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On behalf of the solar, environmental and community signatories of this letter, welcome to Los Angeles
and to a new chapter in clean energy for the City.
We would like to draw your attention to the enclosed December 28, 2009 letter from California
Attorney General Edmund Brown Jr. calling for “virtual net metering, or an equivalent concept, [for] all
multi-unit buildings, in order to facilitate the development of customer-generated solar power in
California.”
Under current Los Angeles Department of Water and Power tariff rules and structures, multi-tenant
buildings cannot benefit from installation of a single photovoltaic array to serve the electrical needs of
the entire building because the power generated may be credited only to a single meter.
The cost of physically rewiring a multi-tenant building to put in a master meter is estimated at $60,0001 -
an obstacle that the Attorney General cites as the “top barrier to full and effective customer-generated
solar development on multi-unit structures in the state.”
“Virtual net metering” allows electricity produced by a single solar array to be credited to the benefit of
individually metered tenants such that the electricity produced by the system is net-balanced against
total building electricity consumption as if the building had a single, or “virtual,” master meter.
The California Public Utilities Commission established virtual net metering for affordable multi-family
housing in a decision issued on October 20, 2008 (Decision Establishing Multifamily Affordable Solar
Housing Program Within the California Solar Initiative, D.08-10-036), noting “there is nothing limiting the
virtual net metering concept to the affordable housing context.”
In his letter Attorney General Brown applauds the development of virtual net metering for affordable
multifamily buildings, and calls for further action to allow virtual net metering for all multi-tenant
properties.
In a recent decision regarding the LADWP Solar Incentive Program, the Los Angeles City Council advised
LADWP to implement a 90-day solar rebate moratorium beginning Jan 1st, 2011 – and to use the
moratorium to determine a more equitable distribution of rebate funds. Virtual net metering addresses
1
Interstate Renewable Energy Council; Community Renewables: Expanding Opportunities for Customer
Investment in Solar Energy; September 21, 2010.
critical shortcomings of the current program and allows for a more equitable distribution of rebate
funds with the participation of multi-tenant properties in the Solar Incentive Program.
One year has now elapsed since the Attorney General’s call for action – and we urge you to make it a
priority to extend virtual net metering to all multi-unit buildings, in order to facilitate the development
of customer-generated solar power in Los Angeles.
Sincerely,
Cc:
California Governor Edmund Brown Jr.
The Honorable Thomas Sayles, President of the Board, Water and Power Commissioners