House moves to raise expedited net‑metering cap to 25 kilowatts

The Vermont House of Representatives voted on the floor to propose to the Senate an amendment to Senate Bill 50 that raises the expedited registration cap for ground‑mounted residential net‑metering projects from 15 kilowatts to 25 kilowatts and ordered the bill for third reading.

The change is intended to reflect improvements in panel efficiency and allow homeowners to install somewhat larger ground‑mounted systems without triggering the longer Public Utility Commission (PUC) review process. "25 is the new 15," Representative James (member from Manchester) said while presenting the committee report.

Representative James, speaking for the House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee, described S.50 as "a narrowly crafted bill" that leaves the substantive approval process with the PUC. Under current practice the expedited registration requires the PUC to notify the utility, which then has 10 days to review the project; if the utility signs off…