community solar policy - better buildings initiative · 2017-11-07 · energy.gov/sunshot 10...

energy.gov/sunshot July 29, 2015

Community Solar PolicyBetter Buildings Clean Energy for Low Income Communities Accelerator Cohort

September 21st, 2016

Erin Cheese and Odette Mucha

energy.gov/sunshot

o Review homework from last meeting

o Options for Community Solar Programs

o Virtual Net Metering: What is it?

o Utility-led programs

o Understanding Key Differences in Community Solar Policy

o Jeff Cook, NREL

o States with Community Solar Legislation

o Joseph Pereira, Colorado Energy Office

o Corey Ramsden, Maryland Sun

o Open Discussion, Next Steps

Agenda

2

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1. What are the existing solar policies in your state?• Net metering

• Are you nearing the cap?• Renewable Portfolio Standard

• If so, is there a solar carve out? (If so, what are the SRECs worth? Is it approaching the RPS goal/ cap?)

• Third party ownership of solar systems• Virtual net metering (e.g. New England)• Shared solar specific legislation (e.g. MN, CO)• Other solar policies

• Feed-in tariff• State investment tax credit for solar (e.g. OR) (If so, is it still active? How much is

it worth?)

• State rebates for solar (CT, DE) (How much? Do you have a rebate specific for LMI solar? (e.g. NY))

• Performance based incentives (e.g. NM)

• Cap and trade (RGGI, Western states)• Is there potential for cap and trade revenue to be used for LMI solar

programs?3

Homework before the Policy webinar

Go to the Database of

State Incentives for

Renewable and Efficiency

to find out!

www.DSIREUSA.org

http://www.dsireusa.org/


2. What are your city’s solar programs and policies?

• Sustainability goals

• DOE programs: Rooftop Solar Challenge, SolSmart

• Streamlined permitting, interconnection, inspection processes

4

Homework part 2

energy.gov/sunshot

Do you live in a state with community solar enabling legislation?

Poll

5


Community Solar Legislation

6


Options for Community Solar – State Legislation or Utility Led Program

energy.gov/sunshot

Allows customers to generate their own electricity to offset their electricity usage

Retail meter spins forward when the customer uses electricity from the grid and backwards when the customer exports to the grid

In general, homes produce excess electricity in the summer (receiving a credit from the utility, generally carried over to the next month)

Net Metering

8

Photo credit: EnergySage

energy.gov/sunshot

Expands aggregated net metering, allowing a property owner with multiple meters to distribute net metering credits to individual accounts

Virtual Net Metering

9

Source: Solar Industry Magazine

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Partnership with Your Utility – Cooperative example

• Coastal Electric Cooperative Renewables Solar Farm –Midway, GA

• 120 kW array sold out, more capacity now available from a 20 MW facility in Hazlehurst, GA

• Blocks of solar electricity are $25/month. Each block is equivalent to about 6 solar panels (166-203kWh/month)

• Monthly solar credit is subtracted from the metered energy used at the home or business


Partnership with Your Utility - Municipal Utility

• Berea Municipal Utilities/Solar Farm in KY

• As a city-owned utility, it doesn’t fall under the regulation of the PSC

• One-time $750 lease fee per panel for 25 years – about $3/W

• Customers receive a Panel Production Credit on their electricity bills

• 246 panels, 150 customers

Variation in Community Solar Policy across the States

Jeffrey J. Cook

September 21st, 2016

13

• To date, 30 states have community solar programs

• 14 states have enacted legislation to mandate these programs

Community Solar

14

Policy Variation

Table 1. Individual Project Size Limit by Statei

State <1 MW 1 MW 2 MW >2 MW

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Hawaii*

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Minnesota

New Hampshire

New York

Oregon*

Vermont

Washington

*Individual project size limits have not yet been established in Oregon or Hawaii. i The information from this table is derived from http://sharedrenewables.org/community-energy-projects/ and state statute or regulation.

15

Policy Variation

Table 1. Customer Eligibility for certain Community Solar Facilities by State

State Same electric utility service territory as facility

Same or adjacent county as facility

Unique requirements

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Hawaii

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Minnesota

New Hampshire

New York

Oregon

Vermont

Washington

16

• California 100 MW in disadvantaged communities

• Colorado, New York, and Oregon 5 – 20% low-income subscriber requirements

Low-income Requirements

17

• Rhode Island

o H 8354: Enacted new 30 MW community solar program (virtual net metering)

• Idaho Power pilot community solar proceeding

o 500 kW program

Recent Policy Developments

http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText16/HouseText16/H8354A.pdf

http://solarindustrymag.com/idaho-power-proposes-community-solar-pilot-program

Community and Shared Solar Approaches

Colorado Pathways

Joseph Pereira

Director of Low-Income Energy Services

@pereira1_j

September 21, 2016

The CEO’s vision is to help Coloradans live more prosperous and healthy lives by

promoting innovative energy production and efficient energy consumption

practices that are beneficial to the economic and environmental health of the

state.

DEPARTMENT VISION

MISSION STATEMENT

The CEO’s mission is to improve the effective use of all of Colorado's energy resources

and the efficient consumption of energy in all economic sectors, through providing

technical guidance, financial support, policy advocacy and public communications.

Colorado Energy Office

Community Solar Enabling Legislation

HB 10-1342 (Community Solar Gardens Act)

House Bill 10-1342 was signed by Governor Ritter in 2010 as a way to encourage additional investment in solar energy generation by authorizing the

creation of community solar gardens. This groundbreaking bill has paved the way for Colorado to become a national leader in community solar. The

basics of the bill are as follows:

Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) from the community solar gardens count towards the IOU’s Renewable Portfolio Standard

Solar gardens are required to be 2 megawatts or less

There must be at least 10 subscribers. Each subscription must be at least 1 kilowatt (low-income households are exempt from this requirement)

Subscriptions cannot supply more “than 120% of the average annual consumption of electricity by each subscriber at the premises to which the subscription

is attributed, with a deduction for the amount of any existing solar facilities at such premises”

The subscriber’s physical location must be within the same county or the county adjacent to that of the community solar array

Utility companies must include a provision for low-income customers (Minimum 5% by rule)

LI Community Solar Demonstration Project - Outcomes

• Portfolio of community solar projects solely for low-income households that includes:

• A variety of utility-owned community solar arrays, ranging from 20 kW to 500 kW

• The application of unique customer billing structures

• Innovative client delivery approaches

• A minimum of 1 MW of installed community solar and 300 low-income subscribers tied

to the portfolio of projects

• A model that can be replicated by other utility providers

• Insight into whether shared solar combined with energy efficiency (i.e. weatherization)

services is a viable approach for comprehensively reducing household energy costs

LI Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP)

Rooftop Solar Integration

The CEO’s Weatherization Assistance Program is the first state in the nation to be

granted DOE permission to use rooftop solar as an approved measure to reduce

household energy burden

CEO is integrating rooftop solar into its operations based on the following criteria:

• Cost effective (SIR 1.0) and does not exceed a DOE contribution of $3,545

• Homes with high solar capacity factors

• Customers with high electricity use

• Customers with limited access to community solar offerings

CO Community Solar Landscape

Colorado currently has over 40 community solar projects in operation, totaling

over 30 MW of installed capacity

Projects are distributed across electric cooperatives, municipal and investor

owned utilities.

Low-income user subscriptions are fully subscribed to approximately 1MW of

developer based generation

Trajectory of investor owned community solar offerings expected to grow

exponentially

Xcel Energy Global Settlement

Xcel Energy and 26 solar and consumer interest groups struck a far reaching

compromise on a rate case, a controversial large-scale utility solar program and

the regular review of the state’s renewable energy plan

Replaced a proposed fixed “Grid Use Charge,” with a “Time-of-Use” rate trial and

a “Time Differential Rate” demand charge pilot

Adds a 50MW utility owned market subscription solar product

Resolves Xcel’s RE Plan through 2019

Includes capacity increases in renewable energy programs

Treats all net metered solar owners equitably

Xcel Energy Global Settlement- LI Elements

IOU 5% PUC Rule Requirement Aggregation (4 MW) – Approx. 1,300 customers

Low-Income Solar Rooftop Program (1.5MW) – Approx. 300 customers

Integrated with WAP offering an upfront incentive and a production based incentive

100% LI Community Solar Garden RFP (4 MW Annually) – Approx. 3,900 customers

Upfront incentive or a performance based incentive

LI Standard Offer (.5 MW Annually/ 100 kW max) – Approx. 100 customers

Competitive upfront REC incentive plus $0.01/ kWh

The Colorado Energy Office

@coenergyoffice

MARYLAND COMMUNITY SOLAR


Courtesy of Vote Solar

Who can’t go solar now in MD?


• Homeowners with small, shaded, or old roofs

• Renters

• People who live in apartments & condos

• “Community shared solar”, “solar gardens”

• Proportional, not all or nothing and not on your roof

• Solar energy credited to your electric bill

• Same value as if it were on your roof

WHAT IS COMMUNITY SOLAR?


• Cheaper electricity now and/or in the future

• Fair access to solar for all Marylanders

• Wider participation in our clean energy future

WHY COMMUNITY SOLAR?


(NOTE: Projects online during pilot stay online after pilot ends)

MARYLAND’S COMMUNITY SOLAR PILOT


Legislation

passed

Regulations

adopted

Program

Opens

3 year pilot program

May

2015

June

2016

Fall

2016

Late

2016

Projects start

to appear

WHERE WILL IT BE AVAILABLE?


(NOTE: Participants and solar arrays must be in the same utility area

YES

• Delmarva

• BG&E

• Potomac

Edison

• PEPCO

MAYBE

• Choptank

• SMECO

• Others

Map courtesy of MD OPC

PILOT SIZE

218 MW (1.5% of peak demand by utility)

Utility 2015 Peak

Demand Forecast

1st yr.

0.6%

2nd yr.

0.6%

3rd yr.

0.3%

Total

1.5%

BGE 7,127 MW 43 MW 43 MW 21 MW 107 MW

Pepco 3,458 MW 21 MW 21 MW 10 MW 52 MW

Potomac Edison 1,623 MW 10 MW 10 MW 4 MW 24 MW

Delmarva 1,024 MW 6 MW 6 MW 3 MW 15 MW

SMECO 919 MW 5.5 MW 5.5MW 3 MW 14 MW

Other 393 MW 2.5 MW 2.5 MW 1 MW 6 MW

Total 14,544 MW 88 MW 88 MW 42 MW 218 MW

(approximate sizes)


CAP CATEGORIES

• 40% Open - Any projects up to 2MW

• 30% Low-to-moderate income (LMI)

• Serving 30%+ LMI with at least 10% low-income

• 30% Small, brownfields and other

• < 500kW

• Rooftops, parking areas, roadways

• Brownfields

• 51%+ LMI subscribers


WAYS TO PARTICIPATE

1. Buy shared solar energy (subscriber)

2. Own a subscriber organization

3. Host a shared solar array


CHALLENGE:

LOW AND MODERATE INCOME PARTICIPATION

• Marketing

• Financing availability

• Credit scores


COMMUNITY OWNED ENERGY EXAMPLE: FARMERS


THE LATEST

• Tariffs filed and awaiting review by PSC

• Program application queue per utility territory

• SMECO challenge at FERC


Questions

Thank you!

[email protected]

240-334-7720 (m)


Poll #2

• Which stage best reflects your current status?

• 1. "just looking"2. Considering feasibility 3. Beginning community solar program design4. Completed program design5. Looking to integrate low income strategy into existing community solar program


Open Discussion

42


Next Steps

• Small Group Discussions

• Next few weeks, will meet in groups of ~4-5

• Next webinar will be in December

• Initial Homework questions (more coming soon!):

• Does your state have renewable energy financing strategies in place (e.g. PACE, state energy or green banks, etc.)? What are some pros and cons?

• Are there state tax incentives to reduce the upfront costs (e.g. property tax exemptions, sales tax exemptions, corporate tax credits for green jobs)? Do these expire, and if so, how will that affect your program design?


Additional Resources

• NREL’s Solar STAT Blog discusses state and local efforts to develop solar markets in the United States https://www.nrel.gov/tech_deployment/state_local_governments/blog/

• National Conference of State Legislators’ Renewable Energy Legislative Update 2015 -http://www.ncsl.org/research/energy/renewable-energy-legislative-update-2015.aspx

• Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s Community Power Map https://ilsr.org/community-power-map/

https://www.nrel.gov/tech_deployment/state_local_governments/blog/

http://www.ncsl.org/research/energy/renewable-energy-legislative-update-2015.aspx

https://ilsr.org/community-power-map/

energy.gov/sunshotenergy.gov/sunshot 45

Thank you!

Contact us at [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


Additional Information

energy.gov/sunshot

Net Metering and DG Compensation Policies by State

47

Sources: NC Clean Energy Technology Center, SEIA.

energy.gov/sunshot

Designed to create competition and make clean energy more affordable

Utilities subject to a RPS must obtain renewable energy credits (RECs) for the required percentage of their generation

Renewable Portfolio Standards

48

energy.gov/sunshot

When renewable energy is generated, two things are created:

• Electricity

• Environmental benefits or “attributes” associated with electricity not generated by fossil fuels

RECs account for environmental benefits

What are RECs?

49

Source: Terrapass

energy.gov/sunshot

Renewable Portfolio Standards

50

NC Clean Energy Technology Center. August 2016

energy.gov/sunshot

Some states have specific carve-outs for solar

Allows for SRECs – Solar renewable energy credits

A few states include solar hot water heaters within their definition

Solar Carve-outs

51

energy.gov/sunshot

RPS with Solar or DG Provisions

52

energy.gov/sunshot

Federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC)

Tax Incentives

53

energy.gov/sunshot

Solar Deployment by State

54

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500

California

Arizona

New Jersey

North Carolina

Nevada

Massachusetts

Hawaii

Colorado

New York

Texas

Solar Capacity Installed in 2015 (MW)

Top 10 States

Source: SEIA

energy.gov/sunshot

FIT program typically guarantees that customers who own solar PV will receive a set price from their utility for all of the electricity they export to the grid

• Separate from net metering – the power generated by a utility customer’s system is compensated at the rate set by FIT. Its treated independently from the customer’s own electricity use.

Performance-based incentive

Ex: Dominion Virginia Power’s voluntary FIT approved in March 2013. 5 year contract with participants paying them 15 cents/kWh for PV-generated electricity provided to the grid, well above the 2012 retail rate of 10.5 cents

Feed-In Tariffs

55

community solar policy - better buildings initiative · 2017-11-07 · energy.gov/sunshot 10...

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