Tag Archives: incentive

Will There Be A New Jersey Solar Industry For Us To Discuss? (Yes.)

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

As SolarWakeup Live! heads to Jersey City, New Jersey, in about three weeks, I was startled to run across a story at the website NJSpotlight with the following headline:

COLLAPSE OF NJ SOLAR INDUSTRY, BIG LAYOFFS IF NO INTERIM STATE PLAN — WARNING

Because I understand clickbait when I see it, I did not immediately pull out my phone and call SolarWakeup Managing Editor Yann Brandt and tell him to abort his trip out East. Instead, I clicked on the link to figure out exactly what writer Tom Johnson was talking about.

It turns out that it’s not nearly as scary as he made it sound – at least if New Jersey legislators get their acts together and do something about the transition period between the old solar compensation structure and the new one signed into law by Governor Phil Murphy earlier this year.

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Based on the people told the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities at a public meeting yesterday, of course, the headline might be accurate. But the truth is the legislature has six months to figure this out, so the use of the word “imminent” might be a little much.

Still, according to NJ Spotlight writer Tom Johnson, the solar industry painted a pretty grim picture. To wit:

Unless there is a seamless transition, the industry could shut down, solar executives told state regulatory officials at a stakeholder meeting in Newark yesterday. If that happens, it could cause massive layoffs in a sector that now employs more than 7,000 and has invested in excess of $10 billion in New Jersey.

The collapse also could leave many solar projects — including those undertaken by school systems, municipalities, hospitals and others — as money-losing ventures. Loans and bonds used to finance them would be difficult to repay as revenues from the solar systems would fall short.

If I were on the Board of Public Utilities, that kind of testimony would leave me terrified. But don’t worry – we’ll sort it all out at SolarWakeup Live! on November 6 in Jersey City. You have Yann Brandt’s word on it.

More:

COLLAPSE OF NJ SOLAR INDUSTRY, BIG LAYOFFS IF NO INTERIM STATE PLAN — WARNING

Adjourned Sine Die: Hawaii Storage Incentive Bill Fails To Get A Hearing

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened: Hawaii’s energy storage incentive legislation – Senate Bill (SB) 2100 – was adjourned “sine die,” or “without a day,” meaning it will get no more hearings in the current session.

  • The bill, which would have replaced the current renewable energy technology systems tax credit with tax credits for solar or wind energy systems and energy storage systems, would have been one of the first laws in the country to create an incentive for storage systems.
  • Without such legislation, it’s fair to ask how Hawaii will reach its mandated goal of reaching 100% clean energy by 2045.

    • storage

    SolarWakeup’s View:  Hawaii, with its abundant sunshine and high electricity prices – the penalty they pay for living in paradise – has made the island a hotbed for solar development since the industry’s early days. With an aggressive goal of reaching 100% clean energy by 2045, the solar industry has grown exponentially, and the Aloha State currently boasts one of the highest solar penetration rates in the country.

    But with that development has come speed bumps, including a sudden elimination of net metering that nearly strangled the industry, although development has continued, albeit more slowly, under other utility programs. Recently, the state has been trying to figure out how to integrate storage into its solar industry to encourage more self-consumption and less excess electricity export to the grid.

    One of the most recent attempts to integrate storage was Senate Bill (SB 2100), which would have changed the current solar tax credit system into a solar + storage tax credit system.

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    Unfortunately, SB 2100 failed to get out of committee during this legislative session, postponing any hearings on the bill indefinitely and effectively killing any chance it had of passage.

    The problem Hawaii faces isn’t entirely unique. It’s tough to sell incentives in a market that has scaled so rapidly and where prices have fallen so precipitously – and continue to do so. But it’s hard to imagine a world where the state can reach its goal of powering itself entirely by renewable energy by 2045 without something like SB 2100 in place.

    Let’s hope that the bill comes back next session and that Hawaii sees its way clear to continue its clean-energy leadership by passing it.

    More:

    Hawaii Senate Bill 2100 (Adjourned Sine Die)