March Connecting to the Grid Newsletter
WHAT’S NEW AS OF MARCH 2012? Note from the Editor Governments may not always be able to change course as quickly as the private sector, but once they put their policies behind an idea, they have the ability to make things happen on quite a large scale. Such has been the evolution of government…
WHAT’S NEW AS OF MARCH 2012?
Note from the Editor
Governments may not always be able to change course as quickly as the private sector, but once they put their policies behind an idea, they have the ability to make things happen on quite a large scale. Such has been the evolution of government initiatives to source more power from renewable energy resources. Over the last decade, government agencies have worked to put in place a number of renewable energy policies and goals; now I think we are about to see a few of them change course in a major way.
Military agencies are a good example. A joint initiative formed between the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Energy (DoE) in 2008 led to a task force to examine the potential for net-zero energy military bases, which would produce as much on-site energy from renewable resources as the bases consume. The near-term Army goal is to have 25 net-zero bases by 2030, and the Army is well under way toward this goal. If the Army continues along this path, the result could be a massive deployment of renewable technologies.
State News in Detail
Northeast States
Massachusetts DPU establishes DG working group; issues net metering order
New York Solar company asks for net metering tariff update
Mid-Atlantic States
New Jersey passes DG standby charge bill; prepares for SREC updates
Southern States
Alabama Army Center issues draft RFP for $7B, 30-year renewable energy contracts
Arkansas PSC debates indemnification provisions for DG
Texas utility proposes tariff with a solar penalty
Western States
California PUC issues friendly net metering reminder
Colorado utility and city debate over long-term DG incentives
Upcoming Events
Miscellaneous News
New Report Assesses the Rate Impact of Net Energy Metering
ARPA-E Issues Call for Transformational Energy Technologies
NREL Technical Paper Examines Capacity Screen For Interconnection Procedures
Download the full newsletter as a PDF: March 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
