This month, the Wisconsin PSC voted two to one to approve fairly drastic rate change proposals from We Energies that will make it more difficult and expensive for customers to go solar. The proposed changes, approved without apparent modification, include: Read more…
Should you be able to reduce the amount of energy you buy from your utility by generating your own power? Or does a utility have the right to demand that you buy all your power from them, even if you Read more…
The problem is not too much solar. That might seem self-evident, but that is basically what utilities around the country are arguing — and trying to ‘fix.’ As energy users are increasingly turning to solar to generate their own emission-free Read more…
We hosted a webinar on rooftop solar financing trends. For those of you who missed it, here’s a quick summary. Brad Klein of the Chicago-based Environmental Law & Policy Center gave an overview of the recent Iowa Supreme Court case Read more…
We work to make solar more affordable and more accessible to more Americans, and today we’re celebrating another marker on the path to success. According to a new study released this week by the research gurus at Department of Energy’s Lawrence Read more…
No summer doldrums here. According to last week’s market report from SEIA and GTM Research, the U.S. is now on track to install three times more solar installed this year than just three years ago. There is already enough solar on American Read more…
On the last working day of the summer, the Utah PSC released its decision in the recent rate case of Rocky Mountain Power (RMP), a subsidiary of Pacificorp (itself owned by Berkshire Hathaway Energy). RMP had proposed a net metering facilities Read more…
Time to toast an important legislative victory in Sacramento! Last week, the California Senate approved a bill to streamline solar permitting, clearing the final legislative hurdle for AB 2188 (Muratsuchi). Governor Brown is expected to sign the bill into law, which will require Read more…
For over five years, New York has contemplated and debated a long-term program to drive the widespread adoption of solar from Buffalo to Brooklyn. Vote Solar has been there every step of the way. Our blood, sweat and tears finally Read more…
The Florida Public Service Commission cautiously approved Florida Power & Light’s proposed Voluntary Solar Partnership Program on August 12, following some remarkably, shall we say – candid – comments during the public meeting. So candid, in fact, that we felt Read more…
Residential PACE, an innovative clean energy financing program, is making a comeback in California. With the establishment of a state loss reserve program designed to address FHFA’s concerns, this week CaliforniaFIRST launched a massive residential PACE program for 17 counties and Read more…
After a last push to pass comprehensive solar legislation last week, Massachusetts lawmakers worked into the wee hours of the morning on the final day of session to instead pass S.2214, a bill that’s focused on raising the looming cap on Read more…
I spent part of this week in Utah, where the major utility has proposed a discriminatory fee for net metered solar customers as part of its General Rate Case – or GRC. GRCs are typically complicated matters. They evaluate a Read more…
Sometimes a single energy customer has multiple neighboring electricity meters. Farmers, for example, might have water pumping stations on more than one parcel of land. For a number of reasons, it makes sense to allow these customers to install just one solar array to reduce their electricity demand and Read more…