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Inslee Introduces the Americans Making Power Act

July 2, 2010

Washington, D.C. – Today Rep. Jay Inslee (WA-01) introduced the Americans Making Power Act, or AMP Act, which would establish a national standard for net metering.  The legislation would allow Americans to feed back into the grid excess renewable power they generate through their homes, small businesses and even places of worship.  This legislation would also improve reliability of the nation’s electric grid by encouraging a more diffuse means of energy production.    

“Our new clean energy economy can start right at home,” said Rep. Inslee.  “By empowering Americans, this legislation can help build the clean energy economy of the 21st century while saving families money.  Imagine getting a credit on your bill from your utility company every month because you generated more power than you use.” 

The AMP Act addresses two main issues associated with a robust net metering policy; namely the actual net metering standard and a policy component designed to allow for the connection of a renewable energy system to the electric grid, also known as “interconnection.”  The AMP Act would accomplish this by modifying section 113 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) of 1978.  While some 42 states have already adopted some form of net metering and/or interconnection standards, there are many variations in policy and some states have yet to adopt net metering language at all.  This bill, will set a national standard, but is still flexible enough to allow states to set their own standards, as long as they go above and beyond the outlined language.

“It has been a pleasure to work with Congressman Inslee to craft this legislation on behalf of all stakeholders,” explained Steve Reynolds, CEO of Puget Sound Energy, a utility company in Washington State.  “Jay is a leader for customer-owned renewable energy initiatives and understands a regulated utility’s need to recover the fixed infrastructure investments.”