Empowering Residential Customers to Benefit from Net Metering in the Power Market of Georgia

We continue the series of investigations of the benefits from Demand Side Response (DSR) programme(s) and at present We will concentrate on Net Metering (NEM), as marketing tool, in replacing uneconomic investments in costly power generation and, thus, achieving efficiency goals, with case studies from three residential customers involved in retail-rate NEM.The purpose of our study is twofold: the first is to demonstrate that residential customers in Georgia can save money on their utility bills every year by making excess electricity with their rooftop solar panel systems and sending it back to the grid if they are involved in retail-rate net energy metering program; and the second is to demonstrate that demand flexibility is the most promising and intuitively workable new frontier maximizing the use of renewable approaches. For Georgia, solar is often a solution suitable for the geographical needs of remote communities. While some claim that net metering represents an unfair burden on non-solar electricity customers, Our net metering cost-benefit studies have found the opposite to be true.To meet research objectives 3 (three) case studies have been conducted. Study participants were three residential customers using NEM to export generated excess electricity to the Distribution System Operator (DSO) JSC ?Telasi? that interconnects 358,14kW of the new solar capacity in its service territory (Tbilisi, capital of Georgia) and contributes 49% of total solar capacity (739,75kW) generated by NEM. Their names cannot be divulged due to the confidentiality requirements. To conduct the cost-benefit analyses, We specifically requested the utility to submit data in alternative current (ac) to track the actual solar capacity received by the grid from the study participants between January 31 and December 31, 2018. For the purposes of analyses, We have supplemented survey data with additional information including Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission (GNERC) resolutions, and the bidding materials obtained from the private company Electroni, Ltd.Under the study the following research hypothesis has been tested: ?Residential customers can benefit from retail-rate net energy metering if they choose to participate in this residential demand response (RDR) program but yet the benefits are not substantial due to the net metering compensation structure and the market barriers to entry.? Our cost-benefit analyses revealed that net metering can save residential customers hundreds of dollars on their utility bills every year, so it?s a good reason to make the money-saving choice.