Arkansas senate okays bill to eliminate solar power net metering

The stage is set for a fight in Arkansas where the state senate this week passed a bill to dismantle the state’s net metering policy and give credit to solar customers for power produced at a lower wholesale rate.

The Arkansas Times reports the measure, Senate Bill 295, would curtail the state’s booming solar industry. If approved by the legislature and signed into law, the measure would bring an end to Arkansas’s one-to-one net-metering policy.

Under the current policy, customers who generate electricity with solar power get credited at the full retail rate for any excess power generated by their system. The new policy would credit solar customers for a wholesale r ate and the difference would be about 5 cents per kilowatt hour.

Another restriction would no longer allow customers to benefit from net-metering by entering into interruptible power agreements with utilities, according to the Arkansas Times.

Negotiations were held with the Arkansas Advanced Energy Association, resulting in an amendment to grandfather solar projects into existing net-metering policy until the end of September 2024.