This comes 18 months after the state's Public Utilities Commission took an ax to the policy, throwing the state's solar market into chaos and reducing behind-the-meter installations 39% from 2015 to 2016.
Brian Sandoval has signed Assembly Bill 405, restoring net metering rates close to the retail level for rooftop solar customers and erasing the specter of the state's 2015 decision to reduce compensation.
The legislation is expected to reignite the state's rooftop solar market and bring back jobs. CEO Elon Musk boycotted the state until Nevada reinstated the policy, which requires public utilities to purchase excess power from rooftop solar panels. The growth of the residential solar industry has slowed recently in several Western states.
Nevada lawmakers passed a flurry of clean energy bills this session. Sunrun and Vivint Solar also said they will return to the state. The amendment was spurred in part by massive companies seeking to leave NV Energy and find their own providers. AB 405 will re-establish net metering for PV systems 25 kW and smaller, with surplus electricity generation credited at 95% of the full retail rate until the installed net metering capacity reaches 80 MW.
Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ:STX) Trading Down - Insiders Selling, Short Interest Growing
The institutional investor owned 13,610 shares of the data storage provider's stock after selling 6,749 shares during the period. The expected STX's profit could reach $297.09M giving the stock 10.54 P/E in the case that $0.99 earnings per share is reported.
Chad Tudenggongbu, senior renewable energy campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement that the law "puts Nevada back on track, after bad policy decisions caused solar development in the state to come screeching to a halt". The move, which led to a 32 percent decline in solar installation jobs in the state previous year, was broadly unpopular with Nevada residents.
Tesla, Sunrun, and others promote net metering to encourage the switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
Rooftop solar system. Author: Martin Abegglen.
Comments