Policy

President Trump has yet again proposed eliminating most federal funding for clean energy R&D, but Congress will have the last word.

Solar advocates blame changes to the state’s net metering policy for the decline in installations and a loss of 232 full-time jobs.

After the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejected Secretary of Energy Rick Perry’s order to bail out First Energy coal plants, the Department is now considering invoking emergency powers under Section 202 of the Federal Power Act to achieve the goal, Bloomberg Politics reports.

The state has reached this milestone despite a residential market crash, a long waiting period for the new SMART regulations, and net metering caps being reached in some utility service areas.

Even while accepting that solar and wind will be the fastest-growing sources of power, the Energy Department’s information agency is still basing its Annual Energy Outlook on bizarre assumptions that work against renewable energy.

Following the introduction of 30% graduated tariffs on U.S. imports of solar cells and modules, the European Union and China have joined South Korea and Taiwan in filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization.

In a roll call vote where many concerns were raised about House Bill 227 and its long-term effects on the state’s solar industry, Kentucky’s House of Representatives Standing Committee on Natural Resources and Energy voted this morning to move the bill to the floor.

The latest analysis by current and former GTM Research executives argues that there is insufficient economic reason to manufacture solar in the United States.

While most of the comments supported Commissioner Andy Tobin’s visionary plan, one commissioner called him out for what he perceives as Tobin’s generally pro-utility positions.

The hangover from the ITC-driven 2016 boom is the biggest factor in the relative decline, but a rebound is expected this year.