Renewable-Energy Producers Can Now Sell Power to WAPA

Good news for the territory from The Source today:

Aug. 1, 2007 -- Residents are getting a unique opportunity to save money on utility bills while selling power back to the V.I. Water and Power Authority with an innovative metering program, which puts the territory on the cutting edge of new power policies.

The territory joins about 40 states and the District of Columbia, which have approved the program. As part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, mainland public utilities are required to offer net metering on request to customers before the end of the decade.

On Wednesday the utility launched its net-metering program, which will allow consumers to offset the cost of electricity they buy from WAPA by selling excess power they generate through individual solar or wind systems back to the utility.