CA "Exit Fee" on Solar Energy

Environmentalists won an important victory on April 3, when the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted in favor of small-scale renewable-energy production. All net-metered solar and wind systems generating less than 1 MW of electricity, along with some hydrogen fuel cells, are exempt, according to CPUC’s decision, from paying a surcharge, or “exit fee,” to leave the state electricity grid. Contrary to some reports, the exemption is

not limited to systems installed before January 17, 2001, says Dan Adler of CPUC’s Division of Strategic Planning. The exemption will be capped, however, at 3,000 MW of distributed electricity. Systems larger than 1 MW will remain subject to the fee, as California struggles to pay for energy supplies employed during the state’s 2000-01 energy crisis.