Net Metering

Through New York State’s Net Metering Law and LIPA’s Tariff for Electric Service, residential customers with wind systems 10kW or less are entitled to net metering. At times, a net metered customer’s wind system may generate more electric energy than their consumption. When this occurs, the electric meter will spin in reverse. The excess electricity is returned to the LIPA system. At the end of each month, the net metered customer is billed only for the net consumption, that is, the amount of electricity consumed, less the amount of electricity produced by the wind turbine. This is called “net metering”. Your meter is currently spinning in the consumption mode. To spin your meter backwards due to wind energy, we need to reverse the dials direction to simulate a reversing meter.

Why is Net Metering important?
There are three reasons net metering is important. First, as increasing numbers of primarily residential customers install renewable energy systems in their homes, there needs to be a simple, standardized protocol for connecting their systems into the electricity grid that ensures safety and power quality. Second, many residential customers are not at home using electricity during the day when their systems are producing power, and net metering allows them to receive full value for the electricity they produce without installing expensive battery storage systems. Third, net metering provides a simple, inexpensive, and easily administered mechanism for encouraging the use of renewable energy systems, which provide important local, national and global benefits. Back to top

What are the benefits and costs of net metering?
Consumers benefit by getting greater value for some of the electricity they generate, by being able to interconnect with the utility using their existing utility meter, and by being able to interconnect using widely accepted technical standards.

The only cost associated with net metering is indirect: the customer is buying less electricity from the utility, which means the utility is collecting less revenue from the customer. That’s because any excess electricity that would been sold to the utility at the wholesale or ‘avoided cost’ price is instead being used to offset electricity the customer would have purchased at the retail price. In most cases, the revenue loss is comparable to having the customer reducing electricity use by investing in energy efficiency measures, such as compact fluorescent lights and efficient Energy Star® appliances. Back to top

How are small wind turbines connected to the Grid?
Most small turbines are sold with an inverter that converts the electricity to alternating current (AC) so it is compatible with the electricity grid. It is essential that you work closely with your installer and LIPA to ensure that your wind system complies with all utility regulations and receives all necessary approvals before your system is connected.  Back to top

Can I use my existing meter to take advantage of net metering?
The standard kilowatt-hour meter used for residential customers will be replaced with a “net meter” which accurately registers the flow of electricity in either direction. This means the ‘netting’ process associated with net metering happens automatically - the meter spins forward (in the normal direction) when the consumer needs more electricity than is being produced, and spins backward when the consumer is producing more electricity than is needed in the house or building. Back to top

As a Net Metered Customer, How will LIPA bill me?
Net metered customers are billed on a monthly basis. BALANCED BILLING customers who become net metered customers will be removed from BALANCED BILLING and billed on a monthly basis based upon their energy consumption.

All net sales transactions are based on a “contract year” which begins with the date the net meter is installed by LIPA. During the contract year, LIPA’s retail energy rates are applied to the net energy or kilowatt hours that are consumed from LIPA each month. LIPA’s retail rates range from 11.70 cents per kWh to 13.677 cents per kWh and includes the Fuel Purchased Power Cost adjustment (FPPCA) rate. These rates will vary based upon the season and the amount of energy consumed from LIPA. Back to top

What if my wind system generates more electricity than I consume from LIPA?
During the month, if a net metered customer generates more energy from their wind system than he/she consumes from LIPA, the customer is billed for the daily service charge only (meter charge) and the excess generation in kilowatt hours (credits) is placed in an “energy bank”. Energy from the bank can be withdrawn in subsequent months to reduce the net metered customer’s billed consumption during the contract year.

Annually, on the net metered customer’s anniversary date, LIPA will reconcile the energy bank. The total monetary value of the energy bank is calculated tot combine the monetary values for each month during the contract year at the rates specified in LIPA’s SC-11 buyback or wholesale avoided cost rate, which is approximately 0.375 cents. This rate will vary upon each season. This total amount of money will be credited to the net metered customer and the customer’s energy bank (in kilowatt hours and dollars) reset to zero at the end of the contract year. Back to top

What if my wind energy system produced more electricity that what I consumed from LIPA at the end of the year?
At the end of the contract year, in the event that the cumulative dollar value is positive (your wind system produced more energy than you consumed from LIPA), end of year reconciliation dollars will be applied as a credit to your LIPA customer account and the energy bank reset to zero. Back to top

What if I consume more from LIPA than what my Wind System produces at the end of the contract year?
In the event that the cumulative dollar value is negative at the end of the contract year, (you consumed more from LIPA than your wind system produced), you will be billed that amount by LIPA at the retail rate and the energy bank reset to zero. Back to top

Net Metering for ‘Time-of-Use’ Customers:
As a LIPA Time-of-Use Customer, in order to net meter, LIPA requires that you have a second, non-time-differentiated meter wired to your service. Both meters will only be able to record electrical consumption in one direction. The LIPA revenue Time of Use meter will record only the energy provided by LIPA and will be identified as the “sell meter”. The “sell meter” will be programmed to record LIPA energy you consume utilizing the appropriate Time-of-Use rate structure. The second meter will be identified as the “buy meter”. This meter records the amount of kWh energy that you have generated and are selling back to LIPA.

According to LIPA’s billing tariff for residential small wind electric generators who are served under a residential Time-of-Use Service Classification, LIPA will combine the purchases and sales recorded on the two meters by first offsetting purchases from LIPA during the peak period by the amount sold to LIPA in a given billing period. Any additional energy supplied from the wind system will then be used to offset the off peak period within the same billing period. After satisfying the current billing period, any remaining kWh energy will be carried over to the next billing period and will be used to offset LIPA energy rates. All net sales transactions are based on a “contract year” which begins with the date the second “buy” meter is installed by LIPA. At the end of the contract year, LIPA will adjust any remaining energy credits at LIPA’s SC-11 Buyback or wholesale avoided cost rate, which is approximately .0375 cents. This rate will vary upon each season. The total amount of money will be credited to the Time-of-Use net metered customer account and the customer’s account reset to zero at the end of the contract year. If you install a second meter, you will be responsible for the installation costs of the second meter, which include the cost of the meter pan, meter mounting devices and all necessary equipment and wiring. You can avoid the installation and cost of a second meter by choosing to be on a non-Time-of-Use rate (standard electric rate). You must notify LIPA and request the change in rate classification, in writing, at least thirty (30) days before your Time-of-Use anniversary date. The transfer will take place on the Time-of-Use anniversary date.

Please Note: LIPA will verify the metering and billing of a LIPA net metered account, but recommends that net metered customers contact their wind contractor if their wind system is not performing as expected. Back to top

 

 

Last Updated: 10/02/2009