Automated permitting for distributed solar and storage is set to expand well beyond California, as five states follow California’s lead in offering grant support to localities to help them switch to automated permitting.
An automated process can issue a permit “instantly” to a distributed solar project that meets all permitting requirements, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Standard permitting can take months, says the New York Solar Energy Industries Association, “resulting in delays and higher costs for homeowners and solar companies.”
The best-known automated permitting software for solar and storage is SolarAPP+, developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. NREL provides free support to local governments before and during implementation of SolarAPP+, and a spokesperson said the software will always be free for local governments to use, while solar installers pay user fees.
While the software is free to local governments, grants can help them meet the costs for staff time to transition to automated permitting. Once the transition is completed, automated permitting can save substantial staff time.
NREL reports that SolarAPP+ is now used by 138 local governments in California and 14 local governments in nine other states, including several large cities and counties. The software is also being pilot tested by 56 local governments.
California has been helping local governments make the switch to automated permitting by offering them grant support and technical assistance, in a program launched in 2022.
Five other states are now following California’s lead in offering grants and technical assistance to local governments adopting automated permitting.
In Washington, state legislators early this year allocated $600,000 for a grant program. The state’s solar trade group WASEIA provided written testimony to the Washington House Appropriations Committee and a policy brief supporting the budget provision “to help speed rollout of SolarApp+,” said Bill Will, the association’s senior policy advisor.
Colorado has launched an “Automated Permit Processing for Solar” grant program with $1 million in funding for local governments. The state’s solar trade group COSSA “was the main advocacy organization to push for” a state law that created the grant program, said Mike Kruger, president and CEO of COSSA, as the group worked with bipartisan sponsors and other stakeholders “to lower red tape and speed up solar permitting,”
Minnesota has budgeted $2 million to support a grant program for local governments to adopt SolarAPP+. Passing the legislation “was a multi-year, bipartisan effort,” said Logan O’Grady, executive director of the state’s solar trade group MnSEIA. The group “was proud to collaborate with advocacy partners on this initiative, boosting the residential solar market and enabling Minnesotans to go solar faster and easier,” he said.
Illinois plans to use a portion of its federal Solar for All grant to fund a program to help communities automate permitting, according to Environment America.
Maryland has announced an upcoming SolarAPP+ Implementation Grant Program.
Automation requirements
California and Maryland have also set requirements for local governments to automate solar permitting.
California requires all but the smallest local governments to use either SolarAPP+ or another automated permitting software. Larger cities and counties were required to comply by last September, and medium-sized cities and counties are required to comply by this September.
The California Energy Commission says that “enforcement lies outside of CEC jurisdiction but may be enforced through private claims.”
California last month completed awards of $19 million in grants to 334 cities and counties to make the switch to automated permitting, according to an analysis by Permit Power, a new advocacy organization dedicated to advancing automated permitting.
Maryland’s Brighter Tomorrow Act, enacted in May, requires local governments to adopt automated solar permitting software, according to the law firm Saul Ewing. Montgomery County, Maryland, with a population of 1 million, already uses SolarAPP+.
In New York, the solar trade group NYSEIA recently called for automated permitting in the state.
Advocacy partners
The nonprofit group Solar United Neighbors joined with others in advocating for the automated permitting grant programs in Minnesota and Maryland, said a spokesperson.
Environment America Senior Campaign Director Johanna Neumann said the nonprofit group’s Maryland director identified legislative sponsors for the state’s automated permitting policy, recruited allies, and helped guide the legislative strategy.
Permit Power also contributed to the Maryland effort, Neumann said.
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