Policy

While the proposal includes policies that have been considered harmful in the past, the market certainty it provides is immensely more valuable to the health of the state’s market than a worst-case scenario where the incentive program expires entirely, according to advocates.

Manufacturers in every leg of the solar value chain are requesting long-term PV tax credits in the budget reconciliation legislation.

Commissioner Phillips spoke of fixing interconnection dynamics that can result in only 20% of projects in a queue ultimately getting interconnected. He favors “substantial transmission,” he said, as well as near-term transmission improvements using grid-enhancing technologies and higher-capacity wires.

Also on the rise: Washington DC Attorney General filed complaint against utility for general incompetence in managing the community solar program. EIA’s US grid-scale energy storage usage profiles, innovation, and growth outlook. Freedom Forever overtakes Tesla in the top three spot for the first time. New Orleans launches community solar program. Green Mountain Power selects Enphase batteries for pilot lease discount program. Connecticut colleges and universities to benefit from solar. And the bad news is…World will need 5.2TW of solar this decade to avoid climate breakdown

Washington DC Attorney General Racine has filed a complaint against utility PEPCO for general incompetence in managing the community solar program, with a focus on additional hardware requirements and a failure to properly measure and compensate solar electricity generation.

In Wood Mackenzie’s solar installer Leaderboard, Freedom Forever overtakes Tesla in the top three spot for the first time.

Also on the rise: Arizona requires transparent modeling for utility resource plans. Distributed solar installed in 2021 nearly matches capacity of all new gas plants. A solar project would multiply a North Dakota town’s budget, but a 1995 ordinance prevents it. SunPower launches whole-home backup solution. Construction begins for Meta (Facebook) $90 million solar project.

Colfax Township’s zoning board is reviewing a 1995 ordinance that bars solar installations after a proposed project is estimated to increase the town’s budget from $80,000 to $180,000, plus bring revenues to the local school district, county and state. In total, $1.4 million of revenue would be shared with Colfax within the first five years of operations.

Institute for Local Self Reliance annual update highlights influence of renewable energy in the US energy portfolio.

Transparent utility modeling in two other states has enabled advocates to show that adding more solar than utilities had proposed in their resource plans would yield benefits. The Arizona Technology Council and sustainability advocate Ceres brought the idea to Arizona regulators.