Morning Brief: Another day, another utility fighting net metering — Ameren in Illinois this time

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A coalition of solar and environmental groups filed an emergency motion with the Illinois Commerce Commission to prevent utility company Ameren from devastating rooftop solar in southern and central Illinois. Last week Ameren told the Commission it intends to eliminate fair compensation for the solar energy homeowners and families produce. Ameren would slash the credits solar customers receive for excess clean energy, a foundational policy known as net metering, as soon as October 1. The abrupt move would cost the average residential solar customer hundreds of dollars per year, wiping out savings on energy bills and putting solar projects out of reach for many consumers. Source: ELPC

South Carolina adopted a solar industry proposal to study electricity market reforms: Yesterday Governor McMaster signed into law H. 4940, SEIA’s recommendation to create a committee that will study electricity market reform in South Carolina. Parallel legislation has been proposed in North Carolina and is expected to be considered early next year. Source: SEIA

How America could boost solar power by 56% using idle highway land. The U.S. could harvest 36 TWh of clean energy a year, worth some $4 billion in revenue, if states put solar panels on the highway interchange rights-of-way (ROW) they own, a study has concluded. Most states have more than 200 miles of ROW at interchanges, around 127,500 acres in area, that is suitable for solar development, finds a new nationwide mapping tool developed by solar transport innovation group “The Ray” and the Webber Energy Group at the University of Texas, Austin. Source: Global Construction Review

Solar design software startup Aurora has added battery backup recommendations for its customers — a way for homeowners to buy the appropriate backup storage system for their needs and critical loads during an outage.

Global energy storage capacity could grow at a CAGR of 31%, recording 741 GWh of cumulative capacity by 2030. Front-of-the-meter will continue to dominate annual deployments and will account for up to 70% of annual total capacity additions to the end of the decade. The US maintains pole position and will make up over 49% or 365 GWh of global cumulative capacity by 2030.

Source: Wood Mackenzie

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