Proposed Tariffs on FI Solar Dev. – by OCT 16 – What We Can Do

Our Island in the Sun!
FIEC Proposed Tariffs to stop, delay or discourage Solar Development on Fishers Island – what we all can do to help block this ban!

September 19, 2023

Dear Friends, 

Fishers Island Electric Corporation (FIEC) has proposed tariff amendments that would effectively ban solar on Fishers Island.

The Fishers Island Community Center (Community Center) has been trying for more than two years to get the FIEC to allow the interconnection of a proposed solar system to the FIEC electric grid. After being directed to do so by the New York State Department of Public Service (DPS), FIEC on July 17, 2023, filed proposed amendments to its tariffs that would govern FIEC’s interconnecting with customer-owned rooftop solar panels which we hope you will read carefully. Copies of FIEC’s proposed new tariff pages (Leaf Nos. 86 and 87) and FIEC’s cover letter to the PSC are linked on this site. They are difficult to understand, but the following summarizes the proposed tariffs:

• The proposed tariff caps solar on Fishers at 30 kW, a minuscule amount in the world of solar generation.
• The “Customer Charges” section of FIEC’s proposed tariff includes Section A, and Section B. Section A is only applicable if the “total rated generating capacity” for all customer-owned solar panels on Fishers Island “remains below 10 kW,” whereas Section B applies if the total of all customer-owned solar panels on Fishers Island is between 10 kW and 30 kW. Because the Community Center’s 20 kW project alone is more than 10 kW threshold, Section A of the Customer Charges section of FIEC’s tariff will never apply to anyone. Instead, it is Section B that would apply to the two or three customers that would actually be allowed to install solar panels on Fishers Island.
• Section B of the Customer Charges section of FIEC’s proposed tariff states: “The Customer will pay the rates and charges of the Customer’s applicable Service Classification for the total energy used at the customer premises, measured as the sum of all energy and/or demand delivered to the Customer by the FIEC and the energy generated by the Customer.”

In other words, FIEC intends to charge for both the electricity FIEC delivers AND for “the energy generated by the Customer” making solar uneconomical for anyone who wants to install a solar system, even those few customers actually allowed to interconnect. That is contrary to the normal “net metering” policy in NYS for customer-owned solar panels. Net metering means the utility credits customers for electricity the customers generate and export to the grid. But FIEC is proposing to reverse that policy by charging customers for the electricity they export. Other provisions of FIEC’s tariff proposal seek to shift costs normally borne by a utility to the customer. 

FIEC is proposing these tariff amendments to effectively ban (or radically delay) customer-owned solar panels on Fishers Island. Thankfully, FIEC’s proposed tariff amendments have not yet been accepted or adopted by the NYS DPS. On August 16, 2023, the PSC published a notice seeking public comments on FIEC’s proposed tariff amendments until October 16, 2023.

If you want to see renewable solar energy on Fishers Island and thus oppose FIEC’s proposed tariff amendments, there are two easy options.
Take action before October 16, 2023.

We suggest the subject line of your email or letter include both “Fishers Island Electric Corp.” and the DPS case number: Case 23-E-0394. Your note does not need to be long, two or three sentences is fine. 

With thanks for your support,

Luke Fowler
Fishers Island Community Center, Inc.