News from DSIRE: week of 9/20/10
IDAHO – Solar Rebates Fully Subscribed Idaho’s energy-efficient appliance rebate program has been fully subscribed, and all new applications will be placed on a waiting list. This federally-funded program offered rebates for a variety of Energy Star appliances, including solar water heating systems. MASSACHUSETTS – Commonwealth Solar II Funding Block Exhausted The third block of funding…
IDAHO – Solar Rebates Fully Subscribed
Idaho’s energy-efficient appliance rebate program has been fully subscribed, and all new applications will be placed on a waiting list. This federally-funded program offered rebates for a variety of Energy Star appliances, including solar water heating systems.
MASSACHUSETTS – Commonwealth Solar II Funding Block Exhausted
The third block of funding for Massachusetts’s popular Commonwealth Solar II Rebate program is now closed. The fourth block is scheduled to start in early October, according to program administrators. A block of $1 million in funding is available each quarter, with a total of $4 million in funding per year.
NEW HAMPSHIRE – Renewables Rebates Reduced
New Hampshire has received more than 470 applications for residential wind and PV rebates since July 2009, when the program began. Because of the limited funding and the program’s popularity, rebate levels have been reduced from $3/W to $1.25/W. Maximum rebate amounts have also been reduced from $6,000 (or 50% of system cost, whichever is less) to $4,500 (or 50% of system cost, whichever is less). Program administrators will also establish a waiting list because funding for FY 2011 is almost fully subscribed.
NEW MEXICO – PNM Solar Incentives Mutate
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission has approved various changes to PNM’s performance-based incentive for solar-electric systems. The REC price paid for systems smaller than 10 kW has been reduced from $0.13 per kWh to $0.12 per kWh. The commission also divided larger systems into additional capacity categories, each with a different incentive payment. The incentive payment awarded for each category will “step down” over time as certain MW goals are reached. The PRC also declared that solar thermal electric technologies are now eligible for program incentives.
NEW YORK – LIPA PV Rebates Again in Flux
The Long Island Power Authority has once again revised the terms under which it will issue rebates for residential and non-residential PV systems. The latest change, the fifth in 2010 by our count, sets non-residential funding blocks through the end of 2010 and revises the residential funding blocks set in August 2010. Both sectors will now be allocated three funding blocks of 250 kW each through the end of 2010. The first blocks will open October 1, with subsequent blocks opening November 1 and December 1. Incentive levels remain at $1.75/W in general, and at $2.75/W for non-profits, schools and local governments.
OREGON – EWEB PV Incentive Steps Down
The Eugene Water & Electric Board’s Solar Electric Program offers financial incentives for residential and commercial customers who generate electricity using PV systems. A performance-based incentive is available to customers with systems greater than 10 kW in capacity who choose not to net meter. The incentive level has stepped down slightly from $0.076/kWh to $0.071/kWh at the lower end and from $0.12/kWh to $0.11/kWh at the upper end.
VERMONT – PV Incentive Levels Drop Again
Vermont’s recently redesigned Small-Scale Renewable Energy Incentive Program incorporates planned step-downs. The PV component of this program has reached its second milestone of another 750 kW reserved, and as planned, the incentive has been reduced from $1.25/W to $1/W for the first 10 kW. Tiers two and three were not changed. In addition, Vermont’s “Special Category” PV program also reached its first milestone of 250 kW, and as planned, the incentive has been reduced from $3.00/W to $2.50/W for the first 10 kW and from $2/W to $1.50/W for the second tier. (Neither the wind nor the solar hot water components of this program have reached their milestones; the full incentive levels are still available for these types of systems.)
