By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What’s happening in Nevada right now is frankly amazing. If you had told most observers that Nevada would ever hit net metering caps after its Public Utilities Commission ended the program without warning at the end of 2015, they would have told you that you were crazy. And yet, three years (and a lot of mea culpas later), here we are, with the state’s installed and applied-for solar capacity hitting the cap for what’s allowed by law at full retail net metering rates. [wds id=”3″] What that means is that any rooftop solar installation will … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Corporate renewable energy procurement has hit a new record high in 2018, according to the Business Renewables Center, an arm of the Rocky Mountain Institute. Procurement levels reached 3.57 GW, beating the previous record of 3.12 GW in 2015 and increasing nearly three quarters of a gigawatt ahead of last year’s number of 2.87 GW. [wds id=”3″] Jon Creyts, managing director at Rocky Mountain Institute, said: The Business Renewables Center applauds the acceleration of corporate renewable energy procurement and the dedication these companies are showing to turn commitment into action. We are bearing witness to … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Knoxville, Iowa, has been working on developing a solar plan for the city that would save it nearly $400,000 over the lifespan of a 30-year power-purchase agreement (PPA). But when it came to the final vote, MidAmerican Energy – the city’s utility – came in and tried to lobby against it. The last-ditch attempt to keep solar from the citizens of Knoxville failed on a 3-1 vote, according to reports in the Knoxville Journal-Express. [wds id=”3″] Megan Suhr, a Knoxville council member, told the paper: Renewable energy is something I care deeply about, so I … Read More →

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 … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Maryland today launched a six-project community solar program that is looking for subscribers, according to an article in today’s Baltimore Sun. Community solar programs are now all the rage, as solar continues to spread and solar companies are realizing that it can go beyond individual homeowners and businesses putting solar arrays on their roof. It’s the perfect hybrid of utility-scale solar providing electricity for residential and consumer customers. The program has been in place since 2015, when the Maryland legislature authorized it. But writer Scott Dance asserts that it hasn’t taken off because of NIMBY-ism … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Over the past decade or so, bumble bee populations in the United States have diminished considerably thanks to a phenomenon called “colony collapse” (the author was the editorial director of Pest Management Professional during the height of the controversy). Most environmental activists have blamed neonicotinoid pesticides (neonicotinoids act like nerve gas on insects and yes, as the name implies they are based on tobacco-like substances), though scientists could never definitively back that up. Well, the Department of Energy (DOE) is on it. [wds id=”3″] According to the DOE e-news service, “DOE Argonne National Laboratory researchers … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent The key to a booming Louisiana solar industry is a stronger renewable portfolio standard (RPS), according to an op-ed written a solar advocate from the Natural Resources Defense Council in The Lens, a newspaper focusing on New Oreleans and the Gulf Coast of the state. After discussing the benefits of community solar and a place for it in the electricity generation mix of the Pelican State, author Kevin Fitzwilliam then proceeds to argue that a strong RPS is necessary to drive solar development in the state, a fact so obvious it’s hard to even believe … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Days after announcing it would pay $110 million to get out of a contract that required it to buy power from an Iowa nuclear plant, Alliant Energy announced it was planning to reduce its carbon emissions by 80% and eliminate coal from its portfolio by 2050. The Madison, Wisconsin-based utility that serves Iowa in addition to its home state made the announcement in its corporate sustainability report. [wds id=”3″] The company says it plans to spend $2 billion on new renewable investments including wind and solar, including doubling the number of wind sites from six … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Look out, Minnesota. Illinois just landed another major residential solar installer – they just may be coming for your title as the leading solar state in the Midwest. Vivint Solar, following in the footsteps of its competitor Sunrun, decided to take the plunge into the Illinois market yesterday, citing low solar penetration numbers and high levels of governmental support as the reasons they joined the fray. Earlier this year, the Illinois Power Agency approved the Long Term Renewables Resources Procurement Plan (the Plan), which most observers believe will accelerate solar adoption in the state, including … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Residential installer Sunnova left the Arizona market when it decided the regulatory environment was too unstable for it to function effectively. Now it has decided to return with a solar + storage offering. SolarWakeup wanted to find out what made it change its mind and come back to the Grand Canyon State. SolarWakeup (SWup): What has changed about Arizona that has encouraged Sunnova to come back to the state? Kelsey Smith, Sunnova Director of Public Relations (KS): Two things: The first is that there is more regulatory certainty about how the state plans to value … Read More →