Riverside Co. Board of Supervisors move forward on net metering

Customers in the Imperial Irrigation District could potentially have an easier time going solar as Riverside County Board of Supervisors decided to move forward on a potential ordinance requiring IID to offer net metering. The board voted unanimously to direct county staff to draft a potential ordinance.

This comes after the IID did away with net metering last year replacing the popular compensation program with net billing. Local solar companies hailed the move as a positive step forward.

“The victory we had yesterday was awesome it’s been about a decade in the waiting,” Vincent Battaglia, owner and CEO of Renova Solar said.

Nate Otto, president of Hot Purple Energy in Palm Springs also supported the board’s decision in a statement that said:

“Hot Purple Energy welcomes any efforts to promote net metering as a means to encourage widespread adoption of rooftop solar, which benefits consumers and the community alike in the form of lower utility bills, cleaner air and local jobs that cannot be outsourced. We hope that IID’s net metering program will not only be reinstated in unincorporated areas but throughout La Quinta and Indio as well.”

The IID released a statement in response to the board’s decision saying:

In response to yesterday’s action, the district looks forward to working with Riverside County and its staff to familiarize them with IID’s solar programs, including our NEM successor program, which continues to provide customers with the option of going solar. To date, IID has energized more than 4,000 solar systems to its grid, of which more than 350 are under the new successor program. We will continue to provide solar options that balance the interests of all our customers, in both Imperial and Riverside counties while delivering on IID’s mission of providing the greatest value at the lowest cost.