The Vermont Public Utility Commission issued an Order today regarding net-metering establishing that “when total plant capacity at a single service address or on the same parcel does not exceed 500 kW and includes no more than 15 kW of capacity on the ground, the Commission will process an application or amendment through the registration process, including mixed-mount plants with a total capacity greater than 15 kW.” “The term ‘mixed-mount’ [] refer[s] to systems that are partially located on the ground and partially located on a roof or canopy.”
The Order goes on to state: “The Commission made this determination in order to reduce administrative complexity for applicants when ground-mounted capacity does not rise to the statutory level triggering heightened review of environmental criteria and when total capacity remains within the 500 kW limit of the net-metering program. To further streamline these applications, going forward, the Commission will presume that mixed-mount systems collocated at the same address or on the same parcel are a single plant, will require a single registration or application, will aggregate the capacity of the systems for the purpose of determining the applicable rates, and will assess the application type based on the standard provided above. However, this presumption is rebuttable, and an applicant may request that the Commission evaluate the facilities and perform a single-plant analysis if the applicant believes that the facilities are separate plants.” This request can be initiated by submitting a “Separate-Plant Determination Form,” which is available on the net-metering webpage.
The Order, which was issued in case no. 19-2512-NMR, can be viewed using ePUC. Information about how to use ePUC and how to subscribe to a case is available.