Looking to the future after net metering setback in Indiana

Indiana’s net metering policy, which makes rooftop solar more accessible across the state, expired on July 1, throwing the future of rooftop solar in the state into uncertainty. Encouraging rooftop solar is an essential step in reaching clean energy goals across the country. As described in this report for California, net metering plays a key role in making the installation of rooftop solar accessible for various consumers. Net metering allows homeowners with rooftop solar to sell extra energy they generate back to the grid at the retail rate. This in turn makes the installation of solar more appealing and affordable.

In Indiana, this process has been recently replaced. Indiana’s new system, which pays back customers at a much lower rate, may put rooftop solar out of reach for many homeowners, businesses, schools, churches, and other organizations. 

However, similar fights across the country provide precedent for successfully preserving or reinstating net metering. For instance, Nevada’s 2016 cut to net metering was followed by a precipitous drop in applications for new solar installation, but a successful push for the reinstatement of net metering in 2017 resulted in adoption levels returning to previous standards. And, in April of this year, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed a bill which would have gutted the state’s net metering policy, keeping the Sunshine State’s rooftop solar thriving. Stories like these, along with the current push in California to preserve net metering, lend momentum to the effort to reinstate net metering in Indiana.