South Carolina took what is considered a historic step
Wednesday to change the state’s longtime resistance to solar power.
The state House of Representatives voted 105-0 for a solar
energy bill that is forecast to make sun-generated electricity more abundant in
the Palmetto State. The compromise bill has support from South Carolina’s
influential utilities and conservation groups, and a similar version of the
measure has passed the Senate.
Solar energy supporters said the legislation will move the
state out of the dark ages in its stance toward renewable power after years of
dependence almost entirely on coal, nuclear and natural gas.
“This is truly a big deal, a giant step in moving South
Carolina forward in renewable energy,’’ state Rep. Robert Brown, D-Charleston,
said.
The bill doesn’t resolve what sun power boosters say are all
of the state’s solar challenges. Nor does it answer questions about how it
might ultimately affect the utility rates for all power company customers,
several legislators said Wednesday.
But many said the bill is a good start after two years of
sometimes heated negotiations involving utilities, environmental groups, solar
industry advocates and others.
Brown told fellow House members that the bill will help the
state attract international businesses, lower energy costs for homeowners and
protect the environment. Solar doesn’t produce waste like nuclear power plants
or air pollution like coal plants.
Rep. Bill Sandifer, a Seneca Republican and one-time solar
skeptic, said more than a dozen organizations agreed on the compromise
legislation, which is notable. Those include the S.C. Coastal Conservation League,
the Southern Environmental Law Center, SCE&G, Duke Energy, the S.C. Farm
Bureau and the National Black Caucus of State Legislators.
Conservation league energy director Hamilton Davis said
South Carolina will be comparable to other Southern states that allow easier
expansion of solar power.
House members are expected to give the bill a routine final
approval Thursday before the Senate is asked to concur with relatively minor
changes. Gov. Nikki Haley must sign the bill for it to become law.
Solar power has become increasingly popular across the
country as an affordable, nonpolluting form of energy. Many states have adopted
sun-friendly laws to help homeowners and businesses whittle down the expense of
installing solar power systems, which can cost more than $15,000 to install per
home.
But South Carolina historically has been among the states
least interested in solar power because of concerns by power companies. The
State newspaper chronicled solar’s obstacles in South Carolina in a series of
stories in 2012. Lawmakers began working on legislation to improve the solar
energy environment in early 2013.
Power companies agreed to the compromise legislation because
it allows them to recover some additional costs they say could result from
expanded sun programs. Debate before the state Public Service Commission about
those costs could occur as soon as this fall, if the bill passes. Some
lawmakers questioned whether utilities will incur any expense in adding solar,
raising doubt about the need for cost recovery that could affect electricity
rates.
A cornerstone of the proposed law revolves around the
increased use of solar power by utilities, such as SCE&G and Duke Energy.
By 2021, investor-owned utilities would buy or invest in more solar power. The
rules say participating utilities must get 2 percent of their average five-year
peak power demand from the sun.
That could increase the amount of solar energy installed in
the state to 300 megawatts or more, according to supporters of the new solar
law. About 7 megawatts of solar power are now installed in South Carolina, a
small amount compared with other states nationally and regionally. Renewable
power boosters say more sun farms are expected to pop up as solar friendly
rules take effect in South Carolina.
The legislation also sharply raises one of the nation’s most
restrictive caps on the use of solar power by businesses and universities. The
cap would be 1 megawatt, instead of the current 100 kilowatt limit for
nonresidential solar energy.
Additionally, the legislation allows third-party leasing, a
way of lowering the cost of rooftop solar that is virtually nonexistent in
South Carolina. Davis said the state would be one of the first in the South to
allow leasing.
The law, however, would delay the start of the third-party
system until another issue is resolved before the state Public Service
Commission.
PSC members must decide the rates at which utilities should
credit people and businesses for producing solar power from rooftops.
Homeowners and businesses seeking to install less expensive solar power systems
likely would have to wait a year, or more, for third party leases to become
available. Nonprofit groups also would have to wait.
Currently, anyone with rooftop solar panels can provide
excess sun power to electrical companies for general distribution on the power
grid. The utility then provides a credit that cuts power bills, a major
enticement to having home solar power systems. Profit-conscious utilities
across the country, however, are concerned about the rates at which they are
crediting customers for producing solar power.
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