A few weeks after Central Hudson Gas & Electric stopped accepting new applicants for net-metering of solar energy the Public Service Commission asked for public input on the limits it now imposes - a paltry 1 percent of a utility's customers.

The PSC decision to reconsider follows an outcry from solar energy proponents in the Mid-Hudson River Valley, The Poughkeepsie Journal reported. As a result of the protest, Central Hudson Gas & Electric began accepting new applicants to the program once more, "In anticipation of the cap being raised by the commission." the utility reported.

Net metering programs provide consumers who use renewable energy sources with retail credit for excess energy they produce and sell back into the electric grid. They are a major incentive toward using solar energy, and the backbone of the solar energy market in the Mid-Hudson River Valley.

Senator Charles Schumer has come out in favor of raising the limit.