AUG 9, 10:56 AM

Pepco Violation Could Cost Community Solar Owners Thousands

Jacob Fenston

After regulators ruled that Pepco violated D.C. law in its implementation of community solar in the city, the utility company is telling solar owners they will need to manually track solar generation, entering thousands of lines of data each month, and potentially costing thousands of dollars. ... Community solar is a way that renters and residents in multi-unit buildings can reap the benefits of solar energy, without having to install panels themselves. Subscribing to a solar facility should mean big savings on your energy bills. ... But in D.C., those savings could be wiped out — with community solar facilities potentially spending more money on updating spreadsheets than they’re saving on electric bills.

It’s the latest in an ongoing spat over Pepco’s handling of community solar in the District. The D.C. Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities in the city, ruled earlier this year that Pepco had violated the law in its implementation of community solar, undercounting solar energy generation and failing to provide solar credits in an accurate and timely fashion. ... Pepco’s proposed solution will only make matters worse, according to solar subscribers, advocates, and D.C. officials, making solar owners pay for Pepco’s mistake.

“It’s taken us hours of meetings, time gathering information, and speaking to professionals that can guide us, tracking people down, getting bids,” says Nathalie Lawrence, manager of a 110 unit co-op building in Lanier Heights. A few years ago, residents voted to put solar panels on the roof of the building, the Ontario. It operates as a community renewable energy facility, or CREF, and residents can choose to subscribe. ... At issue are generation meters that Pepco installed at community solar facilities throughout the District. According to the Public Service Commission, those meters were illegally installed — under D.C. law, Pepco must rely on meters owned by the solar facilities.

The commission ordered Pepco to remove its meters, and to reimburse ratepayers for the money the company spent installing them. This ruling came in response to a formal complaint by the D.C. Office of the Attorney General and the Office of the People’s Counsel. The complaint alleged a “pattern of systemic violations” in Pepco’s handling of community solar in the District. In the complaint, solar owners said Pepco’s meters sometimes showed zero electricity generated in a month, while the CREF owners’ meters recorded continued generation. ... Community solar owners already have their own meters, but for a variety of reasons Pepco says those meters cannot be automatically integrated into the company’s network. One concern, Pepco says, is the possibility that hackers could find their way into unsecured CREF meter software. ... So, as Pepco begins removing its meters, the utility company wants solar owners to manually compile generation data in 15-minute intervals using spreadsheets, and email the data to Pepco. It might sound simple enough, but it would be a massive and menial job, requiring roughly 2,880 data entries per month per solar facility.

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