Energy Democracy Media Roundup — Week of September 17, 2018

Date: 18 Sep 2018 | posted in: Energy | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

This week in Energy Democracy news: 

Community solar is making solar power more accessible to underserved communities. With the onset of Hurricane Florence, homeowners look to solar and storage instead of generators for backup power. In Arizona, voters will consider a 50% renewable energy ballot initiative come November. States struggle to find a replacement for net metering as rooftop solar expands. South Carolina considers extending net metering through March.

 

Featured:

Utilities have a problem: the public wants 100% renewable energy, and quick by David Roberts, Vox

Renewables are a public opinion juggernaut. Being against them is no longer an option. The industry’s best and only hope is to slow down the stampede a bit (and that’s what they plan to try).

Solar isn’t accessible to half of Americans. Can community solar change that? By Justine Calma, Grist

 New York is among the top dozen solar-producing states in the U.S., but in 2014, less than 4 percent of solar installations benefited New York households with incomes below $40,000.

In first, US residential energy storage overtakes front-of-meter installations by Peter Maloney, Utility Dive

As Storms Bear Down, More Homeowners Look to Batteries – Not Generators – for Backup Power by Alan Neuhauser, U.S. News

Clean energy versus gas by Christian Roselund, PV Magazine

Solar and energy storage, either on their own or as part of clean energy portfolios, are showing that they can compete with natural gas in the United States. But will regulators wake up to this reality before half a trillion dollars worth of future stranded assets are built?

How solar power saved $6.7 million on a Tuesday by John Weaver, PV Magazine

US residential storage capacity sees 317% growth by Robert Walton, Utility Dive

Why Minnesota’s Community Solar Program Is The Best by John Farrell, CleanTechnica

A New Credit Union Aims To Lower The Cost Of Clean Energy by John Farrell, CleanTechnica

 

Energy Democracy News Across the States:

Alabama

Utility Giant Accused of Discouraging Solar Power by Daniel Jackson, Court House News Service

 

Arizona

Arizona Supreme Court rules 50% renewables initiative will appear on ballot by Robert Walton, Utility Dive

Tucson Electric Power joins fight against Arizona’s 50% renewables ballot initiative by Robert Walton, Utility Dive

Arizona regulators approve lower rooftop solar credits for TEP, UNSE customers by Iulia Gheorghiu, Utility Dive

 

Connecticut

Connecticut public-private partnership deploys solar to underserved communities by Meg Dalton, Energy News Network

 

California

California has a 100% clean energy goal, but not the laws to get it there, critics say by Herman K. Trabish, Utility Dive

California ISO board approves measures to propel energy storage, DERs by Peter Maloney, Utility Dive

California Passes Bill to Extend $800M in Incentives for Behind-the-Meter Batteries by Jeff St. John, GreenTech Media

California approves bill to limit utility liability for wildfires, but not CAISO expansion by Iulia Gheorghiu, Utility Dive

 

Illinois

Illinois community solar garden sprouts sun-tracking “smartflower” by Kevin Stark, Energy News Network

 

Iowa

Iowa launches electric vehicle infrastructure proceeding by Robert Walton, Utility Dive

 

Massachusetts

Electric sector loses court challenge to Mass. climate change rule by Greg Ryan, Boston Business Journal

 

North Carolina

In North Carolina, low-hanging fruit of energy efficiency is going to waste by Elizabeth Ouzts, Energy News Network

 

New York 

End of ‘Net-metering’ Casts Shadow Over Future of New York Solar by Lydia McMullen-Laird, The Indypendent

 

Ohio

In Ohio, solar co-ops unite neighbors to help with costs and questions by Douglas J. Guth, Energy News Network

 

South Carolina

Duke calls for extending net metering in South Carolina through March 2019 by Christian Roselund, PV Magazine

 

Nationwide Energy Democracy News:

Northern U.S. states lead the way with community solar projects by Maggie Teliska, Axios

As rooftop solar expands, states grapple with successors to net metering by Herman K. Trabish, Utility Dive

Replacements to the controversial solar incentive have cropped up in Hawaii, California and elsewhere, but policymakers have struggled to devise a replicable model.

Hurricane Florence’s Brutal Winds Will Test the Carolinas Solar Boom By Brian Eckhouse, Bloomberg

Co-op solar boom raises questions about coal in utility power mixes by Herman K. Trabish, Utility Dive

Tri-State Generation and Transmission still gets half its power from coal, even as co-op owned and purchased solar is reaching nine times what it was in 2013. A new report shows Tri-State, already the biggest supplier of solar among U.S. generation and transmission (G&T) co-ops, can lower customer bills by increasing its procurement of wind and solar, despite its existing coal investments.

Two Ways Energy Storage Will Be A True Market Disruptor In The U.S. Power Sector by Eric Gimon, Forbes

The Next Financial Crisis Lurks Underground by Bethany McLean

For EVs to Really Get Traction, Home Charging Needs to Be an Option by Skip Descant, GovTech

“Home location charging is the most frequently used and the most influential in the purchasing decision and the vehicle usage,” said Gil Tal, research director with the Plug-In Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Research Center, within the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis.

Innovation Is Making Solar Panels Harder To Recycle by Jeff McMahon, Forbes

The United States installs 7 million pounds per day of solar panels, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a pace that secures only fourth place among countries for installed capacity. Those panels are built to last 30 years, which foretells a huge demand for recycling decades ahead and an increasing demand sooner, as some panels succumb to damage or fall short of their warrantied performance.

Why Energy Data Will Unlock the Next Wave of Residential Solar, GreenTech Media

U.S. utility solar contracts ‘exploded’ in 2018 despite tariffs: report by Nichola Groom, Reuters

 

This article originally posted at ilsr.org. For timely updates, follow John Farrell or Marie Donahue on Twitter or get the Energy Democracy weekly update. Also check out over 50 episodes of the Local Energy Rules podcast!

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