Solar, Net Metering Bill Passes House Committee

Indiana’s House Utilities Committee voted 8-5 to advance a bill overhauling the state’s net metering policy Wednesday.

The bill would slowly lower the amount Hoosiers receive for selling excess energy back to the grid. In 30 years, Hoosiers would receive a rate closer to the wholesale rate, rather than the current, higher retail rate.

The committee did amend the bill. Originally, it allowed exemptions where utilities could pay less than 125 percent of the wholesale rate under certain circumstances. But an amendment from Committee Chair Dave Ober (R-Albion) removed that language, locking in the 125 percent of wholesale rate, no matter what.

“Customers who do this and produce excess are expecting a price of 1.25 over that [wholesale] rate know, with certainty, it’s 1.25,” says Ober.

The bill now goes to the full House. Ober acknowledges there’s been pushback on the bill throughout the process—and does expect additional amendments will be filed in the House—but he says he feels comfortable with the bill as it’s currently written.

“At this stage of the game, after all the testimony that we took, that the bill’s in a decent place for now for the House to take an up or down vote on it,” says Ober.