Policy

A recent analysis from the U.S. Department of Energy shows the Midwest and Plains States in the lead, but the coasts are on a track to catch up thanks to mandates.

California’s Integration Capacity Analysis (ICA) maps were ordered returned to public availability by a judge before October 14. As parties fine tune the updated broad ICA 2.0 release in December, the 1.0 version was temporarily removed for security reasons.

Mercom Capital’s latest report shows sustained low levels of funding for solar companies but strong investment in solar projects and many acquisitions.

Hawaii’s investor-owned utilities are in negotiations with developers to build seven solar projects across three islands.

RMI has released an economic analysis of Zero Energy homes, suggesting their economics meet industry standards and stay within homeowner appetites for larger investments, while Vivint Solar has built such a home in Rhode Island.

SEIA has released an update to its residential solar best practices guidelines. The guide’s purpose is to build trust in public observers of the solar market, and can be used to educate detail-oriented customers.

With state regulators settling on conditions for PURPA contracts after a 10-month suspension, SEIA says that the state’s solar market can now move forward. However, the devil may still be in details yet to come.

The city becomes the 9th in Colorado to adopt a 100% renewable energy transition mandate.

State regulators have authorized two Consumers Energy green pricing programs, while telling a third – by DTE Energy – to do a bit more cost calculations. Additionally, Consumers’ Solar Gardens program was approved.

In this op-ed John Farrell of ILSR looks at what the big picture of distributed solar and battery deployment means for who makes decisions regarding our electric grid, suggesting that an era of centralized power may be ending.