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Shared Solar and
Distributed Renewables
David Desiderato
Shared Solar Organizer
November 2018
Our Energy Future
Fossil fuels helped build our economy.
But now we know the harm they cause:
• Increasing costs
• Climate crisis: extreme storms, floods, fires, global warming
We must cut fossil fuels, through:
• Efficiency
• Renewable energy
Best ways to expand renewables in CT: DG, by “prosumers”
• Shared / Community Solar (and other renewables)
• Virtual Net Metering (VNM)
• Commercial Scale Solar
• Residential Solar
This presentation:
• Status of these strategies and challenges today
• What we can all do to move them forward now
Status: Residential
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
About 30,000 CT homes have gone solar
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
180mw
220 mw
August 2017 August 2018
Residential Solar Capacity in CT
Sources: US Energy Information Administration Electricity Monthly Updates - Table 6.2.Bhttps://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.cfm?t=epmt_6_02_b
CT Green Bank: Section 106 data, through 12/31/17: https://www.energizect.com/sites/default/files/Section%20106%20Data%20for%20Web%202017-12-31.xlsx
Status: Larger, Non-utility Solar
Developed through Virtual Net Metering, ZREC, C-PACE and other programs
Sources: US Energy Information Administration Electricity Monthly Updates - Table 6.2.B
https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.cfm?t=epmt_6_02_b
Status: Same old dirty, risky fuel mx
Region’s electricity:
80% natural gas and nuclear.
48%
31%
8%
3% 3% 3% 2% 1% 1%
NATURALGAS
NUCLEAR HYDRO WIND REFUSE WOOD COAL SOLAR OIL
Fuel Sources -- %New England, 2017
Source: ISO New England - 2017 Net Energy and Peak Load : https://www.iso-ne.com/isoexpress/web/reports/load-and-demand/-/tree/net-ener-peak-load/
Why We Need Distributed Generation
Our electricity is expensive.
Source: US Energy Information Agency – Electric Power Monthly – October 2018
https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.cfm?t=epmt_5_06_a
Rates are high because …
Sources: CT DEEP, Comprehensive Energy Strategy, p. 148-9 - http://www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/energy/ces/electric_power_sector.pdf
Generation Transmission
& Distribution
137%65%
135%
Distributed generation reduces transmission and distribution costs
Solar on rooftops alone could technically
supply HALF of our power…
Source: National Renewable Energy Lab: Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Technical Potential in the United States: A Detailed Assessment – January 2016
https://www.nrel.gov/research/publications.html
…WITHOUT clearing forests or using farmland.
Potential for Solar
Potential for Solar
By 2050, ALL our power could come from renewables
Source: The Solutions Project: http://thesolutionsproject.org/infographic/#ct
Peoples Action for Clean Energy (PACE) is meeting with towns to plan for 100%
After years of missed opportunities …
2015
2017
2014
2016
… while other states reaped the
benefits of the green economy ….
Michigan
The Good:• Utilities must get more
power from renewables
(RPS)
• Shared Solar Program
• Virtual Net Metering
• Commercial Solar
Incentives Extended
• Green Bank and
Efficiency Protections
The Bad:• Limited eligibility,
caps, delay
• Still capped
• Retail rate net
metering program for
rooftop solar replaced
with restrictive tariff
The work ahead:• DEEP and PURA -- proceedings on PA 18-50
• Legislature -- get fair pricing for rooftop and
commercial solar and expand shared solar
• Local -- ID shared solar sites and show demand
... 2018 saw steps forward (and backward).
2018 Progress: Shared Solar
FINALLY, CT has joined other states to start allowing everyone – especially low and
moderate-income customers -- access to renewable power. BUT: lots to be worked out.
Source: PA 18-50. Section 7
Good:
• 25 mw/year for 6 years =
150mw
• Major set-asides for low-
income and low/mod
income:
• 10%+ of every project
for LI customers
• Additional 10%for LI,
MI, or LI groups
• Businesses, the state,
towns, are all eligible (no
more than 50% of a project
can be for commercial
customer)
Bad:
• Need and demand is much
more than 150mw
• “Use or lose” annual
allotment
• Other eligible customers
must demonstrate they are
“unable” to do rooftop solar
• Lots to be ironed out in
DEEP and PURA
proceedings over next year
• Rates unclear
• Start date January 2020
Unknown:
• Rates could be based
on lowest bid, or cost-
plus, or combination;
could be more than 1
rate
• Pilot was complicated,
risky for developers;
program needs to be
simpler, more doable
• What does “unable”
mean?
• Etc. etc.
We can all help move Shared Solar forward byparticipating in DEEP and PURA proceedings to help develop good program rules!
Getting Ready for Shared Solar: 4 local steps we can take
1. ID sites
2. ID subscribers
1. Sites
Brownfields Big buildings
Along highwaysParking garages
250+ closed landfills in CT
3. Talk with developers
4. Prepare proposals for early 2020
Source: USSolar Website
Getting Ready for Shared Solar:4 local steps we can take
2. Subscribers
• 800,000 potential
• Must be in the same utility service
area as the source (Eversource or UI)
“Communities of interest:”
• Neighborhood residents
• Tenant or condo assn. members
• Faith group members
• Subsidized housing residents
• Chamber of Commerce members
• ______________________
• ______________________
Variety of structures:
• Non-profit
• 3rd party developer
• Co-op
• NOT: utility-owned
Getting Ready for Shared Solar:4 local steps we can take
3. Talk with Developers
90+ solar companies in CT
Three developers selected for Pilot:
Sources: PURA Decision in Dkt 17-06-28; attendees of DEEP Scoping Meeting 11/5/18
Other developers:• Ameresco
• C-TEC (Bloomfield Pilot Project)
• Capital for Change (Thompson Pilot
Project)
• Kearsage Energy
• MSL Group
• Verogy
• Pinegate Renewables
Resources:• REEBA (Renewable Energy and
Efficiency Business Assn)
• NECEC (Northeast Clean Energy
Council)
• CT Green Bank
• CT Fund for the Environment
• National: (CCSA) Coalition for
Community Solar Access
2018 Action: Larger Solar Installs(businesses, government, farms)
Sources: PA 18-50; CT Green Bank Comprehensive Plan, revised July 2018. Note: the market is for a range of energy
efficiency services as well as renewable generation. TAM = technical potential; SAM = economic potential
A mix of opportunities and limits …
• One year of LREC and ZREC funding streams
• Capped at 50mw/year for 6 years (300 mw) total (Virtual Net Metering, commercial, government, farm)
• Annual “use or lose”
• Start date January 2020
• “Procurement” through auctions, lowest bidder, lots of uncertainties – rates, utility control
• DEEP and PURA proceedings over next year
… that ignores the potential:
Large Solar -- Virtual Net Metering (VNM)
VNM = shared solar for towns, farms and the state
Source: http://www.reeba.org/system/wp-content/uploads/Panel-5-VNM.ppt
Large Solar -- Virtual Net Metering (VNM)
Source: Eversource, Virtual Net Metering Annual Reports, PURA Docket 11-07-05, Compliance Order #2; towns
8.5
14.0
4.8
Towns have used VNM for 27 projects totaling 27.3 MW through 2017
(Eversource area)
Approved
In Service
Waiting List
Newtown landfill: • 4-acre array
• Power costs at 6.3c/kwh instead of 9.8c.
Police, public works, other town
facilities.
Woodstock: 9.3 c/kwh instead of 16 c
TOWNS
Large Solar -- Virtual Net Metering (VNM)
Farmers want renewables
7.3
5.0
Farms have used VNM for 13 projects totaling 12.2 MW through 2017
(Eversource area)
In Service
Approved
CT’s VNM ended long before
demand was met.
Sources: Eversource, Virtual Net Metering Annual Reports, PURA Docket 11-07-05, Compliance Order #2;
CT Farm Energy Survey 2014, CT Farm Energy Program, https://ctrcd.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/2014_Farm_Energy_Survey.pdf
FARMS
Sources: DEEP – Reducing Energy Use at State Facilities -- www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/energy/lbe/Reducing_Energy_Use_at_State_Facilities_February_2017.pdf and utility annual
reports on VNM to PURA.; Acadia Center report on LBE - http://acadiacenter.org/document/status-of-connecticuts-lead-by-example-energy-efficiency-program-for-state-buildings/
Efficiency – same huge potential
“Lead By Example” efficiency program launched in 2012
Renewables - huge potential:
• 3000 electricity accounts
• 600 million kwh a year
• 14 cents/kwh
• $84 million in annual electricity costs
Virtual Net Metering?
Large Solar -- Virtual Net Metering (VNM)
STATE
2018 Action: Rollback of Residential
Solar Compensation
Sources: PA 18-50; CT Green Bank Comprehensive Plan, revised July 2018, p.40-42
What Changed?
• Simple net metering (monthly
accounting, annual true-up) ends after
300 mw reached
• New solar rates one of 2 schemes:
• “Buy-All / Sell All” or
• Daily or hourly or instantaneous
power tracking
• New rates:
• Unknown, untested
• Could make it harder to load
shift, integrate storage
• Make rooftop solar less
economic
• Throw growing solar industry into
chaos
Why is this bad for CT?
• Imperils enormous potential in residential
rooftop solar
• To date:
• 30,000 solar homes
• 215 mw
• 1-2% of state’s consumption
• Potential (CT Green Bank):
• 500,000+ homes (could be
650,000+ as costs go down)
• 3,890 mw
• 22% of state’s consumption
• $12 billion investment
• 70-100,000 job years
LEGISLATIVE CORRECTION NEEDED IN 2019
DEEP and PURA Dockets to watch
DEEPDepartment of Energy and Environmental Protection
PURAPublic Utilities Regulatory Authority
Docket 18-08-33 – 4 Tracks:
1. Review Utilities’ Proposals for Procurement
• Utilities submitted draft plans Oct 2018
• Interim decision - Aug 2019
2. Rate issues common to residential &
commercial & shared solar:
• REC treatment
• System benefits
• Customer load
• Consumer protections
No decision expected
3. Residential solar rates replacing net metering
• Interim rates -- decision Dec 2018
• Permanent rates – decision Aug 2019
4. Shared solar
• Rates
• Program guidelines
• Starts after DEEP files draft, July 2019
We ALL Want renewables – 2 recent polls
Sources:
https://www.consumerreports.org/alternative-energy/majority-of-americans-want-cleaner-energy-from-renewable-sources;
http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/20180917/PRINTEDITION/309139928
• 81% - reducing pollution from power plants is a worthwhile goal.
• 76% - increasing renewable energy is a worthwhile goal.
• 70% - expect electricity to become cleaner over time.
• 53% - willing to install solar panels on their own roof or participate in a community
solar garden or array if they could recover their investment in five years.
• 48% - willing to pay $5 more per month for energy that comes from renewable
sources.
• 18% - believe that their utility company cares about lowering costs for consumers.
Sept. 2018 - CTSierra Club/Greenberg Quinlan
Oct. 2018 - USConsumer Reports
2018 CT Elections
“If newly elected lawmakers are looking for a bi-partisan issue that can make a big
impact in their communities, they need to look no further than community solar… the
community solar market can sustainably scale to 50-80 times its current size by 2030
or to 57-84 GW. … 9 million new solar customers, including 4 million low-to-
moderate income customers … $120 billion in capital investment in new local
energy infrastructure …. a win-win-win for customers, the grid, and the
environment.”
-- Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA), 11/8/18 (bold added)
New Governor:
Energy and Technology Committee:
• New leaders, new members
House and Senate:
• More favorable
“I will streamline our state’s community solar permitting process and
virtual net metering rules to sped construction of medium-to-large solar
installations over brownfields, parking lots and warehouses..”
Sources: https://nedlamont.com/issues/energy/expand-renewable-energy; http://www.communitysolaraccess.org/election-
results-signal-continued-growth-trajectory-for-community-solar-in-2019/
We all pay for solar rebates
Sources: Eversource Rate 1: https://www.eversource.com/Content/docs/default-source/rates-tariffs/rate1.pdf?sfvrsn=10
United Illuminating Rate R: http://www.uinet.com/wps/wcm/connect/0cc7658041384518ac0fec7a239a91d1/Rate_R_03-30-
2017.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=0cc7658041384518ac0fec7a239a91d1
“Combined Public
Benefit Charge”
1.3 cents/kwh:
• System Benefits Charge
- 6/10 of a cent /kwh
• Conservation Charge -
3/10 of a cent/kwh
• Conservation
Adjustment Mechanism
– 3/10 of a cent/kwh
• Renewable Energy
Charge - 1/10th of a
cent per kwh
(26 cents in this
example)
But we don’t all benefit from the Residential Solar Incentive Program
Hartford and
East Hartford
pay more,
get less.
New Haven pays more, gets less.
Meriden, Middletown pay more, get less.
Our Goal:
Full statewide shared renewables –
so EVERYONE has access
to clean energy
How will we get there?
1. Spread the word!
I want
solar,
please!
• Tell friends and family about new
opportunities
• Letters to the editor, to Legislators
• Ask legislators where they stand
• Invite us to speak to your group
• Engage town groups and leaders about
sites and subscribers
“We are the leaders we’ve been waiting for.”
How will we get there?
2. Town resolutions: call on legislators to support
shared solar, VNM, fair pricing for solar
CFE can help:
Model
resolutions
Organizing
tips
Local
contacts
“When people lead, the leaders will follow.”
How will we get there?
3. Sign up. Get informed. Stay in touch.
http://www.ctenvironment.org
Claire203-787-0646 x122
ccoleman@ctenvironment.org
David860-508-0107
ddesiderato@ctenvironment.org
sharedsolar@ctenvironment.org
Working together, we’ll get there!
CFE is working toward a clean energy future.
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