New York

Two white papers issued by state regulators call for modifying the Value of Distributed Energy Resources calculation and increasing credits available for community solar projects. SEIA describes this as “forward progress”.

The three bills introduced in the City Council would require new buildings to host solar PV, small wind turbines or “green roofs” of plant covering, however rooftop solar still faces unique barriers in the city.

EnterSolar is building a 2.4 MW solar project on the roof of a building just north of New York City, while Key Capture Energy will build the state’s largest lithium-ion battery – 20 MW – in Saratoga County.

Reuters reports that nearly 20% of its installation facilities will close, as part of the company’s 9% workforce reduction announced last week.

The New York State Assembly has passed a bill which would temporarily put a hold on the alternative valuation of electricity from community solar projects and re-institute net metering for three years. The companion bill currently sits in Senate Rules Committee.

The state will allow projects up to 7.5 MW to participate in the C&I portion of the program, as well as including “adders” for brownfield, landfill, low-income and parking canopy installations.

Thanks in no small part to modules stockpiled before the Section 201 tariffs hit, both the utility-scale and “non-residential” market segments grew year-over-year in Q1. And while the duties are expected to play a greater role in 2019, there are other factors supporting ongoing market growth.

The New York ISO projects a 0.14%-per-year fall in electricity demand from the grid of over the next decade. Already, the state is far off of its historical usage peak of the mid-2000s.

Invenergy plans to maintain day-to-day management of its renewable energy business, with the Québecois fund manager increasing its economic stake to 52%.

A SEIA white paper describes the concept of non-wire solutions and how this innovation can boost solar PV and other distributed energy resources.