u/atomicbird

CSU covered proposed net metering changes at the utilities working committee meeting today. Last fall city council voted down the previous proposal but CSU has been working on new plans. Tristan Gearhart presented the new proposal.

The current proposal looks like this:

• Option 1, "standard". Net metering customers would have the same time-of-day rates as everyone else plus an additional grid access fee. The new fee would be the same for all net metering customers regardless of how many solar panels they have. CSU estimates it would be $25-30/month.
• Option 2, "choice". This is the same demand charge plan they originally proposed last year. Net metering customers would pay a demand charge based on their highest 15-minute period of use during peak hours each month. They did not estimate what this would cost. Last year they said $50/month average, then changed that to $25/month average. They haven't revised their guess so who knows.
• People could switch between these options, details TBD but once per year was suggested.
• Anyone already using net metering would be grandfathered for a while. They'd continue under the current scheme for five years after the plan took effect, then would have to go with one of these options. If things go as CSU hopes, the plan would take effect April 1 2027.

Some notes on things said during the meeting:

• Gearhart suggested that option 2 would be preferred by people who think they can reduce their cost compared to option 1. They might stagger their power use to avoid high demand charges or install battery storage to reduce peak use. He also thought this would appeal to people with fewer panels. That sounds like it should cost less than the grid access fee, but he didn't estimate the actual cost.
• Gearhart also thinks that grandfathered users will mostly consider batteries, and that the options have been structured with this goal.
• Several board members thought that CSU should provide some way to help people figure out what option would be best, since it can be complicated. Brandy Williams spoke up to say that she thinks CSU should not help people, that they should have to figure it out on their own.
• With option 2, you always get a demand charge. Staggering use or adding batteries could reduce it, but you don't get to avoid it completely.

Tristan Gearhart's slides are included in the meeting agenda PDF starting at page 32 here: https://www.csu.org/hubfs/Working-Committee/Agendas/05-18-2026-Working-Committee-Meeting-Agenda-May-2026.pdf?hsLang=en

A video should be available but it's not there yet. It should be here: https://www.csu.org/about/leadership/working-committee