"Lawmakers Advance Bills To Revive Solar Industry In Nevada"

"CARSON CITY, Nev. — Nevada lawmakers pressed forward Wednesday with a package of bills they say will make homemade solar energy an affordable option once again for state residents.

The standout proposal would increase the amount of credit toward nighttime and cloudy-day power that residential solar users can get in exchange for sharing their rooftop solar energy with the state's power grid.

"There's thousands of people that want solar, but we need fair net metering rates for that to happen," Casey Coffman of Sunworks, a solar energy provider in Nevada, said of the credits system.

Assemblyman Justin Watkins' bill would immediately revert the solar benefit to the energy's retail value per kilowatt hour — a favorable rate compared to the progressively decreasing levels Nevada utility regulators implemented in late 2015. Last year, regulators restored the advantageous rate for a limited number of solar users in northern Nevada."

Alison Noon reports for the Associated Press April 5, 2017.