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Hawaii Revolutionizes Consumer-Utility Relationship With New Law

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened: Hawaii has rebalanced the relationship between utilities and their customers with a new law tying rate increases to performance data.

According to Hawaii Public Radio, “The Hawaii Ratepayer Protection Act will require the Public Utilities Commission, the PUC, to develop incentives for local electric companies to modernize and manage costs.’

The law takes effect July 1st. The PUC will then be required to create an incentive framework by January 1, 2020.

SolarWakeup’s View: To call Hawaii’s solar situation “complicated” would be like calling World War II a “kefuffle.” Ever since October 2015, when the PUC eliminated net metering precipitously (in the minds of many), the solar industry has struggled to re-find its identity. Hell, things in Hawaii were so bad that last year, the president of the Hawaii Solar Energy Association told an audience at Intersolar North America:

”I think people working in solar in Hawaii have reached the fifth stage of grief – acceptance – as many of us are looking at the impending death, for all intents and purposes, of the solar industry in the state,” he added.

He also added that a painful (he called it “nasty, brutish and long”) transition from net-metering to three stopgap programs that have slowed residential installations to a crawl.

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A law signed by Governor Daniel Ige, however, called the Hawaii Ratepayer Protection Act, could restart the business – at least that’s the hope of residential companies already heavily invested in the solar industry like Sunrun (emphasis added).

“Other state Legislatures and Commissions should take notice of Hawaii’s efforts,” said Anne Hoskins, chief policy officer of Sunrun. “The time to make these changes is now, before billions of dollars are spent in rebuilding our outdated electrical networks. Rooftop solar and home batteries are allowing users to choose a system that maximizes public benefits, not utility shareholder profits. Let’s keep giving people the freedom to create a brighter future.”

Any legislation that can help alleviate the mindless fighting between utilities and solar users is music to my ears. Let’s hope this new law can help the Aloha State return to its place as a leading residential solar state (and may this law, if it works, become a model for the rest of the country).

More:

Electricity Ratepayer Protection Act Signed Into Law (audio included) (HPR)

Florida Public Service Commission OKs Sunrun’s Petition – So It’s Full Speed Ahead

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened:On a vote of 5-0, the Florida Public Service Commission has approved Sunrun’s request that its third party leases not be considered a sale of electricity and that:

Offering its solar equipment lease to customers in Florida will not cause Sunrun to be deemed a public utility under Florida law;

The residential solar equipment lease described in its petition will not subject Sunrun or Sunrun’s customer-lessees to regulation by the Commission.

SolarWakeup’s View: In a victory for third-party leasing in the state of Florida, Sunrun has JUST been granted the right to sell its products in the state of Florida.

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Sunrun asked the Florida Public Service Commission in Decemeber to declare that its third-party ownership business model wouldn’t instantly make them a regulated utility or penalize their customers under the same rules. The Commission voted unanimously to approve the staff recommendation.

The unanimity of the decision was surprising, given the legendary power of the utilities in the state. Some observers fully expected a decision on the petition to be postponed for more discussion, even after Sunrun voluntarily submitted a copy of its lease in March for the commission to peruse.

During the brief discussion, Sunrun was asked about its Florida website and whether homeowners had access to it, to which Sunrun responded that they would once the company started operating in the state officially (which, it should be noted, required passage of the declatory statement the company requested).

Now that Sunrun has blazed the trail, I’d expect more third-party leasing companies to flood the state. After all, a 2008 report from the Florida Public Service Commission suggested there is the potential of a 52 GW solar resource in Florida that is not currently being exploited.

“The Commission’s vote to grant our petition is a critical step toward broadening access to solar energy for Floridian households,” said Anne Hoskins, chief policy officer of Sunrun. “We are grateful for the time the Commission and technical staff spent promptly reviewing our petition and our Florida lease product and look forward to bringing additional solar energy choice to more people in the Sunshine State soon.”

“Sunrun is delighted to now be able to offer Floridians the opportunity to lease a solar system, enabling them to have clean, reliable, affordable solar power for their homes,” said Lynn Jurich, CEO and co-founder of Sunrun.

This article was edited at 10:45 am on 4/20/2018 to add comments from Anne Hoskins, chief policy officer of Sunrun.

This article was edited at 1:48 pm on 4/20/2018 to add comments from Lynn Jurich, CEO and co-founder of Sunrun.

More:

FPSC Staff Recommendation:

StaffReport

Original Sunrun Petition

OriginalSunrunPetition

Back To The Future: New Jersey Starts Its Solar Return

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened: The New Jersey legislature yesterday passed two bills – one in the House and one in the Senate – designed to jumpstart the state’s solar industry by:

increasing the overall RPS to 50 percent by 2030
enabling a community solar program
shutting down its problematic sREC program
reducing the overall cost of the current solar Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) by lowering the Solar Alternative Compliance Payment.

SolarWakeup’s View: New Jersey has been quietly fuming as New York leapfrogged over it as a progressive state in the race for solar leadership. Well, yesterday, the Garden State told the world it was going back to the future and reclaiming the solar prominence it enjoyed under former Governor Jon Corzine.

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It’s easy to forget now, but New Jersey once sat in the second spot of the Solar Energy Industries Association’s Top 10 Solar States annual report not that long ago. But under a chaotic solar renewable energy credit (sREC) program combined with an exceedingly modest renewable portfolio standard (RPS), it had fallen all the way to fifth. And when most recent Governor Chris Christie left office with an RPS increase bill tucked neatly in his back pocket, the solar industry sighed heavily and resigned itself to slowly sinking even further.

But take heart, New Jerseyans – Governor Phil Murphy is here, and the legislature is about to send him a combined bill that will not provide New Jersey the springboard it needs to vault back to the top of the solar states list and grab at least a few headlines from the … colorful and bombastic governor of New York, who has been promoting solar in the Empire State like it’s the last thing he’s going to do on Earth.

“We applaud the New Jersey legislature for its forward-looking decision in passing twin solar bills that will set the stage for the solar industry’s continued expansion,” said Jesse Grossman, CEO of Soltage. “Now it’s time for the state’s industry – Soltage included – to roll up our sleeves and get work in returning New Jersey to its proper place top tier solar states in the union.”

It’s time for New Jersey to hop into the Delorean and go back to the future under its new governor. Not only is it good for the state, it also shows states like my own beloved Ohio that cloudy and cold should not inhibit the growth of a solar industry. I look forward to seeing New Jersey’s comeback. It’s long overdue.

This article was edited at 1:44 pm ET to add comments from Jesse Grossman, CEO of Soltage.

More:

New Jersey Legislature Passes Bill Supporting State’s Solar Sector

New Jersey Solar Industry Receives Much-Needed Win

Americans Tell Gallup: Develop More Solar, Please

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened: Gallup’s annual Environment survey indicates that Americans want to develop more alternative energy sources instead of traditional fossil-fuel generation, to the tune of 73%. (Psst…Gallup….Lynn Jurich called and would like her conclusion back, please. Thank you.)

In contrast, only 25% of the country is worried about the availability or affordability of energy in this country.
And finally, more than half of Americans want to prioritize environmental conservation over fossil-fuel energy development (which may mean that, for now, the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve is safe from oil derricks).

SolarWakeup’s View: All I keep hearing is how much Americans want to develop more solar energy. Poll after poll indicates that, including what I refer to as “the famous 90% poll” I’ve been hearing about since I joined the industry in 2011. Lynn Jurich of Sunrun posited as much in her latest thought-leadership piece.

The latest Gallup Environment survey is no exception.

According to the poll’s findings, 73% of Americans want the United States to wean itself of traditional fossil fuels and pour more research into alternative energy sources like solar and wind. And more than 50% prefer to protect the environment over more fossil fuel exploration.

So why does solar still find itself fighting an uphill battle in state after state to get itself established (in South Carolina, for example, where they were SO close to expandinig the industry but decided to kill it instead – sorry, my jaw is still dropped on that one)?

The answer is pretty easy, of course, and you know it deep in your soul – the coal, oil and gas industries are deeply entrenched in the political and utility infrastructure, and those interests are fighting a savage rearguard action to maintain their own power.

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But it’s a fight they will lose. The American people keep speaking, loudly, against their monopoly. Eventually, those voices will drown out the shrieking death throes of fossil fuel interests.

In the meantime, however, solar can’t just sit back and wait for this to happen. Americans have the attention spans of drunken gnats, so it’s incumbent on us to keep fighting to get the word out about the benefits of solar energy – as a job creator, as an environmental safeguard and as a national-security bulwark. I’ve always said that if we could activate the general public, solar would win this battle easily.

So let’s do it already – there are groups out there with whom an alliance to make this happen just makes sense. Make it happen in your community, and I’ll do what I can to make it happen in mine.

Deal?

More:

U.S. Energy Concerns Low; Increasing Supply Not a Priority (Gallup)

What Would Consumers Choose? (Solar. They Would Choose Solar.) (SolarWakeup, courtesy of Sunrun)

Solar United Neighbors