Utah

A “consumer protection group” almost entirely funded by every major fossil fuel company in the country is using the “cost-shift” argument to attempt to weaken support for solar in the state.

After years of steady, relentless growth, the U.S. residential solar market is struggling with challenges on both the policy and customer acquisition fronts. And as the market diversifies away from California and the Northeast, the future is far from clear.

South Carolina and Pennsylvania also saw significant increases in solar permits granted, but California and Colorado both dropped by nearly 30%, according to the latest OhmHome report.

Rocky Mountain Power is asking the Wyoming Public Service to slash severely the reimbursement rates it is required to pay to qualifying facilities under the 1978 law, arguing falling solar and natural gas prices mean those rates are too high to sustain long term. (READ THE FULL FILING HERE)

OhmHome’s May Solar Index report shows solar permits in the Golden State rose 12% from April, with Arizona close behind with 10% growth.

The third party solar provider plans to set up kiosks in retail locations in five states by the end of June, with more to come by the end of the year.

Despite a challenging financial environment, NRG continues its solar expansion, including an increasing presence in community solar.

SEPA’s annual utility list shows utilities in North Carolina, Iowa and Utah among the top 3 in its lists for solar installed on an absolute and per-customer basis. The organization also published new lists of the top utilities for storage deployment.

The dominoes are starting to fall solar’s way, as the Utah capital committed to producing all of its electricity from renewable sources in 15 years, joining an ever-growing group of cities who have already done so.

HB 23 reduces the current tax credit at $1,600 in 2018 and then reduces it by $400 per year until it reaches $400 total in 2021. Any system installed after that won’t be able to access tax credits.