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Inslee listens to a constituent.

Montage of Wing Point in Bainbridge Island and the Edmonds Ferry.

Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District

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U.S. Rep. Inslee ReIntroduces Energy Legislation
Saves Consumers and Businesses Money on Energy Bills

18 November 2003

U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee re-introduced the "Home Energy Generation Act" (H. R. 3509), legislation designed to help consumers save on their electricity bills. The legislation was referred to the House Committee on Commerce, Subcommittee on Energy and Power.

"We need to address the current energy crisis with a short-term wholesale price cap in the West, but we also need to be thinking about long term energy solutions," said Inslee. "My legislation is a practical way to help individuals and businesses save on their energy bills. It would help the thousands of people in Washington who are already using solar, wind, biomass or fuel cell power, and encourage more people and businesses to produce cheap, environmentally-friendly energy."

The Home Energy Generation Act does three main things:

  1. Allows Consumers to Roll Back Utility Meters: Allows families, farms, and small businesses that generate their own electricity to send unneeded excess power into the local utility's electricity grid, in order to receive credit on their next utility bill. For example, a house with solar panels could generate energy all summer and send excess energy into their electric utility's grid, then see those energy credits applied to their utility's electric bill during the rainy season, when the house's solar panels do not produce as much energy.
  2. Removes Barriers to the Practice of Rolling Back Meters: Although most utilities are not opposed to "net metering," some have added cost prohibitive requirements to families who choose to net meter. Inslee's bill would remove those barriers.
  3. Creates National Standards: Sets uniform national reliability and safety standards for connecting electricity generation units into the electricity grid. Though Washington State and many other states already have "net metering laws," each state's laws vary, thereby discouraging mass development and less expensive technologies for reliable and affordable home energy generation.

Cosponsors of the legislation being introduced today include:

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