The CPUC report was published yesterday.  At first read, it appears to miss the mark and limits the value placed on distributed solar generation.  Looking at only the value of energy offset and counting all offset energy revenue as a cost isn’t right.  More details will come forth from groups more involved in the process, but public comment will come soon.

News

• SJ Mercury: solar policy will cost CA customers $1.1 billion a year by 2020
• CPUC: CA Net Energy Metering(NEM) Draft Cost Effectiveness Evaluation
• Bloomberg: Annual Solar Installs to Beat Wind for First Time
• Greentech Media: Can Solar Be a Differentiator in Deregulated Markets?
• Quartz: Meet the newest big solar developers: Native Americans
• Motley Fool: Utility Scale Solar is Still King of the Industry
• Triple Pundit: Do Rooftop Solar Panels Really Hinder Firefighters?
• NJ Spotlight: Solar Storage Could Help Shorten Outages, Increase Resiliency

Opinions

• EDF: Setting the PACE on Clean Energy Finance

Have a great day!

Yann

CPUC released the Net Energy Metering Cost Effectiveness Evaluation report.

Initial coverage on the story from Dana Hull from San Jose Mercury News here

Executive summary findings include “The costs associated with all NEM generation are forecast to be approximately $1.1 billion per year in 2020 (in $2012). This is approximately 3.2% of the forecasted utility revenue requirement.”

Read the report here

Provide your comments to the CPUC here

………..

Residential solar is the big distributed energy story of the year.  It has been the root of the growth driving the market, new financing policies and most of all the threat to status quo for electric utilities.  As more and more States become eligible markets for residential solar, how will the discussion proceed?

News

• Solar Industry: SolarWorld Pushes Back On SEIA Plan To End Trade Dispute
• Tucson Weekly: The Battle for a Solar Arizona
• SiliconBeat: Jerry Brown Tries To Revive PACE
• ABQJournal: PNM modeling shows solar power good, economic choice
• Motley Fool: Infighting Begins in Solar Industry
• Washington Post: What happens if you add lots of wind and solar to the grid?

Opinions

• NY Times: Is Natural Gas ‘Clean’?
• Pacific Standard: How Ronald Reagan Turned Out the Lights on Solar Power
• CleanTechnica: Solar Subsidies Article in Wall Street Journal Misses The Beat

Have a great day!

Yann

A great hat tip to a true solar leader and advocate, Adam Browning.  The Vote Solar Initiative has been instrumental in advancing so many important policies for each and every one of us.  I remember working on the Florida net metering rules with Vote Solar in 2007, and they helped lead everyone through the process.  Read the article, and send Adam a note of thanks for the work he does.

News

• E&E News: How Adam Browning became the ‘Michael Jordan of solar policy’
• MyDesert: Gov. Brown proposes state back-up fund to counter FHFA 
• Bloomberg: Wind and Solar Save $7 Billion in Fossil-Fuel Costs, NREL Says
• AOL: Solar-Power Shift? Why It Could Make More Sense to Buy Than Lease
• Greentech Media: Merkel Wins: New Life for Renewables in German Gov’t
• Forbes: Solar Power From Giant Mirrors Flows Into California’s Grid
• CSM: SunFunder uses crowdsourcing to finance solar projects in Africa, India

Opinions

• Rhone Resch: It’s Time To End Disruptive U.S.-China Solar Trade Dispute
• RenewEconomy: Obama slams door on coal, and opens the gate for solar

Have a great day!

Yann