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Maryland Governor Rejects Bill To Increase RPS

Gov. Larry Hogan, R-Md., has vetoed the Clean Energy Jobs Act, a bill that would have expanded Maryland’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS). Before the 2016 Maryland legislative session adjourned in April, state lawmakers had finalized the bill and sent it to Hogan for consideration.

Specifically, the legislation would have boosted the current RPS from 20% by 2022 (with a 2% solar carve-out) to 25% by 2020 (with a 2.5% solar carve-out). According to estimations from the Maryland Climate Coalition, the accelerated target would have resulted in approximately 1.3 GW more of clean energy and hundreds of new jobs. Among other provisions, the bill also would have established a working group to explore ways to help with clean energy job training.

In his veto letter, Hogan writes, “This legislation is a tax increase that will be levied upon every single electricity ratepayer in Maryland, and for that reason alone, I cannot allow it to become law.” He charges that the bill would have led to a rise in taxes of between $49 million and $196 million by 2020.

Unsurprisingly, the solar industry and environmental groups have denounced Hogan’s veto, as RPS policies, which require state utilities to procure a certain amount of renewable energy, are key incentives for clean energy development.

MDV-SEIA, an organization representing solar stakeholders in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Virginia, says it is “deeply disappointed” by the governor’s “shortsighted decision.”

“Honestly, we’re confused,” remarks Omar Terrie, the group’s policy director, in a statement. “Governor Hogan ran his campaign on supporting Maryland jobs. That’s what our industry brings. This veto puts thousands of solar jobs and hundreds of local companies at risk. Moreover, this veto endangers the livelihood of thousands of Marylanders and will stall millions in economic investment.”

Although Hogan writes in his letter that “Maryland retains its status as a national leader” under its existing 20% by 2022 renewables mandate, MDV-SEIA argues that the veto “leaves the state with a lackluster RPS that is far from the leaderboard.”

In the conclusion to his veto letter, Hogan also refers specifically to solar: “While I appreciate the economic benefit of Maryland’s growing solar industry, there is also a corresponding cost which is borne by all citizens [under the proposed legislation]. I believe the state should not add to this burden.”

Josh Tulkin, director of the Maryland Sierra Club, calls Hogan’s veto “deeply flawed.”

“The Clean Energy Jobs Act was a win-win-win for Maryland because it had the support of businesses and environmentalists, grew the clean energy workforce in our state, and deployed over a gigawatt of new renewable energy,” says Tulkin in a statement.

However, the governor’s veto does not necessarily mean the end of the bill: Because both chambers of the state legislature passed it with a veto-proof majority, lawmakers are slated to take an override vote in an upcoming session. Unless they choose to hold a special session, though, the override will be considered in the next regular session, which starts in January 2017.

“Given the overwhelming support for this bill in the General Assembly and the general public, we are confident in a veto override next year,” states Tulkin. “Marylanders want clean energy, and they want to lead the clean energy economy.”

Earlier this year, a survey released by the Maryland Climate Coalition found that nearly three-quarters (71%) of Maryland voters backed the expansion of the state’s RPS.

- Joseph Bebon

 

Salt Lake City To Double Municipal Solar Power

After signing up for a utility-sponsored program, Salt Lake City will double its current amount of municipal solar power.

Mayor Jackie Biskupski says that, through Rocky Mountain Power’s new Subscriber Solar program, the city will up the amount of solar powering government operations from 6% to 12% by the end of the year. Biskupski has set a 2020 goal to have 50% of municipal operations powered by renewable energy and 100% by 2032.

“We are thrilled to align with Subscriber Solar and invest in clean, carbon-free energy to better serve our community,” says Biskupski. “This commitment is just one of many major steps we will make toward a more sustainable energy future during my time as mayor.”

“Salt Lake City is once again showing its pioneering spirit by being one of the first to sign up for the Subscriber Solar program and make a substantial commitment to renewable energy,” adds Rocky Mountain Power CEO Cindy Crane. “It is our hope other communities, businesses and residents will follow Salt Lake City’s lead on Subscriber Solar.”

According to a press release, the new program offered by Rocky Mountain Power allows customers to align their energy needs with power generated from a new solar farm in Holden, Utah, about two hours south of Salt Lake City. The project will be completed in December, and enrolled customers will be switched over to the Subscriber Solar rate schedule starting in January 2017.

Salt Lake City currently has more than 4,000 solar panels installed on its government properties. The new Subscriber Solar initiative will provide 3 MW, more renewable energy output than all municipal projects completed to date, says Biskupski.

 

A New Sign Of Hope For Nevada’s Early Solar Adopters?

At the end of May, Nevada’s New Energy Industry Task Force passed a motion recommending to grandfather in existing rooftop solar customers under previous net energy metering (NEM) rules for 20 years. The vote came shortly after a technical committee approved a similar motion and sent it to the full task force for consideration.

In February, Gov. Brian Sandoval, R-Nev., reconvened the New Energy Industry Task Force following a controversial decision by the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) last year to change the state’s NEM rules. The new policies severely cut the value of credits rooftop solar customers receive for the excess energy they add to the grid.

Although there have been several efforts since to completely overturn the commission’s decision, many stakeholders have also long demanded that the thousands of existing solar customers at least be grandfathered in under the earlier rules. Customers’ main argument has been that the prior rates were a major factor in their decision to install solar.

Vote Solar’s Jessica Scott writes in a blog post, “In some cases, solar customers are unexpectedly facing higher electricity bills than if they had never gone solar at all.”

Earlier this year, the PUCN denied a grandfathering proposal, but the task force’s newly approved motion recommends that the state legislature consider a bill allowing existing customers who submitted NEM applications by Dec. 31, 2015, to still cash in on the earlier, more favorable rates for 20 years. Although that’s a shorter time period than the 25 years the task force’s technical committee originally called for, it is still a significant and encouraging proposal.

Bring Back Solar, a group dedicated to overturning the PUCN’s NEM changes, has thanked the task force for recommending that existing solar customers benefit from “the solar rules they signed up for.”

In a statement, alliance spokesperson Chandler Sherman says, “The overwhelming consensus of the leaders from government, labor, the utility and the rooftop solar industry on the task force shows the broad support for protecting existing solar customers from the solar rate hike.”

Sherman also calls the vote “a tremendous victory” for all Nevadans, whether or not they have rooftop solar of their own, as a recent study has found that rooftop solar produces between $7 million and $14 million in net benefits for all utility customers in the state annually.

The proposal will now be sent to Sandoval - the next step in what could become a long process.

“While this is a significant milestone for a state mired in a highly politicized solar battle, existing solar customers will need to wait a little longer before the decision becomes law,” Scott writes in her blog post.

The New Energy Industry Task Force, which consists of state energy stakeholders, is tasked with making policy recommendations on more topics than just the NEM issue. According to Sandoval’s February executive order that reconvened the task force, the group will have through Sept. 30 to submit all of its decisions to the governor for review.

As Scott explains, “The governor will then select policy recommendations to move forward as bill draft requests in the 2017 legislative session.” If Sandoval decides to push the NEM recommendation, the issue would be up to the state lawmakers after that. The legislature reconvenes in February.

Meanwhile, Scott says Vote Solar is also working to appeal the PUCN’s NEM changes.

“If there is one message we want to send to solar customers and supporters in Nevada, it’s this: Hold tight - help is on its way,” she concludes. - Joseph Bebon

 

Post-COP21, Leaders Reaffirm Funding Commitment

In San Francisco, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Ernest Moniz recently hosted energy leaders from around the world for the inaugural Mission Innovation (MI) Ministerial and the seventh Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM7). The DOE says the events were the first major gathering of global energy ministers since last December’s Paris Agreement.

MI, launched last year in Paris, is an effort to double public investment in clean energy research and development over five years. At the MI Ministerial, the 20 founding governments of MI welcomed the EU as a 21st member, and they all released their respective baseline investment and doubling plans.

Collectively, the MI partners committed to double nearly $15 billion per year in baseline funding for global public investment in clean energy research and development, reaching just under a combined total of $30 billion per year by 2021. According to a White House summary, that exceeds the original baseline funding estimate of $10 billion per year.

Furthermore, the White House says CEM7 hosted 21 countries, the EU, nearly 60 companies and organizations, and 10 subnational governments that made more than $1.5 billion in commitments to accelerate the deployment of clean energy and increase energy access - including toward three new campaigns to promote corporate sourcing of renewables, commercial and industrial energy efficiency, and advanced cooling technologies.