January 12, 2012

January 2012 Connecting to the Grid Newsletter

WHAT’S NEW AS OF JANUARY 2012?   Note from the Editor This month, I took time out to reflect on 2011’s Policyland roller coaster, to celebrate the novel advancements and lament the setbacks. Let’s start with the good news (and luckily, there were plenty of candidates). I found the following regulatory snapshots to be particularly…

WHAT’S NEW AS OF JANUARY 2012?

 

Note from the Editor

This month, I took time out to reflect on 2011’s Policyland roller coaster, to celebrate the novel advancements and lament the setbacks. Let’s start with the good news (and luckily, there were plenty of candidates). I found the following regulatory snapshots to be particularly ground-breaking:

1) Hawaii Interconnection

On November 29, 2011, the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission issued an order that significantly improved Hawaii’s interconnection procedures, known as Rule 14H. In addition to other improvements, a unique supplemental review process was incorporated into Rule 14H to allow a generator to avoid more intensive study if the “aggregate capacity per Line Section is below 50% of the Line Section minimum kW load during the period when the proposed generation is available.”  Then, in December, the Hawaii PUC issued another favorable decision that broke further ground in several burgeoning interconnection issues.

Why this matters:  Hawaii has proven its place among the leaders of clean energy policy in the country. This shift away from a hard 15% (of line section peak load) interconnection screen, in favor of a more flexible 50% of minimum load screen has already begun to pique the interest of other states that are experiencing high solar adoption rates.  In other words, this development can allow more solar to safely connect to the grid, in more places.

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State News in Detail

Northeast States

Massachusetts publishes solar ACP rate schedule

New York makes minor updates to the state’s interconnection requirements

Vermont plans an aggressive renewable energy goal

 

Mid-Atlantic States        

Maryland municipality exploring net metering options

New Jersey lauds solar programs and accomplishments

 

Midwestern States        

Michigan PSC approves renewable energy plan for Detroit Edison

Wisconsin improves net metering for Xcel customers

 

Southern States

Florida municipality okays net metering and interconnection rules

 

Western States             

California makes headway in interconnection reform

 

Other States                 

Hawaii renders final interconnection decisions

  

Upcoming Events

 

Miscellaneous News

NREL launches geospatial mapping tool for renewable energy

 

 

Download the full newsletter as a PDF: January 2012 Connecting to the Grid Newsletter

FORMAT

While customer-sited net metering and interconnection policies are primarily addressed at the state level, they are also becoming important on a regional basis. This newsletter has been designed to provide state-level policy updates and capture emerging regional trends. Connecting to the Grid is a free, electronic newsletter published each month by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, Inc. (IREC). Click here to subscribe.

Editor: Laurel Varnado