Maryland and Maine are moving two pieces of legislation through their halls to keep their solar momentum going. Maine kills gross metering You may recall the previous governor of Maine Paul LePage working feverishly to charge solar customers more through a gross metering rate structure. In this setup, the PublicRead More

The National Regulatory Research Institute released a new study of actions by U.S. states to change distributed energy resources rate designs for the customer side of the meter. Review of State Net Energy Metering and Successor Rate Designs is a summary of the activity among state public utility commissions in findingRead More

The Michigan Environmental Council, Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club are sounding the alarm on DTE Energy’s Rate Case, claiming it is “unprecedented in dollar amount, scope and spending flexibility.” DTE Energy has requested that the Commission approve a mechanism that would cover $2.8 billion in capital expenditures andRead More

A new SepiSolar white paper reveals the financial benefits of a pending revision to California’s net energy metering (NEM) policy. When finalized, commercial DC-coupled solar-plus-storage installations will not only be able to benefit from NEM, but will also be able to increase solar system size, reduce installation and permitting costs,Read More

Out in Arizona, home of the demand charge, the Arizona Corporation Commission rejected a request by two utilities to subject new solar customers to large monthly fixed charges. As part of their recent rate cases, Tucson Electric Power Company (TEP) and UNS Electric sought a monthly Grid Access Charge andRead More

The rooftop solar industry is shining once again in Nevada. NV Energy’s most recent annual plan noted a strong increase in applications for its SolarGenerations rooftop solar program following key state policy changes in 2017 that put the market back on track. SolarGenerations applications went from 287 in 2016 toRead More

South Carolina lawmakers approved a measure that will raise the limit on the number of South Carolinians that can invest in solar and earn credit for their excess power. Amendment 9, which was approved as part of House Bill 4950, will raise the net metering cap from its current 2%Read More

Solar workers and advocates from over a dozen companies across Connecticut filled the area in front of the Connecticut’s Capitol Building’s north entrance with signs reading “Save Solar Jobs,” and “Fix SB9.” The rally was organized jointly by Solar Connecticut and The Alliance for Solar Choice, with participation from atRead More

Less than a week after the South Carolina House passed House Bill 4421 (the Electric Consumer Bill of Rights Act) with bipasrtisan support, the bill stalled after utilities raised a technical point that required the House to approve the legislation by a two-thirds majority. In today’s vote, the House votedRead More

A bill that will eliminate an artificial cap on net metering from rooftop solar installations, allowing for more people to have solar energy as an electricity option, is moving forward in South Carolina, passing a vote in the state House last week. South Carolina’s solar market grew significantly in 2017. TheRead More