerthangridtiedoptions.

Todayhowever,

residential

or

small

business

Net

Metering

is

your

only

ability

to

make

an

investment

in

sometechnology(notalways,butmostoftensolarPVpanels)toproducesomeorallofyourown

power,therebynothavingtopurchaseeverythingyouneedfrom/throughtheregulatedmonopolywe

commonlyrefertoastheelectricutilitycompany. Becauseyouroptionstobuyenergyfromthem,or

throughthem,are(generallyspeaking)limited,itisverydifficulttodrivedowncoststhroughpure

competition. Netmeteringisyourabilitytodisplacesomeoftheirpowerwithyourpower..and,

theirpowercomeswithallthepoordecisions(transmission,distribution,andstrandedcosts)they

mayhavemadeinthepast.let'scallthatthebaggage. Thatextrabaggage(cost)isattachedtoevery

kilowatthouryoupurchasefromthem,orthroughthem,fromanothercompetitiveenergyonly

supplycompany. Yourownselfgeneratedenergyisjustenergy,withoutalltheirbaggage.atleastup

tonow.

With

this

bill,

you

are

deciding

if

any

of

that

baggage

is

added

on

to

the

costs

of

your

own

self

generation.

NewHampshireisintheprocessofextendingthearbitrarycapsonnetmetering,previouslysetby

legislation17yearsago....longbeforetoday'smorevibrantnetmeteringmarket.Someutilitiesand

legislatorswouldnowliketoseeyouhavetopayforsomeofthatbaggage,describedabove,even

whenyougenerateyourownpower.Opposingarguments(andstudies)demonstratethatallcustomers

onthesystembenefitthroughlowercostscreatedbythe(distributed)selfgenerators. Similarstudies

oncustomerefficiencyinvestmentshavedemonstratedexactlythesamething,andthattoowasonce

regardedbysomeasbeingcrosssubsidized. Thetrueneteconomicsofthesenetmeteringsystem

benefitsvs.

system

costs

are

far

too

young

to

prove

one

case

over

the

other,

hence

my

recommendationis tomakenochangeincurrentratestructuresfor5yearssothatmoredatafrom

aroundthecountrycanbegatheredandanalyzedbyanystatePUC. Itisprematuretochangethe

currentcoursenow,andNewHampshirealoneisfartoosmallasamplesizetoderivedefinitive

economicconclusions. LetthetwobigspecialinterestsbasheachotheroutsideofNewHampshire.

Afewsimpleanalogiestoputthisallintoperspective:IfItypicallypurchased1000kwhofelectricity

frommylocalutilityeachmonthatmyhomeorbusiness,andthenIdecidedtoturnsomethingoffor

useitlessoftenandthereforeonlyused900kwh,Iwouldpaynothingforthe100kwhIdidn't

purchase. IfIpurchasedandinstalledsomenewLEDlightbulbs,andthenusedonly900kwhbecauseof

thenew

high

efficiency

light

bulbs,

Iwould

pay

nothing

for

the

100

kwh

Ididn't

purchase.

Up

to

now

anyway,ifIpurchasedandinstalledsomePVpanelsthatproduced100kwhinamonth,andthenonly

purchased900kwhfrommyutility,Iwouldpaynothingforthe100kwhIdidn'tpurchasefrommy

utility. Allthreecasesaresimilarandmakecommonsense,right?Yourmeterdoesn'tcareifyouused

lessorproducedmoreyourself,itjustknowsthatoverthatbillingperiodyouonlyusedandpurchased

900kwhfromorthroughtheelectricalutility. Whyshouldtheutilitiesbeauthorizedtochargeyouany

amountofmoneyforsomethingyoudidn'tbuythroughthem? Whyisitanydifferentfromsimplyusing


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lessoftheirenergy,whenyouselfgeneratesomeofyourown?Whyisitanydifferentthanyouputting

inyournewhighefficiencylightbulbs?Whyisefficiencyanydifferentthanselfsufficiency?

Selfgenerationisyouronlyformofelectricalenergyindependence;youronlyformofelectricalenergy

selfdetermination;youronlywaytoforcetrueelectricalenergycompetition;youronlywaytofully

decentralizethe

previously

monopolized

power

supply

industry.

The

same

is

true

for

ahomeowner

or

a

businessowneroracitygovernment.NewHampshirecurrentlyhassomeofthehighestelectricalrates

intheentirecountry.and,therearereasonsforthat. OurcurrentenergycostprobleminNHisNOT

fromhavingNetMeteringinthesystem.that,wouldbearidiculousargument. Anybodythathas

beeninthisstatesincethePSNHbankruptcyinthe80sknowshowwecametothis.Whodoyoutrust

totakecareofyourfinancialinterests...youoryourlocalmonopolycompany?

WeshouldbeexpandingandpromotingnetmeteringinNewHampshire,notcreatingmoreobstaclesto

it.OtherstatesandothercountriesarefaraheadofNewHampshireonthatfrontandwedonthaveto

slowwalkthismove.Afterall,aren'tweallsupposedtobefacinganEnergyCrisisthatIkeepreading

about?If

we

have

acrisis

on

our

hands

then

lets

get

busy.

New

emerging

technologies

(Fuel

Cells

and

CombinedHeat&Powerunits)willonlyservetokeepexpandingourselfgenerationoptions.Openup

thefreemarketandletthepowerflow. ThisisnotaRepublicanorDemocratissuetobeplayedwith,

thisisoureconomyandweshouldbesmartenoughandboldenoughnottochangecourseduringthe

infancyofmarketchangesuntilthereisirrefutablemarketdatathatitissomehowhurtingoureconomy

orunfairtotheratepayersofthestate. Ourelectriclines(rates)arealreadycloggedwithtoomany

poordecisionsfromthepast.Itshardtochangethepast,butnotthefuture.Itsgoodtobeboth

efficientandmoreselfsufficientinNewHampshire.

RECOMMENDATION:Withthatbackdrop,itismyrecommendationthatthecurrent50MWcapbe

immediatelyraisedto100MWorremovedinitsentirety,andthatnochangesaremadetothe

existingnetmeteringratestructuresforaperiodof5years.

1MW SIZE LIMIT and GROUP NET METERING

NetMeteringItisheretostay,andwillbe100%integraltothefutureutilitymarketintheregion.........

asitwillbearoundthecountry.Technologyisadvancingfasterthattheutilityindustry. Anyonedriving

bylookingintherearviewmirrorwilldriveoveracliff.Thereissimplytoomuchadvancementonthe

technologysidetoignorethefactthattheutilityindustrywillchangefast(arelativetermintheutility

industry)andlookmuchdifferentinthefuture.

Openmarketcompetition,thatalsoincludesdistributedenergy,istheonlywaytodriveelectrical

energycostslowerintheshortterm.RegulatedmonopoliesandenergythatonlycomesfromafewBIG

powersupplierswillnotdrivecostslower.Youactuallywantuserstohaveanoptionnottobuyprecious

energysuppliesjustfromtheregulatedutilitiesandbignonregulatedsuppliers.Youwanttheenergy

customertohaveoptionsthatcostlessthanthestatusquo.Youwanttoseeprivatesectorinvestment.

Youwantnewbusinessestoform.Youwantcompetition!


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GroupnetmeteringshouldbepromotedandexpandedinsideofNewHampshire,andforthattooccur

fastenoughtohelpourcurrentenergycrisis,theprojectsizelimitof1MWshouldbeimmediately

raisedto5MW. ThereisabsolutelyNOeconomicdisputeassociatedwithgroupnetmeteringcost

subsidiesabove100KW. Allpowermovedaroundinthestateundergroupnetmeteringagreements

forprojectsover100KWcarriesthefullcostsoftheconnectedutilityswiresandstrandedcosts

charges.There

really

is

little

to

no

market

for

group

net

metering

sales

for

projects

under

100KW

projectsize,asthereissimplynoeconomyofscaleatthatleveltooperateabusinessmodel. Mostnet

meteredprojectsbetween15KWand100KWaresizedforasmallbusiness,whichovera365daycycle,

useallthepowertheyproducefortheirownneeds. Mostprojects1MWandrecentlyvotedtopurchaseanotherone

>3MW. Achangetoa5MWsizelimitwouldbenefittheirtaxpayersbyallowingthemtosendtheir

projectoutputpowertothemselves. ThesamemodelcouldbefollowedlaterwhentheEversource

hydroassetsaresoldundertheproposeddivestitureplan. TheCitiesofBerlinandManchestercould

especiallybenefitfromowningtheseassetsandsendingpowertotheirowncityinfrastructure,saving

taxpayersmillions

of

dollars

every

year.

In

Manchesters

case

the

project

size

limit

would

need

to

be

raisedatthattimetobe>5MW.

Also,iftheNHlegislatureandNHbusinessgroupsreallywantedtohelpthelargemanufacturesinNH

quickly(rapidenergyrateimprovement)beyondraisingthenetmeteringprojectcapto5MW,youcould

alsopassaspecialtaxpackageforthebigenergyusersthatwould"keeptheminthestate",byallowing

themtotakeataxcreditsagainsttheirBPT/BETforinvestmentsintheirownselfgeneration..........the

kindofwinwinplanthatbothDemocratsandRepublicanscouldgetbehind.Allowthemtotakethe

creditovera5yearperiodtooffsetsomeoralloftheirinvestmentcosts.WhynotproposeaBOLDstep

toprotectthemanufacturingbaseinthestatefromthecurrenthighelectricrates,andkeepthejobs

thatgo

with

it?

Just

maybe

they

would

continue

to

invest

in

New

Hampshire

and

grow

new

jobs

as

well.

RECOMMENDATION:Withthatbackdrop,itismyrecommendationthatthecurrent1MWprojectsize

limitbeimmediatelyincreasedto5MW, andanyrequirementthatpotentialgroupnetmetering

customersalsobecurrentutilitydefaultservicecustomers,shouldberemoved.

Respectfullysubmitted, HaroldTurner

Documents

NH Senate Bill 333 Testimony 2016