 Kentucky's Public Service Commission has rejected a proposal by two utilities that would have drastically reduced the value of solar energy for customers. Backers of rooftop solar say the decision means it's still a good financial investment. As Kerry Ray of the Mountain Association explains, Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities proposed to drastically lower the amount solar customers are credited. For excess electricity, they feed back into the grid. Instead, the commission chose new rates that will only slightly reduce the value of solar for certain customers. Because of this ruling, solar still makes sense for most homeowners and businesses. The Mountain Association, along with the Kentucky Solar Energy Society, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and the Metropolitan Housing Coalition intervened in the case. Utilities maintain rooftop solar customers don't provide energy generation, transmission, or distribution benefits to the power grid. Andy McDonald with the Kentucky Solar Energy Society says customers with solar panels already in place before the decision will operate under the original net metering rates, currently about 10 cents per kilowatt hour for residential customers, and 12 cents for small commercial customers. He adds the ruling also prevents the utilities from proposing new changes to net metering for the next few years. You know, we have at least the stability of knowing that these rates will remain in effect for all net metering customers until sometime in 2025. Ray says research shows renewable energy technologies like solar can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat the effects of climate change, as well as their economic benefits. Solar has got to be a much bigger part of our energy mix. And, you know, we're encouraged that the utilities are investing in solar. You know, we see KU, you know, they're building solar arrays, and we think that they should keep doing that. Last year, the solar industry invested more than $14 million in the Commonwealth. This is Nadia Ramlagon for Kentucky News Connection.