It may not be in common usage yet, but give net metering time. It will be.
The term refers to what happens when an electricity customer installs a renewable-energy production facility that could end up generating more electricity than is used there.
Since at the moment energy cannot be easily stored, any excess is transmitted into the electricity grid. That transmission into the grid generates a credit for the owner of the energy-production facility.
The issue that has roiled the renewable energy industry across the country and which is starting to show up here concerns electricity utilities, including National Grid PLC, who say that those net-metering consumers are not paying their fair share to maintain the transmission grid.
The reason? Every electricity consumer pays for the cost of being supplied energy, as well as for the energy itself. But the transmission cost is based on how much electricity is consumed by the customer. If the customer sends more electricity into the grid than is pulled out, transmission costs are not assessed.
Increasingly, individuals and businesses are installing renewable-energy projects and thus not paying as much in transmission charges. Utilities are looking to assess a new charge to cover their costs and are meeting resistance.
The issue raised by utilities is legitimate.
An equitable system for that public good needs to make sure that it is kept in good, working order. •