Talk:Net metering in the United States

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Suggestions

This article does a fine job of providing an overview of the policy; however, I feel there are a few areas that could be improved to provide a more detailed picture of the issue.

1. Both pieces of legislation (H.R. 729 and H.R. 1945) listed as pending are no longer current. If current legislation on the matter exists, the article would benefit from its inclusion.

2. The most recent date given on state specific restrictions is May of 2010. Similarly, if more current data is available, it would be useful.

3. The article mentions the four states that have received "A" ratings from the Network for New Energy Choices, but fails to provide background information on the awarding body.

4. While the state-by-state table detailing net metering limitations is convenient, it is incomplete. If information has become available from some of the states listed as "N/A" such as Mississippi, filling it in would be beneficial.

5. The article fails to provide information about the cost of the technology needed to participate in net metering, if any government programs exist to defray such a cost, or how widespread use of the practice has become.

Mdevil5 (talk) 16:07, 15 February 2011 (UTC)mdevil5Mdevil5 (talk) 16:07, 15 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

There is no technology needed to use net metering. I thought that should be clear, but maybe the article needs to spell that out better. All you need is a plain old ordinary meter that records accurately in both directions. Some of the newer meters do not do that, but can be swapped out for one that does, or reprogrammed so that it does. The old technology uses a motor, and if the current reverses, the motor runs backwards. Early on meter readers got confused by negative readings, but that is not a technology issue, it is an education issue. A second generation electric meter used a motor and an optic sensor to count revolutions - it can not tell which direction the motor is turning, so records generation twice - once when it is generated, and a second time when you use it. That type of meter can not be used with net metering. A third generation electric meter is programmable electronic, and it can be programmed to do whatever you want. Initially some power companies were being mean and specifically ordered meters to not record generation, and only record in one direction. However, there are so many customers requesting net metering, that they quickly realized it was costing them a fortune to individually reprogram the meters, so now they are ordering only bidirectional meters. See projection of the number of net metering customers fifteen years from now... Apteva (talk) 11:08, 17 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]