By Kelly Pickerel More than 5,000 of Duke Energy’s South Carolina customers have installed solar panels on their homes and businesses through a net metering incentive. Customers can still install solar – and sell the electricity they produce to Duke Energy at the same price the utility pays for electricity generated by large solar power…
By Frank Andorka By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent The utilities showed their muscle again in South Carolina, “persuading” legislators to remove two pro-solar provisions from the state’s budget bill and scuttling the chances of fomenting solar growth during this legislative session. Removing the state’st net metering caps and encouraging more purchases of solar electricity from…
By Kelsey Misbrener SEIA expressed disappointment over the lack of action on solar policy in the Palmetto State. Going forward, SEIA calls on the 2019 South Carolina Legislature to pass legislation that eliminates the state’s net metering cap and encourages utilities to buy more low-cost solar power from independent producers. Lawmakers left those provisions out…
By Kelsey Misbrener Nexamp announced the operation of a 2.6-MW community solar project in Charlton, Massachusetts, the fourth of its kind in the Worcester County community. Having completed construction at the end of 2017, the 8,100-panel facility was recently approved for operations by the local utility, and has begun generating renewable energy and savings for…
By Kelsey Misbrener Leaders of the Alliance for Clean Energy Solutions, a coalition of business groups, clean energy companies, environmental organizations and health and consumer representatives dedicated to advancing clean energy for Massachusetts, issued the following statements regarding the passage of “An Act to Promote a Clean Energy Future” by the Massachusetts Senate and the…
By SolarWakeup By Yann Brandt, Managing Editor This may be the most important topic to be organized in solar since the start of net metering. The permitting process in the US adds almost $1/watt to the cost of the installations and increases the cancellation rate for customers looking to go solar. In this episode of…
By Kelly Pickerel Safari Energy, part of the PPL Corporation family of companies, has delivered more than 6.7 MW of commercial solar power capacity for Extra Space Storage at 58 sites in nine states. The projects are located in a variety of high value solar markets, requiring sophisticated incentive management of feed-in tariff and rebate…
By Kelsey Misbrener Nexamp announced the completion of its 25th community solar project in Massachusetts. Located on the Webster campus of Harrington HealthCare System, the facility was recently approved for operations after having completed construction at the end of 2017. Through the Commonwealth’s popular net metering program, Harrington HealthCare will realize the benefit of direct…
By National Wind Watch Washington Electric Co-op has announced that electric rates will rise this year at 3.72 percent if the Public Utility Commission approves its request. Like other Vermont utility rate hikes in recent years, the main culprits include grid upgrades, curtailment of large energy projects and the spread of net metering projects. The…
By Kelsey Misbrener Following is a statement by Sean Gallagher, vice president of state affairs for the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), in response to the energy bill the Connecticut Senate passed this week: “While we are in favor of legislation that genuinely advances solar energy, we have concerns about this bill. We support stronger…
By Frank Andorka By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: Duke Energy penned an opinion piece for The State boldly arguing the cost-shift, which I have to admit is a gutsy move. It’s particularly gutsy since, as I’ve written so many times my fingers can type it without any guidance from my brain, THE COST…
By Frank Andorka By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: After utilities snuck in the back door and stabbed a bill that would have eliminated a nonsensical net metering cap to death, solar advocates are trying one last Hail Mary in an attempt to save solar jobs in the Palmetto State. As you know (if…
By Kathie Zipp (click to enlarge) The rooftop solar industry is shining once again in Nevada. NV Energy’s most recent annual plan noted a strong increase in applications for its SolarGenerations rooftop solar program following key state policy changes in 2017 that put the market back on track. SolarGenerations applications went from 287 in 2016…
By [email protected] House representatives in South Carolina passed a measure late Wednesday night that would raise the state’s net metering cap from 2 percent to 4 percent, allowing future rooftop solar customers to earn a credit for the excess power they produce. Amendment 9, approved as part of the state’s budget bill (HB 4950), gives…
By Frank Andorka By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: Yesterday, I promised you more information on why pending legislation in Connecticut that would eliminate net metering would be a disaster for the solar industry. Yesterday, we dealt with the idea of “simultaneous consumption” argument (a compensation scheme so complicated you need an accounting degree…