Update July 16, 2020: (From Green Tech Media, July 16, 2020): All four FERC commissioners voted to dismiss a petition to declare solar net metering policies illegal. Click to read story.

A recent petition from a group called the New England Ratepayers Association (NERA) asks the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to expand federal regulatory authority over state net metering policies and the customers that participate in them. 

We are providing the following resources to help you familiarize yourself with FERC, the petition, and more. The deadline for filing comments on the NERA Petition was June 15, 2020.

Link to FERC website
Link to FERC website-NERA docket
Link to petition (from FERC website)
Link to New England Ratepayers Association 

Advanced Energy Economy (AEE), a national association of business leaders advocating for a more secure, clean, and affordable global energy system, conducted a webinar on June 3, 2020 explaining how the FERC ruling could impact existing and emerging state and municipal and cooperative utility approaches to supporting distributed energy resources in retail markets. AEE is opposed to the petition.

Link to AEE webinar slide file
Link to Advanced Energy Economy website

Solar Washington has not taken a position on this petition, but provides information and links on this page for informational purposes. 

Updates/articles/opinions about the filing:

(From Utility Dive, June 24, 2020): Opinion: Hard truths about net metering and the perils of regulatory nihilism. Link to article.

(From PV Tech, June 18, 2020): US state attorneys general join outcry against NERA net metering petition. Link to article.

The Washington State Attorney General's office signed onto this letter. Link to protest document signed by various attorneys general. 

(From Utility Dive, June 16, 2020): Utilities remain mute on FERC net metering petition, leave filing to face overwhelming opposition. Link to article.

(From Utility Dive, April 21, 2020): Secretive group's petition to FERC could end net metering as we know it, lawyers say. Link to article.