While most of us are looking forward to a relaxing weekend, others are working hard on our behalf. Right now they are pushing hard to pass an improved version of the net metering bill through the Senate. This allows your average Brooklyn brownstone owner to put solar panels on their home and actually sell the energy back to the utility company.
That is so cool. It makes solar PV installations in Brooklyn even more attractive, which is a good thing if you are a Brooklyn solar PV installer 🙂
I know about this weekends bill because I got a letter just now (Friday night) from a lawyer hard at work:
This is for those of you who have particular interest in the “net metering fix”.
For those of you who are not aware, the net metering fix bill has been introduced in the Senate and is on the Energy Committee agenda for this Tuesday, 2/2. It’s a Governor’s Program bill. The number is S.6700 and it’s sponsored by Senator Maziarz and has bipartisan co-sponsorship.
Senate central staff has asked for as many support memos as possible, so I am reaching out to you to see if your organization can provide one. Individual memos from members of your organization, where applicable, are also appreciated. ACE NY will send out a draft memo tomorrow for your use. Please feel free to pass this request on to anyone I may have missed.
In addition to your traditional memo distribution process, the Senate staff has asked that people fax their memos to 518-426-6895 (attention Sabrina). If you submit a memo, please send me a copy as well so we can distribute it as needed.
We will be lobbying members of the Senate Energy Committee on Monday and do not expect any problems.
The Assembly will be amending the bill they passed last year (A.7557) to reflect the new version. They can only amend it while they are in session. Monday 2/1 is the next session day. It will then need to age a week before they can act on it. So the earliest they can pass it is 2/8. Since they are amending last year’s version, which passed their house, it does not need to go through the committee process again. Currently that bill is sitting on the Assembly calendar.