Puerto Rico Alliance calls for protection of solar network metering from attacks by oversight committees-xmwintop.com

Puerto Rico Alliance calls for protection of solar network metering from attacks by oversight committees

November 04, 2024

A coalition of 28 organizations, including non-profit organizations, solar and battery companies from the United States and Puerto Rico, submitted an Amicus statement to the federal court this week, opposing the Puerto Rico Financial Supervisory and Management Board (FOMB). The alliance believes that FOMB's legal attack on Bill 10, a law that extends Puerto Rico's net metering program until 2030, threatens the island's progress in solar energy and resilience.

The 10th bill was signed into law in January of this year and was unanimously passed by the Puerto Rican House of Representatives and Senate, without opposition from the island's regulatory agencies. The law aims to ensure that Puerto Ricans continue to have access to affordable solar energy, and every additional kilowatt hour of solar energy shared by solar customers on the grid can earn points on their electricity bills.

Thanks to net metering policies, 10% of Puerto Rico's homes are now equipped with solar energy with backup battery power, "said PJ Wilson, Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Solar Energy and Storage Association (SESA)." We are striving for the other 90% of people to also have the ability

FOMB claims that Bill 10 prevents Puerto Rico's independent energy regulatory agency, the Puerto Rico Energy Agency, from preparing the necessary research to assess the impact of current net metering and energy allocation plans at least until 2031, thereby weakening the agency's ability to regulate the energy agency. Puerto Rico's energy sector.

The Non Partisan Opinion Coalition supports the defensive stance taken by the defendant, Governor Pierluis, and Puerto Rico Senate Speaker in court, with the latter demanding the dismissal of the lawsuit on the grounds that FOMB has no authority to interfere with the implementation of Act 10, which essentially postpones the potential sunset date of a long-standing law from one year to another.

In fact, the law has received widespread support, including a letter sent by 21 US Congress members in May 2024 urging FOMB to

The briefing explains that FOMB's opposition to solar energy disregards the unanimous vote of all five political parties (covering the entire political sphere) in the Puerto Rican legislature on Bill 10. abandon harmful attacks on solar energy. The National and Puerto Rican Alliance

of Non Profit Organizations also called on the White House to provide assistance.

Net metering is not just a policy; Javier R ú a Jovet, Director of Public Policy at SESA, said, "For Puerto Ricans facing frequent power outages and high energy costs, this is a path to hope." "This alliance is standing up to defend net metering because Puerto Rico deserves a reliable, clean energy future, and FO

MB's actions are attempting to undermine that future