SolarWakeup Podcast: Jon Carson, Obama’s 2008 National Field Director, Brings Solar To Illinois

By Yann Brandt, Managing Editor

In this episode of the Energy Wakeup podcast, we sat down with Jon Carson, founder of Trajectory Energy Partners, to discuss early solar project development in Illinois—and the politics of solar. Carson has spent nearly a lifetime in Illinois politics, first running Tammy Duckworth’s successful Congressional campaign and then was the field director and then national field director for President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. So he knows a little about politics and how solar fits into our current political atmosphere.

Carson discusses the importance of grassroots campaigning in early stage solar development—meeting with citizens in the area where you want to do development but going far beyond politicians. He describes the hours he’s spent crisscrossing the Land of Lincoln in his car, doing his best to talk solar to the people that will be affected by the installation of a solar farm: abutting neighbors, influencers and other townspeople.

And, Carson says, when he puts in the time to make these connections, it turns out solar is a pretty easy sell in most areas of the state.

Listen to the whole fascinating discussion to hear Carson talk about where solar is in the national political discussion and how we can do an even better job of bringing our issues to the forefront—and how he is effectively entering the burgeoning Illinois market, one project at a time.

SolarWakeup Podcast: Sunnova Makes Its Move Into Florida – Here’s Why

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened: It appears Florida is finally getting serious about becoming a viable solar market. Two weeks ago, the Public Service Commission decided, against all odds and the expectations of some seasoned solar observers, to allow third parties to own solar arrays without becoming regulated utilities.

In the wake of the decision, at least one major residential solar company has decided to execute a Florida market plan it’s been working on for years and waiting for precisely the right moment to go in—and they’ve decided now is that time.

To discuss this development is the the CEO of that company—Sunnova—John Berger.

Join us on June 21st in Chicago for SolarWakeup Live! to talk about all things happening in Illinois. Stay tuned for tickets and more info.

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South Carolina Tries, Tries Again To Reach Solar Compromise

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened: After utilities snuck in the back door and stabbed a bill that would have eliminated a nonsensical net metering cap to death, solar advocates are trying one last Hail Mary in an attempt to save solar jobs in the Palmetto State.

As you know (if you read SolarWakeup, anyway), South Carolina’s House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favor a bill that would have eliminated the state’s insanely low 2% net metering cap.

Then the utilities did the aforementioned stabbing, lobbying for (and getting) the bill to be changed into a “tax increase,” which would have required a two-thirds supermajority vote in the Senate. It did not get the votes, and it seemed like net metering – and to a large extent, the solar industry – in the state was dead.

But on Wednesday night, Amendment 9 was attached to the House Budget bill and passed. Amendment 9 wouldn’t eliminate the cap, but would raise it from 2% to 4%.

SolarWakeup’s View: There is one last South Carolina solar compromise working its way through the state’s House of Representatives. It’s a final chance to save the solar industry in this session.

If you’re a regular reader of SolarWakeup (and if you’re not, you should be), you know the chicanery surrounding the state’s attempts to eliminate its insanely low 2% cap on net metering. The bill overwhelmingly passed the House but was scuttled in the Senate, thanks to the last-minute machinations of the state’s powerful utilities.

But if at first you don’t succeed, sneak a South Carolina solar compromise into the budget bill and hope it survives the House-Senate conference committee (at least I think that’s how that goes).

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That’s the strategy the House is currently trying, putting something called Amendment 9 into the budget bill that is now going to conference committee. It’s not as good as the bill last month – it won’t eliminate the net metering cap entirely – but it will double the cap from 2% to 4%, keeping the state’s burgeoning solar industry alive for at least another year.

“Last night’s vote is an important and welcome step forward for energy freedom in South Carolinam” said Thad Culley, Regional Director at Vote Solar. “Recent months revealed both the enormous support from residents, businesses, and organizations across the political spectrum for clean energy options, lower utility bills and 3,000 solar jobs in South Carolina, and the lengths that utility monopolies will go to undermine all three.

“We thank House leaders and Rep. Ballentine for working across the aisle to pass a commonsense measure to keep solar shining in South Carolina,” he added. “We now look to lawmakers in the budget conference committee to take all solar measures across the finish line and ensure that solar can remain a bright spot in South Carolina’s economy.”

It’s not perfect, but at least it’s something. Now get on the phones and let legislators know you want the South Carolina solar compromise kept in the final bill.

More:

Net Metering Gets a Lifeline in South Carolina

Utility Monopolies Screw SC Solar After Sneaky Shift On Bill

South Carolina Sends Solar Soaring With Cap Removal

Here’s What Happens When Utilities Rule The Roost

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened: This is going to shock a lot of you, but utilities would like the solar industry to stop harping on net metering and move to what they call “rate design.”

K Kaufmann, communications manager for the Smart Electric Power Association (the utilities’ arm of the solar discussion) (SEPA), lays out the case for why moving the conversation away from net metering will help utilities.
Oddly, however, it doesn’t explain why there would be any advantage to the solar industry to move off net metering.

Is the image of the sun setting on a utility pole too heavy handed? I worry it’s a little heavy handed.

SolarWakeup’s View: Sometimes, the jokes write themselves.

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So over at the Smart Electric Power Association (SEPA) blog, K Kaufmann lays out the case for why the solar industry should abandon its fight over net metering because…I guess…it hurts the utilities’ feelings or something?

The basic argument in the piece, apart from the head-nod to the vague concept of “rate desgin,” is that fighting for net metering sets up a false conflict between the solar industry and utilities. After all, Kaufmann writes, utilities are adding solar at ever-rapidly increasing rates – why isn’t the solar industry telling those stories, huh?

In a vacuum, of course, Kaufmann is right. Utilities are adding solar at an ever-increasing rate. But what her analysis misses is the reason they are adding solar: They’re afraid of losing their monopoly on electricity generation and, therefore, their livelihoods. At least, that’s what most utility executives would tell you if you pumped them full of sodium pentathol and asked.

In one of the most revealing passages in her piece, Kaufmann writes:

From colonial times to present day, the U.S. energy system has been built on successive transitions. The historical record clearly documents that such transitions are, by their very nature, messy, uncomfortable and confusing for all involved.

Who can argue with that? But here’s my question in response: Why should we cling to a distribution and transmission system befitting a 19th century vision of the grid and the means to power it?

As distributed generation grows – by which, to be clear, I mean non-utility-owned solar for purposes of this conversation – utility monopolies are becoming increasingly irrelevant. And while I’d never deny that transitions can be scary, I’d agree with Kaufmann that:

On the upside, they also create a lot of room for experimentation, innovation and cross industry collaboration.

But asking solar to renounce its most potent growth mechanism and put its faith in the benevolence of utilities is an absurd premise unless you are only looking at things from the utilities’ perspective instead of looking at the question from all sides.

This is the kind of reasoning that occurs when the utilities are in control – and that is not in solar’s best long-term interests.

More:

The stories we aren’t telling: Focus on net metering misses the bigger picture (SEPA)