Dear Source:
Arkansas also has a Net Metering law and the provision that most troubles people is "donating excess electricity to the utility at the end of each month when the home has produced more than it consumed." Even though there are substantial benefits to net metering even with this restriction, it nevertheless is perceived as unfair and stacked in favor of the electric utility.
Rather than "wiping the slate clean" at the end of each month, a more equitable formula would be to wipe it clean at the end of the year. This way, excess electrical production could be "banked" in a sort of "electrical account" and withdrawn on those months where there was no excess generation. This would require some software revision to the utility's billing system, but it would help to promote more people to invest in renewable energy systems, which do require a substantial sum of money. This would help to make renewable energy systems more cost-effective because a greater amount of the cost would be recovered.
Evan Brownn
Little Rock, Arkansas
Editor's note: We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.
