P.E.I. would block any plan to charge solar customers more, minister says
CBC
Aaron Hansen of Stratford, P.E.I., has been watching what is happening with a new change proposed for solar customers in Nova Scotia.
Hansen installed a 15 kilowatt rooftop solar system a little more than a year ago.
His $315 monthly electricity bill has been replaced by a $242 payment for his solar panels.
But he said he has no regrets. He said he'll see the real benefits when the panels are paid off in 10 years, as long as the deal with Maritime Electric doesn't change.
"I hope it does not happen here," said Hansen.
"With governments pushing toward net-zero they should not be putting up any barriers whatsoever to [disincentivize] people to put up solar."
Nova Scotia Power had applied for a new "system access charge" of $8 per kilowatt monthly on net-metered installations.
That would mean a customer with a 10-kilowatt solar system, which generates about $1,800 of electricity a year, would have to pay Nova Scotia Power back $960.
On Wednesday, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said his government would pass laws to prevent the Nova Scotia utility from putting the new charge in place, prompting the company to announce it would withdraw the proposed charge from its current rate application.
P.E.I. Energy Minister Steven Myers said he has not been given any indication Maritime Electric is looking for a similar rate change, but he said if they put one forward he will block it.
More than 2,000 roof-top solar systems have been approved on the Island, with about half of them already up and running.
"We were encouraging people to do it and we want to continue to encourage people to do it but I've had a lot of people reach out to me since this Nova Scotia situation has started, worrying that it's going to happen here," said Myers.
"We would probably do the same as the government of Nova Scotia did, where we would move to block it. In good faith we told people this is the deal when they put roof-top solar on, that we had a net-metering program. Anybody who has it, we will stand by that commitment."
Kim Griffin, a spokesperson with Maritime Electric, said she doesn't have a lot of details about the Nova Scotia Power proposal but at this point the P.E.I.-based, privately-owned utility is not considering changes for its solar customers.
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