The Idaho Public Utilities Commission Friday declined Idaho Power’s proposal to change how solar power generators are paid for their power.

The issue at hand is “net metering,” essentially how much customers are reimbursed for the electricity they produce and send back to the larger electric grid.

In Idaho, homeowners who use solar panels receive a one-to-one reimbursement credit. For every kilowatt they produce over the amount they use in a month, they receive a one-kilowatt credit from the Idaho Power Company because that power is going back into the Idaho Power grid.

Idaho Power was seeking to change that rate, cutting it from almost 10 cents per kilowatt produced to somewhere around 4.4 cents per kilowatt hour over the course of about 10 years.

In Friday’s decision, the PUC rejected a settlement agreement between Idaho Power, the Sierra Club, city of Boise, Idaho Clean Energy Association, Idaho Irrigation Pumpers Association and others, according to a PUC press release.

Awaken Solar energy consultant Josh Hill applauded the decision as a “huge turning point” for solar power customers.

“This means we won a small battle to get the public’s freedom to have solar power,” Hill said.

Idaho Power officials issued a statement by email after the decision.

“With its order, the Commission resolved the important issue of grandfathering existing customers in the net metering offering,” Idaho Power’s statement reads.

“We support the Commission’s decision on this complex legal issue. As to the offering for future customers, we will continue working with the Commission, customers, and other stakeholders to further study and develop a pricing structure that reduces the subsidies provided for customer generation and is fair to all Idaho Power customers.”

The reasons the settlement was rejected were twofold: because the public was “not adequately notified or aware that the agreement might result in significant changes to Idaho Power’s net metering program,” and the settlement proceedings made a record “insufficient to support the settlement,” a PUC press release said.

The PUC also said existing on-site generation customers as of Dec. 20, 2019, would be grandfathered into the current rates essentially forever, according to PUC spokesman Adam Rush.

Along with the denial of the settlement and the grandfathering decision, the PUC directed Idaho Power to conduct a study of the costs and benefits of on-site power generation to its system, and said the study must be “understandable to an average customer,” according to a PUC press release.

PUC staff and Idaho Power will also host public workshops to provide information on the net-metering program in the future.

Hill said the most important part of the decision was the PUC’s order to have the public involved in the study that would help determine the costs and benefits of on-site power generation such as solar.

“That’s the big change — that the public will be involved in the study,” he said.

Idaho Power has more than 560,000 customers.

According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, there are 4,379 solar installations in Idaho that provide 3.52% of the state’s power.

The Idaho Conservation League and the lobbying group Vote Solar issued a joint statement saying the decision was in the best interests of all solar customers in Idaho.

Ben Otto, an energy associate with the conservation league, said in the statement: “We look forward to working publicly with all stakeholders to finish the job of calculating all the benefits additional solar can bring to Idaho.”