September 13, 2012

September Connecting to the Grid Newsletter

WHAT’S NEW AS OF September 2012?   Note from the Editor The New and Updated Freeing the Grid: Policy metrics have never been more fun For five years now, Freeing the Grid has been a staple resource for the renewable energy community.  During this time IREC has been collaborating with the Network for New Energy…

WHAT’S NEW AS OF September 2012?

 

Note from the Editor

The New and Updated Freeing the Grid: Policy metrics have never been more fun

For five years now, Freeing the Grid has been a staple resource for the renewable energy community.  During this time IREC has been collaborating with the Network for New Energy Choices, the Vote Solar Initiative and the North Carolina Solar Center to bring you Freeing the Grid and this year, we have made it even easier and more accessible, by putting it on the web in an interactive platform.  This month, I’m pleased to announce we have just updated the site to include the 2012 grades.

 

The purpose of Freeing the Grid is to grade all 50 states on two foundational policies for renewable energy – Interconnection and Net Metering– which govern how renewable energy systems are connected to the utility grid compensated for excess energy put back onto the grid.  In order to provide these grades, we break each policy down into its component provisions and measure them against an objective set of criteria. These grading criteria continue to evolve somewhat over time, to keep up with best-practice improvements seen in both policies. We have continually evaluated developments taking place across the country to ensure that our model stays relevant within the current policy landscape.

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State News in Detail

 

Northeast States       

Massachusetts DPU clarifies net metering cap terms

Mid-Atlantic States  

New Jersey BPU examines standby charge discount for clean distributed generation

Midwestern States     

Michigan PSC announces milestone for net metering

Southern States      

Arkansas PSC proposes to add meter aggregation from IREC’s model rules

Western States  

California PUC proposes to adopt interconnection revision settlement; LADWP releases FIT progress report

Colorado Solar Gardens open up for business, sell out in 30 minutes

Other States             

Hawaii and Japan sign clean energy Memo of Understanding

Upcoming Events

 

Miscellaneous News

NC Solar Center releases report on solar regulations for historic buildings

New England governors push for bulk procurement of renewable energy

FERC Commissioner Backs Distributed Generation

California Regulators Push for Energy Storage on Solar Farm

 

Download the full newsletter as a PDF: September 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