Lower house approves net metering bill

Chile's lower house has approved a net metering bill by 95 votes in favor and one abstention, the legislative body said in a statement. The bill, designed to encourage residential generation projects, will now be evaluated by the senate and could be brought into law before the end of 2012. Under the law energy users, including residents and small businesses, would be able to sell excess power from small non-conventional renewable energy (NCRE) installations back into the network. The government has set a target of having 20% of grid capacity provided from NCRE sources by 2020.