What is Remote Net-Metering?

Remote Net-Metering, also known as “Virtual Net-Metering”, is an arrangement that allows for the kilowatt hours (kWh) generated from a solar photovoltaic system located at a specific site to be credited towards kWh consumption at a different location.

A key benefit of Remote Net-Metering is that provides entities with sites that are not suitable for solar projects (i.e. shade-challenged roofs, or utility grid interconnection barriers) to install solar projects on locations best suited for solar, and then simply allocate the system’s surplus kWh production to the original site.

New York State recently passed legislation allowing for Remote Net-Metering, and PowerFlex is excited to be starting construction on one of the state’s first Remote Net-Metering solar projects later this month. In this case, our client has a large warehouse in Long Island City that is a terrific candidate for a solar system, except that there is little onsite electricity consumption. Fortunately, our client has a number of retail stores throughout NYC, and will therefore be able to allocate the solar system’s surplus kWh output to these other locations.

Traditional Net-Metering has been critical to the nascent growth of the U.S. “distributed generation” solar market, and we believe broader adoption of Remote Net-Metering would facilitate greater and more rapid deployment of solar across the country. Different versions of Remote Net-Metering have been enacted in California (the MASH program), Connecticut (Virtual Net-Metering), Colorado (Community Solar Gardens), Massachusetts (Neighborhood Net-Metering), and Rhode Island, to name a few.We believe this proliferation of Remote Net-Metering program opens up a multitude of creative solar structuring alternatives for businesses and real estate owners across the US. If you have interest in learning more about the benefits of Remote or Virtual Net-Metering, please contact PowerFlex.

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