The U.S. imported an average of 644,000 kilowatts per month of solar panels during the first four months of this year, up from less than 300,000 kilowatts in the months following the imposition of tariffs on imported solar in February 2018, according to an Aug. 13 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Continued decline…
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on Aug. 12 granted Xcel Energy Inc.’s request to expand the utility’s Renewable*Connect pilot program, a green pricing option, into a permanent initiative. Xcel sought the expansion because the program, established in 2017, has been fully subscribed and there is additional customer demand. The unfulfilled demand for its two renewable…
Democratic Governor Kate Brown signed legislation on Aug. 9 that creates a program to provide rebates of up to $5,000 or 40 percent of the cost of installing a residential solar generating facility. The measure boosts the prospects of the state’s solar industry, which declined after state incentives through the Renewable Energy Tax Credit sunset…
The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission found Puget Sound Energy and Avista, two of the state’s investor-owned electric utilities, are in compliance with state renewable energy requirements and supply at least 9 percent of its electric load through renewable sources for 2019, according to an August 8 press release. PSE exceeded its commission-approved target of…
The New York Public Service Commission on Aug. 8 opened a proceeding to examine options to align the state’s resource adequacy programs with renewable energy and emissions reduction goals, while ensuring safe and adequate service at just and reasonable rates. New York enacted legislation last month, which requires a carbon-neutral power system by 2040 and…
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on Aug. 8 proposed to amend the registration process for the Solar Renewable Energy Certificate, or SREC, program by including a step to determine when electricity sales from distributed solar reaches 5.1 percent, the threshold set by legislation enacted last year to phase out the program. The law…
The North Carolina Utilities Commission on Aug. 5 approved tariff revisions filed by Duke Energy Carolinas LLC and Duke Energy Progress LLC to implement the Green Source Advantage Program, which allows for the direct procurement of new renewable energy resources by large nonresidential customers. The commission approved the program with changes in February and directed…
The California Public Utilities Commission on Aug. 1 revised a 1992 energy efficiency policy to allow funding for electrification efforts, paving the way for new programs that use electric technologies powered by emissions-free resources. The decision modifies the “three-prong test” that was originally adopted to avoid encouraging programs that involved substituting one fuel for another,…
State renewable portfolio standards are a key driver behind the torrid expansion of wind and solar generation across the U.S., responsible for about half of the nation’s deployment of the clean energy sources over the last couple of decades, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Over three dozen states, territories and the nation’s capital…...
The Maine Public Utilities Commission on July 31 implemented changes to reinstate net metering, following legislation enacted in April that eliminated the gross metering policy, which was adopted in 2017. The 2017 rule required that the total or gross production of the net-metered facility be measured using a second meter as opposed to the prior…
The Kentucky Public Service Commission opened a docket on July 30 to implement legislation enacted in March that redefined net metering by directing state regulators to set the compensation rate for solar customers through a ratemaking process. Under the law, retail electric suppliers are entitled to recover the costs incurred to serve customer-generators, including fixed…
U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat representing Nevada, introduced legislation on July 25 that would provide a five-year extension of the solar investment tax credit at its full 30 percent value. Representative Mike Thompson, a California Democrat, joined by Republican Representatives Paul Cook of California and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, introduced a bipartisan companion…