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by Dan Lampariello,CBS13I-Team
PORTLAND (WGME) — About 1,800 Maine community solar subscribers won't receive the bill credits they expected this month after some solar project sponsors failed to pay a new state-required charge, the CBS13 I-Team has learned.
Central Maine Power has begun notifying affected customers that it cannot apply the solar credits earned this month because the community solar project they subscribe to is not in compliance with a recent change to Maine's Net Energy Billing (NEB) program. Without those credits, customers' electric bills could be higher than they anticipated.
The new charge was created as part of changes lawmakers approved last year to Maine's NEB program. The charge is based on a project's size and generation and is intended to help offset program costs that would otherwise be borne by other utility customers.
Under the law and Maine Public Utilities Commission rules, project sponsors must pay the monthly charge. If they do not, utilities are prohibited from applying bill credits to customers subscribed to those projects.
The I-Team found that some project sponsors have not paid the required charge, but multiple state agencies said they did not have information on hand to identify which specific companies were out of compliance.
However, after a CBS13 viewer shared their notification letter, the I-Team was able to identify at least one of the affected project sponsors as Novel Energy Solutions, which manages multiple community solar projects in western Maine under the name Join Solar.
The I-Team contacted the company for comment but did not receive a response before publication.
Despite customers missing out on their expected savings, the Office of the Public Advocate says affected customers should not receive a bill from their solar company for credits they did not receive.
"Solar companies only bill for credits that have been applied to utility bills. So while these subscribers won't get the 10%-20% discounts they were promised by their solar company, they won't be paying more than normal CMP rates for the energy they used either," the office said in a statement.
The Public Advocate's Office told the I-Team it believes at least one of the companies that failed to pay the required charge may be insolvent. It is encouraging customers who receive these notices to consider switching to a different community solar provider.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission says it has not opened any proceedings related to the missed payments.
However, the commission's rules authorize a range of potential sanctions against project sponsors that violate the Net Energy Billing program requirements. Those include prohibiting a sponsor from participating in the program, issuing cease-and-desist orders, ordering restitution to injured parties and imposing administrative penalties.
Have a consumer issue you'd like the I-Team to investigate? Call their tip line at 228-7713 or email tips@wgme.com
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