Solar industry responds to ruling in New York’s Value of Distributed Energy Resources proceeding

Several solar industry groups released a joint statement Monday responding to the New York Public Service Commission’s approval of utility implementation plans in the Value of Distributed Energy Resources (VDER) proceeding.

The plans establish the compensation for solar customers in each utility service territory and created a successor program to net metering in New York.

“Although the industry supports the Commission’s goal to properly quantify the full value of clean energy, the recently approved utility implementation plans use incomplete and inadequately refined methodologies that fail to accurately calculate the economic and environmental benefits of solar,” the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the New York Solar Energy Industries Association (NYSEIA) and the Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA) said in the joint statement.

During the proceeding, solar industry representatives explained several issues they identified within the VDER plans and proposed alternatives. The Commission, however, approved the assumptions used in the utilities’ plans.

“Our organizations remain committed to ensuring that the VDER framework captures all the value that solar provides to customers and the grid,” the joint statement said. “As the second phase of the VDER case begins, the solar industry seeks a more robust, deliberative process that will allow for a thorough examination of utility data, consideration of independent analysis by outside experts, and sufficient opportunity for discovery and debate over the complex questions involved in this case.”

The ruling represents a first step in the case, and the second phase will involve more precise valuations.