State Senator Hugh T. Farley (R, C, I - Schenectady) announced
that he and his colleagues in the New York State Senate passed a
bill on May 9th that builds upon existing net metering laws to
allow certain electricity customer-generators to receive credit
for off-site energy production. The legislation (S.3407A)
enables small producers to plan for their long-term energy use
and would increase participation in alternative energy
investment.  Net energy metering or " metering" encourages
small-scale renewable energy systems by linking utilities and
certain customers who generate electricity. Net refers to the
difference between the electricity sold to the customer-
generator by the utility and the electricity purchased by the
utility from that customer-generator. In New York State, the net
metering law effectively requires utilities to purchase
electricity from customer-generators at the same retail price
sold by the utility, up to the amount of electricity purchased
by the customer-generator. Every twelve months