Some of the sunniest states in the country are actively
blocking rooftop-solar development
through overtly lacking and destructive policy landscapes, according to a
Center for Biological Diversity report released last week.
10 states that are blocking distributed solar potential
through overtly lacking and destructive distributed solar policy.
These 10 states — Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana,
Michigan, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia — account for more than 35
percent of the total rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) technical potential in the
contiguous United States, but only 6 percent of total installed distributed
solar capacity, according to a March 2016 report released by National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL) and data provided by the U.S. Energy Information
Agency.
All of these states have significant barriers in place
to distributed solar development and have earned an overall policy grade of “F”
in our analysis. We based these grades on a thorough review of the presence,
or absence, and strength of key distributed solar policies, and, combined with
the overall rooftop solar photovoltaic technical potential rankings by National
Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), identified the states that would benefit
most from improvements to their distributed solar policy landscapes.
Of the 10 states highlighted in this report:
• Seven are lacking mandatory renewable portfolio standards
(RPS), policies that are key to creating a safe market for investing in rooftop
solar. The three states with mandatory RPSs in place — Michigan, Texas and
Wisconsin — have already met their low targets and have not taken steps to
update their policies, so these RPSs are doing nothing to bolster the solar
industry at this point. In fact Texas met its incredibly unambitious goal of
10,000 MW 15 years ahead of schedule and is unlikely to update this goal
anytime soon.
• Three lack mandatory statewide net-metering policies,
possibly the most important policy model in place in the United States that
allows for solar customers to connect with the grid. Only three other states in
the country can say the same.
• Only three allow for third-party ownership of solar panels
— a financing model that has fostered a distributed solar boom across the
United States by allowing for those who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford
solar panels outright to be able to install them on their property. • None have
community solar programs in place, which are a key policy to encourage access
to distributed solar resources and ensure community resiliency.
• Nine lack strong interconnection laws, making the process
of installing solar panels harder for homeowners, business owners and
third-party companies alike.
• Five don’t have any solar-access laws that protect home
and business owners from local restrictions on solar panel installations due to
issues such as neighborhood aesthetics. All 10 of these states are bad actors
in the distributed solar policy game, but two in particular stand out as the
worst: Florida and Texas.
These two states fall in the top 3 for rooftop solar
photovoltaic technical potential, just after California. Both Florida and Texas
could feasibly have some of the best markets in the country for distributed
solar growth; they make up more than 16 percent of the total technical
potential for the contiguous United States. Because of bad policy landscapes,
however, these states currently only account for 2.7 percent of the total
installed distributed PV capacity in the United States.
State policy landscapes that prevent the expansion of the
distributed solar market threaten the swift transition from fossil fuels to a
fully renewable energy system that’s needed to stave off the worst impacts of
climate change and protect the health of communities and the planet. All 50
states should make improvements to their renewable energy policies in one way
or another, but the 10 states identified as the top offenders when it comes to
blocking distributed solar can have a significant impact on distributed solar
progress — and therefore on environmental health, energy security and the
climate crisis — by following the recommendations outlined
“These solar-policy fights are becoming more common at a
time when we should be expanding rooftop solar as quickly as possible,” said
Ryan. “By blocking solar expansion, states threaten the swift transition to a
just and fully renewable energy system that’s needed to stave off the worst
impacts of climate
change and protect the health of communities, wildlife and the
planet.”
The Center for Biological Diversity advocates for a swift
transition to a fully renewable, just and wildlife-friendly energy system
through ending all new fossil fuel development on public lands and waters and
maximizing distributed-solar potential.
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