New Hampshire

CEA Vice-President Michael Whatley was interviewed for Utility Dive’s in-depth look at the solar industry.

“Distributed solar has increased 40% or more year over year and state incentive programs’ initial goals have been or are being met,” Michael Whatley, executive vice president of CEA, said. “Questions are now arising about whether the incentives are right for this level of penetration.”

Read more – Utility Dive

CEA’s James Voyles discusses recent polling in Maine demonstrating support for renewable energy and lower energy costs.

About 68 percent of voters said that lowering the cost of energy – solar or not – was a top priority. When told that rooftop panels cost more than twice as much as large solar power facilities to produce electricity – remember, small solar power generators do not bear the same fixed costs to maintain and power the grid as non-solar power generators do – 58 percent said large solar power facilities would be the best way to increase solar.

Read more – Portland Press Herald

Traditionally, one the biggest problems with solar power has been rain. Make that rain, clouds and all the other kinds of less-than-sunny weather that are quite common in most parts of the country and really limit the effectiveness of a solar panel. The inability to predict how much power a panel will be able to generate has left many homeowners and businesses alike dubious about the value of installing a solar panel. But there’s a flipside to this weather challenge that you don’t hear about as often:  What do you do when a solar panel generates more energy than the structure it sits on needs? The answer has long existed, in theory: You store that excess power and find a way to distribute it to neighboring structures, or to sell it back to the electric utility. And now a growing number of utilities are successfully implementing these Distributed Solar power plants. The New York Times reports that in recent weeks, a number of Distributed Solar deals have been announced or approved, which collectively could produce as much power as a large nuclear plant. The trend results partly from an oversupply of solar modules, which has brought prices down significantly, making it more cost effective to install a lot of smaller panels across a region. It’s also been helped along by some stimulus investments made under last year’s Recovery Act. This Chicago utility is using federal stimulus funds to test distributed solar on a grid of 131,000 homes as part of a project that also aimed at helping households better track and limit their energy consumption. As we move beyond simply generating power from the sun and get better at storing it and transmitting it, solar power prices are likely to become more competitive with traditional power sources, which should further boost demand. And, once households come to understand that all the sun beating down on their roofs is not theirs for the taking, but comes at a price, we’ll probably start hearing about a strange phenomenon: Conserving solar.

CEA’s Midwest Executive Director, Chris Ventura, discussed the importance of supporting solar energy in Indiana to ensure it is broadly accessible and affordable for all Hoosiers.

Fortunately, Indiana lawmakers have spent time thoughtfully reviewing net metering for solar and other renewable technologies, which is a good step forward in ensuring solar can contribute to the state’s future energy mix. Legislation that reforms net metering and provides important consumer protections has been supported by large bipartisan majorities in the Statehouse – showing that it can be done.

Read more – The Journal Gazette

Just last month, people were wondering why the Obama White House would not install solar panels, even when asked point blank to do so. This week we have an update: The White House will install solar panels and a solar water heater on the roof. The first family will join the millions of Americans who derive some of their power from the sun. The announcement renews a commitment to renewable power that began more than thirty years ago when solar panels went up on the Carter White House. But this time, there is a twist. In addition to agreeing to install solar panels, the White House will select the solar provider through a competitive bidding process managed by the Department of Energy. It’s a testament to both the remarkable growth the solar sector has seen since the 1970s that today there are a multitude of commercial solar technology providers that can compete on price. But, it is also important to remember that not all of the improvement since then has been good for the United States. While it is fair to assume that the White House will use American-made solar technology, the reality is that most of the world’s solar technology – including much of that used in the U.S. – is made in China. And that reality will make the moment when those solar panels finally go up on the White House roof somewhat bittersweet. While solar technology has become widespread, too many solar technology jobs – like so many oil industry and manufacturing jobs — are now based overseas. To achieve true energy security, the U.S. needs to focus not just on producing our own power, but on making the underlying equipment and technology.

CEA Florida’s Kevin Doyle recently had an op-ed in the Miami Herald regarding CEA’s solar incentive analysis.

Solar energy is clean, reliable, increasingly affordable, and thanks to the popularity of utility-scale, community projects and rooftop installations, a continuously growing part of America’s modernizing electricity mix. Due to lower costs and government-incentive programs, solar photovoltaic (PV) is also the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. renewable energy market, achieving annual growth rates exceeding 40 percent, a new Consumer Energy Analysis reveals.

Read more – Miami Herald

Utah’s Rocky Mountain Power customers could end up paying more directly for power generated by their neighbors’ solar panels under the terms of the company’s recent settlement with the solar industry. The settlement has been praised for preserving, at least for now, most of the financial credits that customers with rooftop solar arrays receive from Rocky Mountain Power when they generate surplus electricity. Consumer Energy Alliance’s James Voyles praised ongoing negotiation.

James Voyles, policy counsel for the Washington D.C.-based group, said its Utah members haven’t come down strongly on either side of the recent settlement. Some of Utah businesses within its ranks approve of the new charges, Voyles said, while others oppose them. Voyles nonetheless praised attempts to negotiate the settlement. “It is our hope,” he said, ”that all parties involved keep the most important stakeholder in mind — families and businesses.”

Read more – The Salt Lake Tribune