Current political debates in San Mateo will likely affect the amount of savings taxpayers will see from their solar investments. According to Peter Hanley, the Vice President of the San Mateo Union High School District Board of Trustees, Net Metering in the area faces two distinct threats; limits to net metering, and new legislation being pushed by the Utility companies.
Of 43 states that have net metering policies, fewer than half limit the size of the installation. California does. Current legislation exists that caps the benefits schools could reap from net metering. The law only allows net metering for systems up to 1 MW- in essence limiting the energy savings taxpayers could see with large public sector buildings.
The second threat, Hanley outlines in this article, is the new push by the San Mateo utility companies to impose a "solar tax" on anyone using net metering. This would apply to school districts, public sector buildings and thus the average tax payer. The "solar tax" would cut into the savings solar panel investments projected- which would be, of course, disappointing. But when it comes to public buildings- this eradication of savings can have an even deeper meaning: as Hanley says "when the savings we projected do not materialize, we have even less money for our classrooms."
It's an interesting point to think about. Read the full op-ed piece by Hanley, and the vice-chair of the California Schools of the Future Committee, Steve Rogers, here in the Silicon Valley Mercury News.
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