Cost and prices

In Vermont and Utah, net metering is under attack — in danger of being significantly devalued or eliminated. In Arizona, the state’s rooftop solar export rates have been saved for at least another year. Outside of policy, Maine has announced the winners of the state’s largest-ever renewable solicitation.

The lower projected costs for PV could help guide some utilities to plan for more PV capacity, as the utilities develop their long-term resource plans.

A high level of distributed solar in Indiana would reduce utility costs by up to $540 million per year, a national lab has found. Fair compensation for rooftop solar power in southern Indiana would be 13¢/kWh, an expert calculated—not the 3¢/kWh proposed by a utility.

The tool is intended to help solar developers show customers their potential electricity cost savings and their carbon footprint reductions, making that customer more likely to consider the switch to solar.

A lower-cost grid would reach 22% renewable generation in 2040, compared to the 5% currently planned by Southeastern utilities, says a study from Energy Innovation and Vibrant Clean Energy. Wholesale power trading through an independent system operator would also help reduce costs.

The utilities that buy power from TVA, and the 10 million people they serve, will be limited in accessing low-cost solar power unless a federal court invalidates what a lawsuit calls TVA’s “never-ending contracts.” Three citizens’ groups brought the lawsuit, claiming TVA violated a federal environmental law.

“Storage is critical for equity,” says Sunrun CEO Lynn Jurich — and putting more standalone storage on the grid means less electricity going through wires in wildfire-prone areas.

As California’s energy crisis rages, one company has been paying customers handsomely to to power down in times of peak strain on the grid.

On the journey from concept to monetized power plant, renewable/storage projects tend to get tugged toward “zero” margin (from either direction); and the further the rubber band is stretched, the stronger the pull back toward zero.

A new report released by Ernst & Young shows that power and utility deals in the Americas saw huge drops in volume and value due to the Covid-19 pandemic, though commitment to renewable investment remains strong.