Tag Archive for: communitysolar

Walmart is investing in 19 solar projects under development across the US, including 15 community solar projects.

Walmart just funded 15 community solar projects across the US

Walmart is investing in 19 solar projects under development across the US, including 15 community solar projects.

Walmart’s strategic tax equity investment will drive the construction, operation, and maintenance of solar projects across five states – Illinois, Colorado, Maryland, Delaware, and California.

As the American Council on Renewable Energy explains, tax equity investors provide funding to take advantage of the tax benefits and receive cash flows from the project, partnering with the project sponsor to become a partial owner of the project company.

In this case, Walmart is partnering with Colorado-based renewable energy provider Pivot Energy, and the retail giant’s tax equity investment will enable the construction of 72 megawatts (MW) of community solar projects. In Colorado, 41 MW of those projects will serve low and moderate-income homes.

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Source: electrek

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Families in NM, IL, and Washington D.C. will now have access to community solar through HHS’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program

Biden-Harris admin launches Clean Energy Connector

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration, through a partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), launched the pilot of the Clean Energy Connector, a tool that connects families to solar energy through HHS’s Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). The first-of-its-kind software can now be used by local LIHEAP program administrators in Illinois, Washington, D.C., and New Mexico to connect community solar subscriptions to as many as 40,000 households with low incomes. Connecting LIHEAP-eligible households with community solar subscriptions will lower energy bills for families, increase access to clean energy among underserved communities, and increase equitable solar energy deployment, in support of President Biden’s ambitious clean energy and Justice40 goals.

“Renewable energy is by far the cheapest form of power and now, thanks to innovative solutions developed under the Biden-Harris Administration, more households across America can access the health and savings benefits that solar power provides,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “DOE’s partnership with HHS will increase the deployment of community solar, helping thousands of families lower their energy bills and in turn reduce their energy burden, ensuring Americans across the nation are included as we transition to a clean energy economy.

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Source: Clean Technica

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As CA’s utility regulator completes its community solar program guidelines, hopes are high that a widely supported tariff proposal will finally allow community solar & battery storage to help power the state.

Battery storage firms see promise in California’s community solar market

As California’s utility regulator moves to complete its community solar program guidelines, hopes are high that a widely-supported tariff proposal will finally allow community solar and battery storage to help power the state.

“With the exception of community solar, California has often led the nation in state-level legislation and deployment of clean energy infrastructure,” stated Boston-based solar developer Perch Energy in December. This gap is set to be filled in July—the deadline for the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) to develop and deliver its community solar program, as mandated by the state’s landmark 2023 Community Renewable Energy Act (AB2316).

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Source: The Energy Mix

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California’s three largest utilities are actively working to stop state regulators from issuing an equitable community solar program.

Utilities’ misguided opposition to community solar in California

With billions on the line from the federal government and the potential for renters and disadvantaged communities to finally access clean, affordable solar energy, California’s three largest utilities are actively working to stop the California Public Utilities Commission from issuing an equitable community solar program.

In their decade of opposition to a viable statewide community solar program, the utilities have succeeded by sowing fear, uncertainty and doubt — we can’t let them get away with it this time. AB 2316 bill author Assemblymember Chris Ward and a diverse coalition of climate and environmental justice groups, consumer advocates and the solar industry delivered this message at Vote Solar’s recent stakeholder briefing.

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Source: Utility Dive

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Community solar is a middle-ground approach, a different model, featuring solar arrays that provide energy savings for subscribers.

Community solar is growing to fill the gaps in clean energy

When you think about solar panels, you probably have one of two images in mind: one is of the half dozen or more panels on your neighbor’s roof, and the other is of a big field in the desert with panels laid out in all directions.

Community solar is a middle-ground approach, a different model, featuring solar arrays that provide energy savings for subscribers. According to the terms of state regulations authorizing these programs, many of those subscribers have incomes that would make it harder for them to put solar panels on their roofs — or live in apartments where they are unable to install panels altogether.

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Source: CNET

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Cambridge's climate initiatives are significantly supported, offering benefits beyond renewable energy resources and energy efficiency.

Cambridge community solar program shines: Aims for carbon neutrality by 2050

Today, the City of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the Community Development Department initiated an addition to its Sunny Cambridge program: community solar states a recent press release. This initiative supports the city’s 2050 carbon neutrality goal.

Community solar (also known as shared solar, solar gardens, or solar farms) gives residents the opportunity to contribute to local solar projects without the necessity of installing personal solar panels.

During the program’s support, Massachusetts has seen significant decreases in electricity costs, including additional savings for income-eligible participants.

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Source: hoodline

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If California acts to create a new community solar market, the Fresno area has the potential to develop over 150 renewable energy projects.

California regulators must approve community solar to benefit San Joaquin Valley residents

Last September, California’s Legislature and Gov. Newsom made a decision to invest in a program that would simultaneously lower our utility bills, create jobs, improve reliability to our grid on hot summer days, and do all of these things without poisoning the air in our most vulnerable communities.
Community solar, combined with energy storage, can bring San Joaquin Valley residents renewable energy to our rooftops and ensure our community’s resilience. Despite California’s reputation as the clean energy capital of the United States, most Californians have never even heard of Assembly Bill 2316 (AB2316), which allows the state’s renters to choose to have their energy generated from a solar project in their community. The community solar and storage proposal is supported by a coalition of solar, ratepayer advocates, organized labor, environmental justice, and environmental groups.

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Source: The Fresno Bee

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Even though utility-scale solar PV in the US added more than half of all capacity in 2022, community solar is slowly working towards accelerated growth in the coming years.

Community solar in the US set to accelerate post-IRA and new state legislations

Even though utility-scale solar PV in the US added more than half of all capacity in 2022, followed by residential solar as the top market segments, community solar is slowly working towards accelerated growth in the coming years. By the end of the fi­rst quarter of 2023, installed community solar capacity reached 5.8GW, according to data from trade body Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

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Source: PV Tech

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Α broad and unlikely coalition has united behind a proposal that would finally let community solar flourish in California. Utilities are trying to stop it.

The fight over California community solar: ​‘It’s everyone vs. utilities’

Community solar and storage could help power California toward its goals for clean energy, grid reliability, energy equity and affordable housing — but only if regulators don’t allow the state’s biggest utilities to undermine it.

That’s the argument a sprawling coalition of solar industry groups, consumer advocates, environmental justice organizations, labor unions and the state’s homebuilding industry has been making before the California Public Utilities Commission over the past few months.

The fight has centered around a new proposed payment structure for community solar called the Net Value Billing Tariff (NVBT), which the coalition says is crucial to revamping California’s moribund community solar market and would make community solar in the state both economical and effective. A structure for community solar payments was ordered up by AB 2316, a state law passed last year.

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Source: Canary Media

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California must take all necessary steps to expedite that access by adopting strong community solar plus storage program design.

California needs more community solar. A lot more.

OPINION – Leading the way is nothing new to Californians. Not only does California lead the country in clean energy, we’re also the fifth-largest economy in the world and a hub of global technological innovation. But we now face the same increasingly strong headwinds as other parts of the country – addressing housing, climate, and affordability crises all at the same time.

Our state’s ambitious residential building efficiency standards solve one half of the equation, by requiring renewable energy to power them. Yet, these new requirements cannot be fulfilled unless all forms of solar are accessible and expanded. The state’s utility regulator has an opportunity to tackle housing costs and energy affordability challenges all while enhancing the state’s leading efforts at addressing climate change. California must take all necessary steps to expedite that access by adopting strong community solar plus storage program design.

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Source: Capitol Weekly

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