A change could come for customer-generated renewable energy

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) - Black Hills Energy is suggesting revising its tariff for customers who generate their own electricity through renewable sources like solar panels.

Dakota Rural Action says the tariff would require customers with behind-the-meter, renewable distributed generation to pay retail prices for the electricity they use, whether they produced it themselves or it came from the grid.

”They’re all for renewable energy, but unfortunately, it’s for utility-scale systems. You know, they see themselves as being the power company, they see themselves as being the ones to generate the power and send it down the transmission line and charge people retail rates for it. They’re not big advocates of behind-the-meter solar, clearly,” said Dakota Rural Action member Rick Bell.

On its website, Black Hills Energy justifies the tariff, saying it ensures that all customers pay their share of the fixed costs of having full-time access to the energy grid. They say they work to ensure fair energy pricing for all customers.

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