in august 2017, the nevada public utilities commission held three days of hearings "including multiple hours of cross examinations and increasingly technical questions on the application last week" on the issue of net metering. the commission drafted and voted on an order that would implement regulations and rates for net metering customers, something that has been "long-awaited" by stakeholders (the vote was mandated by a bill passed by the state legislature during the 2017 legislative session). the purpose of that bill was to restore "favorable reimbursement rates for net metering customers," people who use rooftop solar panels. net metering customers receive a credit from the utility company when they generate more energy than they are using, and that energy gets sent back into the electric grid. the summer of 2017, and the year leading up to it, was a period of "contentious back and forth between nv energy, solar companies and state officials."