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Ames to change solar buyback, boost rebate and double program cap after URAB review
Summary
The Ames City Council approved a URAB‑backed change to the city’s retail solar program: increase the upfront rebate to $500 per kilowatt, tie excess‑energy buyback to the city’s purchase cost (about 3.5¢/kWh estimated), grandfather existing solar owners, and raise the program cap from 2,000 kW to 4,000 kW.
The Ames City Council on Tuesday approved changes to the city’s retail rooftop solar program that will raise an upfront rebate and change how the utility purchases excess energy.
Under the adopted approach, the city will raise its per‑kilowatt rebate to $500 and tie the buyback rate for exported energy to the utility’s cost of purchased power rather than the higher retail rate. Staff estimated that change would set the buyback at roughly 3.5 cents per kilowatt‑hour, down from the approximately 6.5 cents currently referenced in the old program. The council also supported doubling the program cap from 2,000 kilowatts (kW) to 4,000 kW.
Director of Electric Services Donald Com told the council the change is intended to remove a cross‑subsidy in which non‑solar customers effectively subsidized retail buybacks for solar owners. “Our recommended program is to change that rebate to a $500 per kilowatt rebate,” Com said during a staff presentation, adding that the city sought a structure that helps customers cover upfront capital costs while making exported energy payments align with utility wholesale/purchase costs.
URAB (the Utility Rate Advisory Board) recommended the changes after a public workshop and an analysis of alternative approaches. URAB chair Jeff Witt told council members the board also recommended grandfathering current solar customers on their existing buyback terms; council action preserved that protection.
John Fleming, a URAB member, said installers and customers had reported that administrative and permitting burdens discouraged some firms from working in Ames; URAB asked staff to return with recommendations to reduce administrative friction. Council members also asked staff to collect more peer‑utility comparisons.
The council approved a resolution directing staff and the city attorney to prepare municipal‑code changes that implement the new rebate, buyback and cap and to draft implementing ordinance language. Staff said the utility will monitor uptake and return to council if utilization approaches the new cap.
