Gary Merrill, general manager for Murray City Power, described the pilot program as a progressive step - a way to encourage investment in reliable, renewable energy opportunities.
Net metering uses a bi-directional meter that spins forward to measure a customer's power consumption. It also spins backward when any excess homemade power flows back to the city's electric grid.
"They're given credit for any power they put back on the system," Merrill explained.
Murray's publicly owned power company, established in 1913, serves 16,000 residential and commercial customers. In a recent survey, half who responded would be willing to pay more for electricity from renewable sources, he added. "We've had several serious inquiries from people who are building new homes or retrofitting older structures. We're looking for ways to accommodate them."
About three-fourths of the state gets its juice from investor-owned Utah Power, which is regulated by the Public Service Commission. In 2002, lawmakers enacted legislation requiring such utilities to implement net-metering programs - but city-run utilities are self-regulated and exempt from this requirement.
Murray is the only Salt Lake Valley city to operate its own power company. But at least three dozen Utah communities do the same, including Bountiful, Brigham City, Kaysville, Logan and St. George.
Last October, St. George launched its net-metering program, which goes a step further than Murray's: It offers rebates - $2,000 per installed kilowatt - to offset installation costs of photovoltaic (solar) systems.
"We have two residential installs complete, and two ongoing," said René Fleming, conservation coordinator for St. George Water & Energy Services.
So far, those systems range in size from 1.5 to 3 kilowatts - and the city's rebate is capped at $6,000.
Such systems cost $5,000 to $10,000 per installed kilowatt, said Fleming, whose own rural home is completely off the power grid.
While net metering is available for wind-generated systems as well, use of such systems is even less common.
"They need an average speed of 10 mph," Fleming said. "We don't get enough constant wind at that speed to make it as effective."
St. George and Murray are thought to be the only two city-run power companies to offer these programs, according to Doug Hunter, general manager for Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems.
"I know a lot of them are talking about it," Hunter said, referring to the state's 34 other municipal utilities.
Dan Stireman, energy services manager for Murray City Power, considers it a move in the right direction. "Every kilowatt hour made with renewables offsets [consumption of] fossil fuels," he said.
cmckitrick@sltrib.com
