A bipartisan Senate bill would steer an existing solar energy incentive to projects in abandoned minelands, brownfields and atop warehouses.

Senate Bill 1019 would provide preferred status with net metering to solar projects in the above locations as well as parking garage canopies, capped landfills, school buildings and sites adjacent to closed coal-fired power plants. This would last until 2050.

These locations are considered to be underused or having a low impact.

Pennsylvania’s net metering law allows smaller renewable energy generators to get credits on their electric bills for excess power sent back to the electric grid.

The credits are at the full retail rate allowing customers to save money on energy costs.

Net metering currently applies to residential energy systems capped at 50 kilowatts, while commercial systems can go up to 3 megawatts.

Net metering is part of Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards (AEPS) Act which promotes renewable energy.

A key goal of SB1019 sponsored by Sens. Lisa Boscola, D-Northampton, and Elder Vogel, R-Beaver, is to ensure net metering applies to solar generators with real on-site demand for energy.

SB1019 addresses an issue raised by the state Public Utility Commission (PUC) with net metering.

Some commercial generators use net metering to build large solar systems with no real on-site use. Utilities are required to buy their excess electricity at the higher retail price rather than a wholesale price, Boscola said in a memo.

The added costs are passed along by utilities to other commercial customers, leading to higher electric bills for small businesses that rely on standard default electric service, added Boscola.

The cost shifting through this method reached over $100 million in 2023, the PUC said.

“The PUC has requested the General Assembly consider modifying the structure of net metering by establishing reasonable bounds to curb the economic harms of subsidizing excess generation at retail, rather than wholesale rates,” Commission Chair Stephen DeFrank told the Senate Democratic Policy Committee last spring.

The House Energy Committee approved House 1260 requiring new warehouses to accommodate rooftop solar panels by a party-line vote last fall with Democrats supporting and Republicans opposed.