Florida’s House jumps on the solar bandwagon, Senate next?
Ten months after Florida voters approved a constituional amendment that exempts businesses from paying additional property taxes if they install solar arrays, the bill that actually allows it to happen finally passed the House unanimously.
SGIP Step 1 (mostly) sells out in 24 hours
Lotteries have been triggered in the service areas of all four participating utilities, meaning that most incentives were fully subscribed in the first 24 hours. Deployment of the systems supported will more than double distributed battery storage capacities in California.
Trump appoints fossil-fuel apostle to head renewable energy office
In keeping with his habit of appointing people who want to destroy the agencies they head, the president appointed outspoken renewables critic Daniel Simmons to Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
Utilities try new tactics to discourage solar, but still aren’t getting what they want
The latest NCCETC report on state solar policies finds some new twists as part of an ongoing attempt by utilities to weaken the economics of customer-owned solar, but regulators still mostly aren’t on board.
Deception wins in Indiana as governor signs anti-solar bill
SB 309, the bill designed to kill net-metering prematurely in the state, became law yesterday as Gov. Eric Holcomb affixed his signature to the bill despite strong solar industry opposition.
Solar largely survives Trump’s savage budget
Despite his bluster about huge cuts to renewable energy programs, the budget deal negotiated last week not only minimizes cuts to those programs, it actually increases money for research into the next critical technology for solar – battery storage.
Report: Near-total renewable energy systems cheaper than gas in 2030 (w/ chart)
A report released last week by Climate Policy Initiative stresses flexibility and shows how energy storage and limited gas generation can support a power system dominated by renewables at a lower cost than conventional generation.
California reopens energy storage subsidies under SGIP (with chart)
The popular California Public Utilities Commission program will start receiving applications today for distributed energy projects that incorporate energy storage.
More evidence of California home solar decline under net metering 2.0 (with a chart)
Data released by OhmHome shows solar permits falling sharply, not only in San Diego but also in San Jose – an indicaction that Net Metering 2.0 has had a similarly negative effect in utility PG&E’s service area to what it did in SDG&E’s.
Batteries, solar and the grid: An interview with Jenny Chase of BNEF
In this interview from the Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) Future of Energy Summit in New York City, pv magazine talked with BNEF’s Head of Solar Analysis Jenny Chase about the issues that she sees on the horizon for solar, including the integration of increasingly high levels of renewable energy on the grid.
