By Ashley M. Casey

Staff Writer

With the solar array behind Clay Town Hall as a backdrop, renewable energy advocates gathered Aug. 28 to urge Gov. Andrew Cuomo to restore net metering as the method to calculate compensation for community solar arrays.

According to said advocates, the Value of Distributed Energy Resources (VDER) compensation mechanism put in place last year by the New York State Public Service Commission is confusing for consumers and off-putting to solar developers and financers.

“Net metering is a fair and simple policy,” said Jessica Azulay, program director for Alliance for a Green Economy. “There’s no math or guesswork required.”

Under net metering, customers receive a credit for each kilowatt hour their solar array produces. They can bank their credits to use during winter months when snow and clouds may prevent their solar panels from generating as much energy.

“Darth VDER,” as the policy is jokingly referred to in a nod to the “Star Wars” villain, is a complex formula that favors the interests of utility companies over those of energy consumers. The fluctuating formula takes into consideration the location of a solar operation, when the energy is produced and whether the owner of the solar array is a municipality, business or community solar project.

“It’s grinding solar to a halt across the state,” Azulay said.

While small residential solar arrays still fall under the net metering rules, VDER has cost the state $800 million in potential solar projects, according to Chris Carrick, energy program manager for the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board.

“In our region, we have lost over $268 million in local investment because of VDER,” Carrick said.

Included in that amount is a roughly $3.5 million proposal for a 2.6 megawatt project in the town of Clay, said Town Supervisor Damian Ulatowski. Last year, the town announced its intentions to install a solar array on town-owned land on Maider Road.

“The town of Clay or any municipality doesn’t have the resources to fund a solar operation by itself,” Ulatowski said.

Ulatowski said the town of Clay has made significant savings with its 99 kW solar array, which was built as part of a shared purchased power agreement with Warner Energy and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

VDER is a hindrance to the governor’s own green energy goals, Ulatowski said.

“The governor was committed to trying to see New York reliant on 50 percent alternative energy by 2030,” he said. “The town of Clay and other municipalities have been inching toward that goal, [but VDER] restricts that goal.”

Since VDER affects community solar operations, in which a number of residents purchase energy from an array, solar power will remain inaccessible for many people. Gwen Chaffin, a community organizer with Syracuse United Neighbors, said the populations she works with — on the south and west sides of the city — cannot install solar arrays because they rent their homes, can’t afford the investment or simply don’t know about the possibility of solar power.

“We need Gov. Cuomo to stand up to the utility companies,” Chaffin said. “If Cuomo does what he’s supposed to do, then we can get people educated about the benefits and the rewards from it.”

Chaffin said returning to net metering would allow for the installation of community solar operations.

“We could do that — we have so many houses that have been abandoned and torn down, so we have plenty of space,” she said.

The Clay press conference was one of a series held throughout the state. Renewable energy advocates also held press conferences in Buffalo, Elmira, Long Island, Kingston and New York City.

In addition to advocates’ pleas to the governor, the New York State Assembly has passed a bill that would place a moratorium on the implementation of VDER until all the kinks are worked out. A similar bill in the State Senate was referred in April to the Senate’s energy and telecommunications committee, where it still awaits action.

In July, the Public Service Commission published two reports on modifications that could be made to VDER.

“We’re open to the idea that VDER as a concept could be improved,” Azulay said.