Installed solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in the U.S. more than tripled in the past three years, and industry analysts forecast that PV capacity will double from current levels within two years! This exponential growth in PV capacity demonstrates a larger trend in which the role of the electricity consumer is fundamentally changing. Customers are transitioning from being passive recipients of utility services to being active participants in both providing and receiving grid services. Distributed generation (DG) tariffs must evolve to address this changing environment.

In a RAP webinar held on May 29, 2014, Carl Linvill and Jim Lazar offer 12 principles to guide regulators as they design the next generation of DG tariffs. Grounded in the principle of fair compensation, Dr. Linvill and Mr. Lazar focus on tangible rate design options that compensate DG adopters fairly for the value they provide to the electric system, compensate the utility fairly for the grid services it provides, and charge non-participating consumers fairly for the value of the services they receive.

The webinar draws from RAP’s recent publication Designing Distributed Generation Tariffs Well: Fair Compensation in a Time of Transition.