Indiana has dozens of electric utility companies. REMCs and municipal owned utilities have more autonomy from state regulation as compared with the larger investor owned utilities, Centerpoint (formerly Vectren), Duke Energy, Indiana-Michigan Power, Indianapolis Power & Light and Northern Indiana Public Service Company.
Under a 2017 Indiana state law known as Senate Enrolled Act 309, if you are a net metering customer of one of the five investor owned utility companies, the person who buys your house also acquires the right to net metering – until 2047 if the system was installed before December 31, 2017, or until 2032 if the system is installed between January 1, 2018 and June 30, 2022. These rights are valuable, so please explain them to the realtor and prospective buyers.
Because net metering rights attach to the property, the buyer will get the same deal as you did: each kilowatt hour is valued at the same retail rate until the applicable grandfathering date regardless of where it comes from, whether from the grid or your own system. However, the meter will be set to zero for the new account and the previous owner will not be paid for kilowatt hour credits that are in effect transferred to the utility company.
The buyer must request a new interconnection agreement for net metered billing from the utility company when they set up their own account at the house address, citing – and if possible showing – the original interconnection agreement. If not, sharing your account number with your buyer should enable the utility customer service representative to verify the entitlement. The home buyer can usually coordinate with the solar installer to handle the new interconnection agreement for a small fee, if this is preferred. Making arrangements well in advance of moving day will allow time to minimize possible delay.
The confirmation letter you received from your utility company, along with your signed interconnection agreement, make it clear that your house is grandfathered in to net metering. That does not mean that the first utility employee that your buyer speaks to when they go to open an account will be familiar with the issue. Net metering customers are still only a small percentage of the total customer base. As with all exception handling, you have to find the person who understands how to handle the exception.
For Duke Energy customers, the buyer should contact the Duke Renewables Service Center via email at CustomerOwnedGeneration@duke-energy.com or by phone at 866-233-2290.
← Solar Q&A