Feed in tariff's moving forward in Los Angeles

Good news for the City of Angels! Los Angeles city council recently approved a feed-in tariff program that allows the LA Department of Water and Power to buy renewable electricity from projects.

The program will start with a 10 megawatt pilot with a ultimate goal of 75MW by 2016. And the city is still conducting analysis to determine the rates- but reports suggest that it will likely reach about $0.18 per kilowatt-hour.

LA also offers rebates for solar electric system installations at homes and businesses, and the rebate program has been so popular the city has already executed the budget for this fiscal year.

Read more about this in Ucilia Wang's article Los Angeles Set to Launch a Feed-in Tariff Program

The future of net metering in San Mateo

Current political debates in San Mateo will likely affect the amount of savings taxpayers will see from their solar investments. According to Peter Hanley, the Vice President of the San Mateo Union High School District Board of Trustees, Net Metering in the area faces two distinct threats; limits to net metering, and new legislation being pushed by the Utility companies.

Of 43 states that have net metering policies, fewer than half limit the size of the installation. California does. Current legislation exists that caps the  benefits schools could reap from net metering. The  law only allows net metering for systems up to 1 MW- in essence limiting the energy savings taxpayers could see with large public sector buildings.

The second threat, Hanley outlines in this article,  is the new push by the San Mateo utility companies to impose a "solar tax" on anyone using net metering. This would apply to school districts, public sector buildings and thus the average tax payer. The "solar tax" would cut into the savings solar panel investments projected- which would be, of course, disappointing. But when it comes to public buildings- this eradication of savings can have an even deeper meaning: as Hanley says "when the savings we projected do not materialize, we have even less money for our classrooms."

It's an interesting point to think about. Read the full op-ed piece by Hanley, and the  vice-chair of the California Schools of the Future Committee, Steve Rogers, here in the Silicon Valley Mercury News.

St. Louis hits it out of the ball park with solar energy

Nothing says baseball like hot dogs, home runs and solar energy. Well at least in St. Louis that is. The Cardinals have partnered with Microgrid Energy, the Electrical Connection and Sachs Electric to utilize solar energy at Busch Stadium. Two solar arrays- of 106 total panels have been installed on the roof of the ticket building and a on top of a canopy in the left centerfield bleachers. The array will produce 32,000 kilowatt hours of energy each year, help reduce the stadium's energy costs, and help the Cards go a little greener.

Read Michael de los Reyes' article St. Louis Cardinals Cooking with Solar Power for Home Series. Or visit a site Microgrid Energy created just for this project.

Thailand takes a giant solar step

Natural Energy Development (NED), is a partnership of local and foreign financial institutions teamed up with the manufacturer Sharp Corporation. Together they are preparing to develop the largest solar plant to date in Thailand.

The project is a 73MW solar plant in the Lopburi province (about 2 hours from Bangkok). The initial phase will start at 8MW and additional capacity will come on line in monthly phases until full capacity is reached in 2013.

The Asian Development Bank has loaned up to US$70 million, and the Kasikorn Bank PCL, Bangkok Bank PCL and Siam Commercial Bank PCL have provided an additional US$98 million). In addition, all of the banks have promised another US$39 million for the 11 MW second phase expansion.

NED has entered into a power purchase agreement with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand for purchasing 55 MW from the commercial operation date. When fully operational, the project is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 1.3 million tonnes over its life time, and reduce fossil fuel imports by more than 35,000 tonnes per year. But this isn't the only large project in the works in Thailand, and when they all come on line- Thailand is poised to be a new leader in solar. Read more about the NED project and the others in the works in Jeremy Wilcox's article Thailand Joins the Solar Fast Lane.

New State Law Aims to Increase Incentives in Massachusetts

Some US states are actively trying to make things a little more difficult for citizens interested in using renewable energy. Massachusetts, however, is trying to make it easier. The state Senate unanimously passed a law last week increasing the incentives to utilize renewable energy.  The bill will now move to the house.

The new law will increase the required amount of power utility companies must buy.  and aims to curb energy costs at the same time. According to the new law, utility companies will no longer conduct one on one negotiations with renewable power companies- but are required to competitively bid for these long term contracts.t

In a statement, Senate President Therese Murray said "the bill will help bring down the state's high electricity costs without compromising its commitment to renewable energy."

Read more about it in Business Week

Vermont increases tariff scheme

Vermont recently introduced an increase in its tariff scheme for solar photovoltaic and wind turbines. After much discussion, (some it still ongoing) Vermont's Public Service Board (PSB) raised the solar PV tariff nearly 18%, and raised the tariff on small wind turbines almost 13 percent.

This increased tariff is not welcomed by the folks investing in, and encouraging investment in renewable energy in Vermont. In fact,  according to this article authored by the principle of AllEarth Renewable, the over all performance of the state's renewable energy program has been fairly limited. And this tariff increase is another hindrance. Although a number of solar projects are slated for 2012, by the end of 2011, only 4 projects and one hydro project had been built. The article points out how underwhelming these numbers are, as it compares the state of Vermont As the article points out-  compared to Gainesville, Florida- which has installed double the amount of solar PVs with a population of only a fraction of Vermont's.

Renewable Energy Vermont (REV), a group advocating for increased investment in renewables, has argued that Vermont is moving too slowly with it's renewable programs and that they aren't achieving the standards outlined in the original legislation. REV has also disagreed with the manner in which the PSB has modeled the solar project performance and costs, and thus find decisions  like this tariff increase erroneous.  Read more here about REV's argument and  this ongoing debate that will likely impact investments in renewable energy in Vermont. 

1603 Has Positive Impact on Economy

The Energy Department recently released a study analyzing the impact of the 2009 stimulus law, called the Preliminary Analysis of the Jobs and Economic Impacts of Renewable Energy Projects Supported by the 1603 Treasury Grants Program. The study, conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, specifically looked at the effect of the grant programs for green electricity projects. The program expired at the end of 2011, but since implementation in 2009, it provided roughly $9 billion in grants covering over 23,000 large wind and solar photovoltaic projects.

When discussing the economic benefits of renewable energy, we should most certainly consider these highlights of NREL's study:

- the program created as many as 75,000 jobs annually over three years.

- the program supported $9 billion- $14 billion in total earnings in that same time frame, 

- the program produced $26 billion - $44 billion in economic output since 2009

Read the report for yourself here.