June 13, 2012

June 2012 Connecting to the Grid Newsletter

WHAT’S NEW AS OF JUNE 2012?   Note from the Editor Innovating our way to solar process efficiencies Innovation and efficiency are undoubtedly two of the founding tenets of the U.S. economy. As Henry Ford, one of the founding fathers of mass production, taught us, by reducing labor hours and increasing efficiency, we can innovate…

WHAT’S NEW AS OF JUNE 2012?

 

Note from the Editor

Innovating our way to solar process efficiencies

Innovation and efficiency are undoubtedly two of the founding tenets of the U.S. economy. As Henry Ford, one of the founding fathers of mass production, taught us, by reducing labor hours and increasing efficiency, we can innovate our way to lower costs and larger market shares. Just as Ford’s vision popularized the assembly line in the early 20th century, jurisdictions around the country are beginning to innovate their way toward safe and efficient solar approval processes.

Think of all of the administrative processes that can be required to install a solar PV system: local permitting and inspection; interconnection; net metering or power purchase agreement; and rebates or incentives. With multiple layers of inspections and applications all requiring similar information, this can begin to look more like an assembly line of different processes that need to be completed to reach the final product.

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State News in Detail

Northeast States

Massachusetts DPU seeks clarification on net metering definitions

Vermont PSB extends streamlined process for small PV systems

 

Mid-Atlantic States      

Maryland PSC convenes net metering working group to examine feasibility of community solar

 

Midwestern States       

Minnesota begins to assess distributed generation status

 

Southern States          

Texas PUC approves third-party ownership of distributed generation

 

Western States        

Arizona consortium releases updated Solar Strategic Plan

California PUC resolves net metering cap, allows additional 2 GW of capacity

New Mexico co-op launches community solar program

Oregon Governor releases draft energy plan

Washington interconnection group provides update on key issues


  

Upcoming Events

 

Miscellaneous News

PJM region surpasses 1 GW of solar

Germany hits 50% solar capacity mark, at 22 GW

 

Download the full newsletter as a PDF: June 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