DOE seeks stakeholder input, data for net metering cost-benefit study
The DOE document notes that net metering is one area where DOE could provide technical assistance to state policymakers, especially since the energy policy is state-driven.
“As part of this study, DOE seeks stakeholder input on existing studies (2012-present) assessing the costs and benefits of net metering, and the availability of data that can be used in conducting such studies,” the agency said in its announcement.
DOE is interested in several areas of net metering, including: motivations and the policy context for conducting NEM cost-benefit studies; categories of costs and benefits; identifying methodological elements that can vary significantly in a benefit-cost analysis, and fundamental drivers and underlying market conditions.
The agency also noted some topics are outside the scope of its inquiry, including: costs and benefits of distributed solar generation beyond distributed solar’s impact on net metering; indirect cost and benefits, such as societal impacts and network effects; and recommendations on NEM design options or alternative compensation.
According to DOE’s GMI plan, the agency expects the initiative by 2025 to enable industry action that delivers a 10% reduction in the economic costs of power outages, a 33% decrease in cost of reserve margins; a 50% decrease in the net integration costs of distributed energy resources.
“If achieved, these three outcomes would yield more than $7 billion in annual economic benefit to the nation,” according to the report.
