Mass. Lawmakers Set Storage Target, Raise RPS, Overturn Rooftop Solar Demand Charge

It was a big day for distributed energy. But the solar industry didn’t get everything that it wanted.

The Massachusetts legislature passed a compromise energy bill Tuesday evening with several wins for the clean energy industry.

The bill raises the renewable portfolio standard, such that the state’s renewable energy supply will need to increase by 2 percent annually from 2020 through 2029, before reverting back to 1 percent. The language also authorizes the study of an additional 1,600 megawatts of offshore wind.

Solar Policy Actions Spiked in 2016, With a Focus on Net Metering

Findings from the NC Clean Energy Technology Center’s year-end solar report

While solar policy debates have already been raging for several years, the discussion is far from over.

Nearly every single U.S. state took some type of policy action related to distributed solar in 2016, according to the NC Clean Energy Technology Center's (NCCETC) year-end edition of The 50 States of Solar. A total of 212 solar policy actions were taken by states and utilities across the country, which represents 37 more actions than in 2015. These developments occurred in 47 states plus Washington, D.C.

Clean Energy Advocates Praise Passage of Major Illinois Energy Bill

The bill expands renewable energy development while keeping Exelon’s struggling nuclear plants in operation.

 

The Illinois General Assembly passed a major energy bill on Thursday that will allow Exelon’s Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear power plants to remain in operation as part of a broader package of measures to support clean energy in the state.

The Future Energy Jobs Bill (SB 2814) will direct $235 million in annual ratepayer subsidies to the uneconomic nuclear plants that collectively employ 1,500 full-time workers. Had the bill failed, Exelon planned to close the Clinton Power Station on June 1, 2017, and shutter the Quad Cities Generating Station a year later. The two facilities have lost a combined $800 million in the past seven years.