Manti sets net metering charge of $3 per kilowatt of capacity
Matt Harris
Staff writer
10-13-2016
MANTI—Net metering participants in Manti are going to be faced with a significant change in costs due to a new policy adoption by the City Council in last council meeting held Wednesday, Oct. 5.
The Manti City council met last week to open discussion about a consideration of a fixed cost for power usage of net metering users in the city. There are four participants on this system in Manti.
City Administrator Kent Barton reports that most utilities which set up metering programs did not allow for a fixed cost for network maintenance which the power from the net metering user generates. In effect, this makes it as if the city is “purchasing” power from the net metering user, Barton says. The problem has escalated to the point that some utilities are placing a moratorium on the addition of other net metering users until the problem was been resolved.
Without any sort of fixed cost, Barton says, other customers on the system are effectively subsidizing the net metering users, and that could potentially drive the user’s power bill to zero. In order to make it possible for net metering users to pay their “fair share” of their usage of city power lines, the council discussed holding a fixed cost like many surrounding towns have adopted.
The six-city Utah Municipal Power Agency (UMPA), of which Manti is a participating member, studied the issue through the efforts of Berg & Associates. Their recommendation after studies has been to impose a $3 charge per “kilowatt of generation capacity” on their system, the report from UMPA says. Two other UMPA cities, Provo and Nephi, have already adopted the charge this month.
The charge is necessary for all users of Manti power lines to pay a fair share of their use, Mayor Korry Soper says. After discussion, the motion was made to adopt the charge and was unanimously accepted by the council.
The charge will take effect starting at the beginning of the next billing cycle.
