More than three weeks after SaskPower halted its solar net metering program, the Crown corporation is coming back with a new program starting at the beginning of November.
SaskPower plans to launch its updated net metering program on Friday, Nov. 1 for customers who want to generate their own power and connect to the power grid. The revised program has no cap or contract term and will credit excess power to the grid at 7.5 cents per kilowatt hour against customers’ energy charges. This price reflects SaskPower’s average cost of energy for 2020 and 2021.
The net metering program allows customers to generate up to 100 kilowatts of power to decrease their monthly power bills and receive credit for the excess power they generate. Under the updated program, explained a news release, customers will still be able to offset their energy use at their retail rate while their systems are generating.
When unprecedented demand caused the previous version of the program to hit its 16-megawatt (MW) cap two years earlier than expected, SaskPower paused the program to do a review and revise it to ensure long-term financial sustainability.
“SaskPower has developed a net metering program that will provide self-generation opportunities and support local industry for years to come,” said MLA Dustin Duncan, minister responsible for SaskPower.
“While large, utility-scale projects are by far the most economical way to add renewable energy to the grid, net metering will remain another tool in the toolbox as SaskPower works to meet its target of reducing greenhouse gases 40 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.”
Changes from the previous program include no limit on program capacity, no program end date, and no specified contract length. With the relaunch of the net metering program, there will no longer be a Government of Saskatchewan rebate on capital equipment and installations across the province.
“We know there is growing demand for solar self-generation in Saskatchewan,” said Mike Marsh, SaskPower president and CEO. “The updated program provides certainty and clarity for our customers who want to net meter while reducing the financial impacts on customers who do not have solar panels.”
Customers participating in the previous net metering program will be grandfathered in under their current contract as long as there are no changes to their projects. At the end of the contract, these customers will become part of the new program.
