Central PSC Cecil Brown: Customers can sell excess power to providers
Net metering allows a customer, whether residential or business, to sell excess customer generated electric power to that customer’s electric power provider at a fixed rate. For example, if a homeowner wishes to purchase and install solar panels on her home, she can sell any power she generates but does not use back to her electricity provider. Thus, she is not only able to save utility costs by using power she has produced herself but is also able to use the value of her excess power to further reduce her electric bills.
Mississippi’s net metering rules are more consumer friendly than those of such sunny climes as Florida, Nevada, Texas and Arizona. Now that the commission has adopted a net metering rule, every investor or member-owned electric power company in Mississippi has a net metering plan.
The PSC sets the net metering rules and rates for Entergy Mississippi and Mississippi Power Company, and you should contact the companies to get the details. However, electric cooperatives are member-owned utilities whose boards of directors set the net metering rules for their members. If you are a member of an electric cooperative, please contact your cooperative to discuss what rules and fees are associated with their net metering program.
Clarion Ledger
1/21/17
Magnolia Tribune
