At the Solar Midwest conference in Chicago, three questions were posed with brief answers requested of a random sample of attendees in the solar development or financing business.
The questions were:
(1) What is your company’s level of activity in the Midwest?
(2) Which state(s) or market(s) are your favorite in the Midwest?
(3) What is the greatest challenge in the Midwest market?
Here are the responses:
pv magazine: What is your company’s level of activity in the Midwest?
Maha Kashani and Ryan Florian, IGS Solar, Dayton, Ohio (above): Though we are located in the Midwest, we are focusing more on the region.
pv magazine: Which state(s) or market(s) are your favorite in the Midwest?
Kashani and Florian: Illinois, because of the Future Energy Jobs Act, Minnesota and Ohio. The focus is on investment grade, 20 year contracts.
pv magazine: What is the greatest challenge in the Midwest market?
Kashani and Florian: The greatest challenge is lower energy prices in the Midwest than other markets.
pv magazine: What is your company’s level of activity in the Midwest?
Ben Downing, Nexamp, Boston, Massachusetts: We’re concentrated on Illinois.
pv magazine: Which state(s) or market(s) are your favorite in the Midwest?
Downing: The favorite is Illinois.
pv magazine: What is the greatest challenge in the Midwest market?
Downing: Getting the details in the Illinois Power Agency plan and utility supply tariffs.
pv magazine: What is your company’s level of activity in the Midwest?
Betsy Engelking and Kara Bakke, Geronimo Energy, Minnesota: Our activity is very high because we’re a Midwestern company.
pv magazine: Which state(s) or market(s) are your favorite in the Midwest?
Engelking and Bakke: Our favorite is the Minnesota community solar market.
pv magazine: What is the greatest challenge in the Midwest market?
Engelking and Bakke: The biggest challenges are nterconnection issues and community and local support.
pv magazine: What is your company’s level of activity in the Midwest?
Nathan Vogel, Inovateus Solar, South Bend, Indiana: We have been heavily involved in the Midwest since 2013.
pv magazine: Which state(s) or market(s) are your favorite in the Midwest?
Vogel: Those would be Michigan and Indiana.
pv magazine: What is the greatest challenge in the Midwest market?
Vogel: Policy issues, especially in Indiana where they got rid of net metering. Michigan is also a problem due to high property tax assessments on solar equipment.
pv magazine: What is your company’s level of activity in the Midwest?
Matthew Wright, National Cooperative Bank, Arlington, Virginia: We’re just getting in the initial stages.
pv magazine: Which state(s) or market(s) are your favorite in the Midwest?
Wright: The favorites are Illinois and Minnesota, in the community solar markets.
pv magazine: What is the greatest challenge in the Midwest market?
Wright: Understanding the subscription agreements in community solar.
pv magazine: What is your company’s level of activity in the Midwest?
Spencer G Hanes, Jr., Duke Energy Renewables: Nothing yet in solar in the Midwest. We have some energy storage projects in Ohio.
pv magazine: Which state(s) or market(s) are your favorite in the Midwest?
Hanes: We’re looking at all opportunities. We’ll partner with smaller developers.
pv magazine: What is the greatest challenge in the Midwest market?
Hanes: Clarity in the 201 trade case.
pv magazine: What is your company’s level of activity in the Midwest?
John Langhus, New Energy Equity, Annapolis, Maryland: We’re active in two states in the Midwest, and will be adding a third one.
pv magazine: Which state(s) or market(s) are your favorite in the Midwest?
Langhus: The biggest market is Minnesota.
pv magazine: What is the greatest challenge in the Midwest market?
Langhus: The federal trade case and constant state regulatory changes. Also, some states don’t have well designed incentive programs.
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