By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Energy storage is the next front in the solar revolution, and states across the country are starting to grapple with how to incorporate it into the future of their electricity-generation plans.

California, Arizona and New Mexico have already mandated that their utilities incorporate storage into their long-term planning. And now New York has announced its plans to incorporate 1,500 MW of energy storage into it electricity generation by 2025.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the aggressive plans last week, touting that it would create $2 billion in consumer benefits and 30,000 jobs. He also directed the NY Green Bank to commit $200 million to fund energy storage plans. It’s a tight turnaround that he’s asking for – six years isn’t much time at all – but Cuomo is convinced his state can do it. He said:

Clean energy is the future of our planet, and New York will continue to lead the nation in this technology to fight climate change and conserve resources for generations to come. This Roadmap is the next step to not only grow our clean energy economy and create jobs, but to improve the resiliency of the grid to keep our power running in the face of extreme weather and other emergency situations.

New York State currently has approximately 60-megawatts of advanced energy storage capacity deployed with another 500-megawatts in the pipeline, in addition to 1,400-megawatts of traditional pumped hydro storage.

In order to advance energy storage development in ways that are viable, replicable, and scalable, the Roadmap recommends:

Providing $350 million in statewide market acceleration incentives to fast-track the adoption of advanced storage systems to be located at customer sites or on the distribution or bulk electric systems;

Adding incentives for energy storage to NYSERDA’s successful NY-Sun initiative to accelerate the development of solar plus storage projects and allow those projects to access federal tax credits before they expire;

Regulatory changes to utility rates, utility solicitations and carbon values to reflect the system benefits and values of storage projects;

Continuing to address project permitting and siting challenges and reduce system indirect expenses and soft costs; and,

Recommending modifications to wholesale market rules to better enable storage participation, including allowing storage to meet both electric distribution system and wholesale system needs to provide greater value for ratepayers.

If you want to see what the future of energy storage is going to look like, watch those five states. Their plans will define how energy storage spreads across the rest of the country.

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondentthey

The news today about the fight over saving failing coal and nuclear plants is that Energy Secretary Rick Perry won’t take into account the importance of low electricity prices in favor of creating mythical “energy security” based on the outdated concept of baseload power. It’s a frivolous, short-sighted idea, fueled by coal barons and fossil-fuel interests.

And yet, in a state as far removed from Washington as one can imagine, officials are preparing to build the state’s largest utility-scale solar plant in a tacit admission that the future of coal is dim.

Wyoming is currently the country’s largest coal-producing state. It accounts for 41% of the country’s coal production and mines more coal than the next seven coal states combined (remember that next time the national media imply the country’s only coal miners work in West Virginia).

And yet even in this deeply coal-steeped state, solar is about to bloom.

As the Associated Press reports:

The first major solar energy plant in the nation’s top coal-mining state cleared a significant regulatory hurdle Tuesday when the U.S. Bureau of Land Management determined it will cause no environmental harm.

The 80 MW Sweetwater Solar plant, which could power approximately 17,000 homes, could begin production as soon as the end of this year. Rocky Mountain Power will purchase the electricity from the plant.

To say this development in Wyoming is startling is an understatement. After all, this is the state whose legislature in January 2017 passed a “reverse RES (Renewable Energy Standard)” and decided to penalize utilities who sold electricity generated from solar in a misguided and failed attempt to protect the coal-produced electricity in the state. And Rocky Mountain Power was begging the state’s regulators to slash reimbursement rates under PURPA, the federal law designed to encourage renewable energy development.

So the decision to build the Sweetwater plant – and for RMP to be purchasing the electricity – is a clear sign that even in coal country, solar is quickly becoming king. Now if only the policymakers in Washington were listening.

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondentthey

When California decided last week to revise and extend its Single-Family Affordable Solar Homes (SASH) program with a 12-year rebate program for disadvantaged citizens who want to take advantage of solar, it marked another step forward in the democratization (small “d”) of electricity generation.

It also continued the national trend toward the inclusion of low-income solar in statewide solar legislation, much of which is being modeled on California’s original SASH program.

As Elsie Hunger from GRID Alternatives put it:

California has been a leader nationally in providing solar access to families in disadvantaged communities. We are thrilled to see the commission’s continued efforts to expand access and ensure that our transition to clean energy includes all our communities.

The new rebate program, Disadvantaged Communities – Single Family Affordable Solar Homes (DAC-SASH), provides additional long-term funding for the SASH program, which has reduced the cost of going solar for more than 7,000 households and provided over 100,000 hours of solar job training for individuals seeking employment since 2009.

In addition to adopting DAC-SASH, the Commission Order also makes modest improvements to the utilities’ Green Tariff programs with the goal of helping low-income customers receive bill discounts through participation. The decision did not go as far as coalition members had hoped in creating community-based shared solar opportunities like those that have been used successfully to increase low-income consumer access in Colorado and other states.

At the same time California’s Public Utilities Commission was making its decision, Illinois solar advocates were meeting in Chicago at SolarWakeup Live! to discuss the importance of the job creation elements of the Solar For All program created in Illinois’ Long-Term Renewables Resources Procurement Plan (the Plan).

“This is how we will be judged by the legislature when we come back to them for future expansion of the program,” said Becky Stanfield, senior director of Western States for Vote Solar. “If we miss these targets, we will lose support for solar in the Illinois legislature. That can’t happen.”

Eya Louis, contractor development coordinator for Chicago-area nonprofit Elevate Energy, said the key to successful job creation is not just the training of future solar workers but making sure they have jobs once they finish the training. She said her organization is about to graduate its first class of solar workers, and it will hold a job fair to make sure they connect with contractors looking to hire.

“You can’t forget about that step,” Louis said. “You can do all the training you want, but unless you are able to put them in positions to get jobs, the training aspect goes to waste. It’s easy to forget that step, but it’s imperative that we as an industry do not.”