How Solar Scored a ‘Game-Changing’ Victory in Florida

Regulatory approval of Sunrun’s solar lease could signal a turning point for the Sunshine State.

Solar energy has a complex history in the Sunshine State, which made a regulatory win for residential installer Sunrun last week feel like a victory for all Floridian solar advocates.

The Florida Public Service Commission voted unanimously last Friday to allow Sunrun to sell its home solar lease product in the state. Up until the petition was granted, households in Florida were unable to lease solar systems due to restrictions on electricity sales from third-party providers.

Michigan to Replace Net Metering Program with Avoided-Cost Tariff

Michigan utility customers who put surplus electricity they generate back onto the power grid will be paid a lower, avoided-cost rate after June 1.

The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) issued an order Wednesday replacing the state’s net metering policy with an avoided-cost tariff based on how much utilities would pay to build the same amount of generation themselves.

Liesl Eichler Clark, president of the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council, said the decision will create uncertainty for customers and installers.

Net Metering Is Under Attack: Here's What You Need to Know

Two states are leading a charge to undermine rooftop solar. If successful, the attack could spread to other states.

Utilities across the country are trying to find ways to undermine rooftop solar, and some states are giving them some help. This month alone, Wyoming's legislature introduced a bill that would effectively ban both wind and solar in the state, including rooftop solar. Indiana's legislature is also considering a bill that would force rooftop solar owners to sell all of their energy production to the utility while buying all of their energy from the utility. 

Community Solar Comes of Age on the West Coast of the US

A neighbourhood solar experiment in Washington gains traction in other states.

Nancy Lillquist was never optimistic that solar panels would work on her roof in Ellensburg, Wash., a college town on the Cascade Mountains' dry eastern slope. The neighbourhood's big conifers blocked the sun. As a city council member, she noted the irony: Even as she and her fellow council members advocated for solar, they were also encouraging planting more trees for shade.

Maine Lawmakers Propose Groundbreaking Way Out of Net Metering Wars

Legislators want a 'Standard Buyer' to acquire distributed generation and value it properly

Lawmakers in Maine may have found the best solution for getting off the net metering merry-go-round since Massachusetts’ minimum bill proposal sank, clean energy advocates in the state say.

The Maine Office of the Public Advocate and an influential state legislator led a joint committee of the Legislature to unanimous approval of a proposal that will offer solar developers at every market level an opportunity to opt out of net energy metering (NEM). Instead of retail rate NEM, they will have the choice of a new plan that allows them to capture more value for their solar.

'Freeing The Grid' Shows U.S. States Strong On Clean Energy Policies

The Vote Solar Initiative and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council have released the 2014 edition of "Freeing the Grid," a policy guide that grades all 50 states on two key clean energy programs: net-metering and interconnection procedures.

Now in its eighth year of publication, the report shows that over the past year, U.S. states have generally upheld and, in some cases, strengthened these two policies, which are considered pillars of consumer clean energy development.

Time to Break Free of Net-Metering; We Need a “FIT” Policy for Renewable Energy to Soar

Maybe the electric utilities are right, for a change. Maybe net-metering—the ability to run your kilowatt-hour meter backwards, with solar panels on your roof or a windmill in your backyard–is not the best policy for America, or for Americans. 

But the utilities’ populist appeal to fairness and equality is disingenuous. When did electric utilities ever care about justice–or the poor?

If they are right about net-metering, it’s for all the wrong reasons.

Massachusetts: Solar energy bill advances in Legislature

The state Legislature’s Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Committee this week advanced a clean energy bill that would increase the availability of the net-metering program.

SB 1664, "An Act Relative to Net-Metering," is a critical piece of expanding clean energy production across the state, according to the office of state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, who filed the bill.

The net-metering program is an important reason why installed solar electricity has increased 24-fold since 2008, the year the state Legislature passed the Green Communities Act, Eldridge’s office said.

Report finds U.S. states energy policies improving

U.S. states are continuing to embrace best practices and drive further improvements in core renewable energy policies, according to the 2011 edition of Freeing the Grid, a policy guide that grades all 50 states on net metering and interconnection procedures.

The report's methodology was adopted for use in the U.S. Department of Energy's SunShot initiative, according to the Network for New Energy Choices, which produced the report in cooperation with Vote Solar, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, and the North Carolina Solar Center.