Originally published on ILSR.org Since rooftop solar became possible, electric utilities have struggled to incorporate it into their outdated business model. In recent years, this lag in utility recognition has become increasingly problematic, risking the health, environmental, and financial impacts of over-investment in large fossil fuel power plants. In over … [continued]
Xcel Energy will deploy approximately 20,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at residential, commercial, and public sites across Colorado, under a $110 million plan formally approved by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission this week.
Rooftop solar power has come down in price tremendously in the past decade, and in the decades leading to that one. As I noted the other day, solar panels were approximately 9× more expensive in 2006 than in 2019. That means two things, and the second one is definitely not commonly realized.
New Jersey State Senator Troy Singleton recently introduced the NJ Clean Energy Equity Act, S. 2484, to help low-income New Jersey families benefit from solar, storage and energy efficiency.
Solar energy advocates have won an important legal battle against demand charges imposed on rooftop solar customers in Kansas.
The US solar market is now over 2 million installations, and forecasts expect solar installations to double by 2023, according to Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). The Q2 record comes just three years after the industry completed its 1 millionth installation, a feat that took 40 years to accomplish.
California’s Solar Rights Bill, SB 288, is up for hearing as early as March 5 by the State Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications, with the potential to become law by the end of March. The bill would remove barriers to solar, including outdated tariffs and delayed connections to the grid, protecting the estimated 800,000 solar homes in the state, as well as potential adopters.
Maryland is proving to be one of the states in the union that is most advanced in its efforts to move utility treatment of solar energy, EVs, and other distributed energy resources toward a “customer-centric” universe. Maryland Public Service Commission hearings on energy storage, one element of a six-pronged review of DER, are scheduled to begin March 13.
New Jersey has firmly embraced the concept of solar for all with its new 225 megawatt community solar program, within which 40% of all capacity is earmarked for low- and moderate-income consumers. The three-year pilot program was designed by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to serve up to 30,000 homes. The evolution of the project will determine the terms of the permanent program thereafter.
A surge of interest in residential solar arrays threatens traditional utilities’ outdated business model of selling more and more electricity, prompting them to adopt a controversial fee that hurts efficiency and diminishes long-range cost savings — even for themselves.
