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October 9, 2016

Nevada Ruling Provides Relief to Over 30,000 Existing Solar Customers

  • icon Solar
  • Residential
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ROSEVILLE, CA–(Marketwired – October 9, 2016) – Sunworks, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW), a leading provider of solar power solutions for agriculture, commercial, industrial (ACI), and residential markets, In September of 2016, Nevada solar power customers and the state’s solar industry as a whole breathed a collective sigh of relief as the  Nevada Public Utilities Commission (NPUC) issued a ruling that will allow homeowners with active net metering applications dating back prior to January 1, 2016 to be “grandfathered” into the state’s previous net metering rate structure at full credit. The ruling on Nevada solar rate structure spells good news for solar power in Nevada.

This latest ruling is a reversal of a December, 2015 ruling that saw the benefits of net metering drastically slashed for residential and commercial customers in Nevada. The NPUC ruling in favor of solar effectively puts the wind back in the sails of a once-booming Nevada solar industry that had been drifting for several months.

The December 2015 Ruling

Under the 2015 ruling, Nevada solar power customers saw their benefits from Net Energy Metering (NEM) drastically reduced. That ruling increasing service rates for net metering and drastically undercut the value of energy exported by rooftop solar systems.

The ruling was viewed as a major defeat for the solar industry as Nevada residents saw the value of solar energy exported by residential and small commercial customers plummet. This put many existing solar customers in a situation where it would be virtually impossible to ever recoup the cost of their solar panel array installation.

With solar energy ROI continuing to improve and with that ROI being one of the main incentives behind going solar, this unsurprisingly led to a huge downturn in the industry across the state of Nevada. In fact, the ruling resulted in an approximately 98 percent decrease in the rate of solar power adoption in Nevada. This led to significant job loss and to many solar providers closing their doors and exiting the State altogether.

The Sunworks Difference

But while the 2015 ruling caused many Nevada solar energy providers to leave the state, Sunworks has continued to operate in the Nevada market. In fact, Sunworks took proactive action in the state, co-founding the Great Basin Solar Coalition and joining the Bring Back Solar PAC in an effort to reverse the 2015 NPUC ruling. That’s why Sunworks was also among the first to applaud the latest NPUC ruling, which will bring relief to nearly 30,000 Nevada solar power customer by restoring the opportunity for them to benefit from net metering.

Determining Eligibility for Nevada Solar Power Customers

The latest ruling comes as particularly good news for eligible Nevada solar customers who may have previously had projects placed on “hold” pending the rate redesign that was implemented by NPUC in 2015. To be eligible to benefit from the new NPUC ruling you must have reserved net metering capacity in 2015 prior to the December ruling of that year.

If you are one of those customers you may now be able to move forward with your solar project. Even if the previous solar provider you were working with has suspended operations in the state, it’s still possible to move forward with your solar energy project. Provisions of Nevada’s existing laws make it possible for customers like you to effectively reassign your “net metering reservation” to a new solar contractor that maintained its presence in Nevada, like Sunworks.

Because Sunworks chose to maintain its operations in Nevada, the company remains as well-positioned as ever to serve Nevada solar customers. Sunworks has a long history of assisting solar energy customers in Nevada and going forward, the company remains as eager as ever to assist residents with their solar power needs.

Sunworks is currently offering service to Northern Nevada residential solar customers who qualify under the new rate structure.

If you’d like to find out more about what this new ruling means for you or to discuss your options regarding solar panel installation, contact Sunworks today for a free quote.




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