New York net metering and value-based crediting

Two ways a rooftop export is paid

New York does not price every rooftop export under one rule. Smaller mass market systems are generally compensated under net energy metering, including its transitional form, Phase One NEM, while other distributed resources are compensated under the Value of Distributed Energy Resources, or VDER, mechanism established by the Public Service Commission. NYSERDA describes the Value Stack as compensating energy from distributed resources such as solar in bill credits, based on when and where it provides electricity.

Size limits differ by track. In tariff material quoted by the Department of Public Service, aggregated capacity is limited to 25 kW for residential customers under Grandfathered Net Metering or Phase One NEM, 2,000 kW for nonresidential customers on those options, and 5,000 kW under the Value Stack tariff. Home systems sit inside the net metering limit; the Value Stack serves larger and community projects.

What the Value Stack actually adds up

Under the Value Stack there is no single export rate. NYSERDA lists five components the utility sums to value injected energy: the energy value, the locational based marginal price; the capacity value, the capacity purchase offset; the environmental value, the Clean Energy Standard compliance cost offset per kilowatt-hour; the demand reduction value, distribution costs offset, averaged across the territory; and the locational system relief value, only in locations the utility has identified as having needs resources can address.

NYSERDA notes that certain Community Distributed Generation projects may also receive a Market Transition Credit or Community Credit, a supplemental amount per kilowatt-hour locked in for 25 years, varying by location and availability. Its Value Stack Calculator exists because the credit must be modeled per project and location.

• Energy Value (LBMP): wholesale energy value, by hour and location
• Capacity Value (ICAP): capacity purchases avoided
• Environmental Value (E): Clean Energy Standard compliance value avoided
• Demand Reduction Value (DRV): distribution value averaged across the territory
• Locational System Relief Value (LSRV): only in utility identified locations

The Customer Benefit Contribution charge

Net metering customers do not escape fixed program costs. A Department of Public Service order records that customers installing certain distributed resources interconnected on or after January 1, 2022 shall pay a monthly Customer Benefit Contribution (CBC) charge to recover costs of certain energy efficiency and other public policy programs. The charge is based on the compensation option chosen, customer class, and utility territory, with classes including residential and small nondemand commercial. It is not one statewide figure, and a quote should show the territory CBC as a separate line.

The joint utilities named are Central Hudson, Consolidated Edison, New York State Electric and Gas, Niagara Mohawk Power doing business as National Grid, Orange and Rockland, and Rochester Gas and Electric. The serving utility determines both tariff and CBC.

Long Island runs on a closely aligned version

Long Island is the exception. NYSERDA states the Long Island Power Authority approved a tariff update effective August 1, 2019, bringing its VDER methodology closely into alignment with the Commission orders, with PSEG Long Island handling local detail. Long Island calculates demand reduction value from injections between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on non-holiday weekdays from June 1 to August 31, and capacity value from the New York Independent System Operator spot auction price rather than a monthly price. A Long Island quote built on Con Edison assumptions can misstate it.