Originally published on NRDC Expert Blog. By Ariana Gonzalez, Director, Colorado Policy, Climate & Clean Energy Program After months of drafting, negotiating, and rallying around legislation in the Colorado State Capitol, the General Assembly has adjourned. Looking back over the past six months, it’s clear that achieving enforceable and equitable climate … [continued]
How can community solar gardens be financed in ways that ensure broad participation?
Off-peak charging programs for electric vehicles can provide a discount for utility customers to charge their vehicles when electricity is abundant or demand for it is low, or both. So why would a utility propose a program that offers customers no benefit to charge?
Minnesota’s leading community solar program is about to go through its first major change, from using net metering retail compensation (plus a credit payment) to using Minnesota’s value of solar payment. Unlike other states that have torpedoed net metering, Minnesota’s alternative compensation actually takes into account the value of solar energy to the utility, the grid, and society.
In most states with regulated, monopoly utilities, utilities are compensation based on two factors: energy sales and a return on capital spent, such as when they build a new power plant. Although energy efficiency standards have been layered on top of this model, the fundamental incentive for the utility remains “build things, get rewards for shareholders.”
Better technology and falling costs for years have buoyed the clean energy economy, steadily putting rooftop solar, energy efficiency, and other distributed energy resources within reach of more U.S. households and businesses. Still, many utilities remain averse to accommodating these amenities despite significant — and rising — demand in the marketplace.
Determining exactly how much local renewable generation can reach Xcel Energy customers in Minnesota hinges in part on how many of these projects the existing grid can accommodate. To that end, the state’s Public Utilities Commission compelled the utility last year to report on more than 1,000 “feeders” delivering electricity to homes and businesses across its Twin Cities service territory.
The residential adder discussion is part of a larger debate over what state regulators can do to ensure community solar is universally accessible. Particularly as these projects catch on with developers in Minnesota and nationwide, sensible policies must ensure equitable distribution of their benefits — from reduced utility bills for subscribers to economic development in the communities they serve.
A federal policy enacted nearly 40 years ago has breathed life into an ongoing argument at the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission over utility opposition to a wind-solar hybrid project proposed in the rural city of Red Lake Falls.
Community solar development is growing nationwide as utilities, recognizing market demand, think bigger than pilot-scale projects.
