The federal government will leave oversight of rooftop solar programs to the states after an East Coast group petitioned to have control switched to the national level.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruled on July 16 that states can remain in charge of their own net-metering programs.
Net metering benefits customers with rooftop solar by taking extra energy from their panels, feeding it back into the electric grid and compensating homeowners later in the form of credits on their utility bills.
In April, the New England Ratepayers Association asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to oversee the sale of electricity currently under state net metering rules.
Renewable energy industry advocates and Montana Attorney General Tim Fox were among those to protest the petition. They said individual states have the right to regulate the program and tailor it to their needs.
