Shared Solar and

Distributed Renewables

David Desiderato

Shared Solar Organizer

November 2018

Our Energy Future

Fossil fuels helped build our economy.

But now we know the harm they cause:

• Increasing costs

• Climate crisis: extreme storms, floods, fires, global warming

We must cut fossil fuels, through:

• Efficiency

• Renewable energy

Best ways to expand renewables in CT: DG, by “prosumers”

• Shared / Community Solar (and other renewables)

• Virtual Net Metering (VNM)

• Commercial Scale Solar

• Residential Solar

This presentation:

• Status of these strategies and challenges today

• What we can all do to move them forward now

Status: Residential

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

About 30,000 CT homes have gone solar

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

180mw

220 mw

August 2017 August 2018

Residential Solar Capacity in CT

Sources: US Energy Information Administration Electricity Monthly Updates - Table 6.2.Bhttps://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.cfm?t=epmt_6_02_b

CT Green Bank: Section 106 data, through 12/31/17: https://www.energizect.com/sites/default/files/Section%20106%20Data%20for%20Web%202017-12-31.xlsx

Status: Larger, Non-utility Solar

Developed through Virtual Net Metering, ZREC, C-PACE and other programs

Sources: US Energy Information Administration Electricity Monthly Updates - Table 6.2.B

https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.cfm?t=epmt_6_02_b

Status: Same old dirty, risky fuel mx

Region’s electricity:

80% natural gas and nuclear.

48%

31%

8%

3% 3% 3% 2% 1% 1%

NATURALGAS

NUCLEAR HYDRO WIND REFUSE WOOD COAL SOLAR OIL

Fuel Sources -- %New England, 2017

Source: ISO New England - 2017 Net Energy and Peak Load : https://www.iso-ne.com/isoexpress/web/reports/load-and-demand/-/tree/net-ener-peak-load/

Why We Need Distributed Generation

Our electricity is expensive.

Source: US Energy Information Agency – Electric Power Monthly – October 2018

https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.cfm?t=epmt_5_06_a

Rates are high because …

Sources: CT DEEP, Comprehensive Energy Strategy, p. 148-9 - http://www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/energy/ces/electric_power_sector.pdf

Generation Transmission

& Distribution

137%65%

135%

Distributed generation reduces transmission and distribution costs

Solar on rooftops alone could technically

supply HALF of our power…

Source: National Renewable Energy Lab: Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Technical Potential in the United States: A Detailed Assessment – January 2016

https://www.nrel.gov/research/publications.html

…WITHOUT clearing forests or using farmland.

Potential for Solar

Potential for Solar

By 2050, ALL our power could come from renewables

Source: The Solutions Project: http://thesolutionsproject.org/infographic/#ct

Peoples Action for Clean Energy (PACE) is meeting with towns to plan for 100%

After years of missed opportunities …

2015

2017

2014

2016

… while other states reaped the

benefits of the green economy ….

Michigan

The Good:• Utilities must get more

power from renewables

(RPS)

• Shared Solar Program

• Virtual Net Metering

• Commercial Solar

Incentives Extended

• Green Bank and

Efficiency Protections

The Bad:• Limited eligibility,

caps, delay

• Still capped

• Retail rate net

metering program for

rooftop solar replaced

with restrictive tariff

The work ahead:• DEEP and PURA -- proceedings on PA 18-50

• Legislature -- get fair pricing for rooftop and

commercial solar and expand shared solar

• Local -- ID shared solar sites and show demand

... 2018 saw steps forward (and backward).

2018 Progress: Shared Solar

FINALLY, CT has joined other states to start allowing everyone – especially low and

moderate-income customers -- access to renewable power. BUT: lots to be worked out.

Source: PA 18-50. Section 7

Good:

• 25 mw/year for 6 years =

150mw

• Major set-asides for low-

income and low/mod

income:

• 10%+ of every project

for LI customers

• Additional 10%for LI,

MI, or LI groups

• Businesses, the state,

towns, are all eligible (no

more than 50% of a project

can be for commercial

customer)

Bad:

• Need and demand is much

more than 150mw

• “Use or lose” annual

allotment

• Other eligible customers

must demonstrate they are

“unable” to do rooftop solar

• Lots to be ironed out in

DEEP and PURA

proceedings over next year

• Rates unclear

• Start date January 2020

Unknown:

• Rates could be based

on lowest bid, or cost-

plus, or combination;

could be more than 1

rate

• Pilot was complicated,

risky for developers;

program needs to be

simpler, more doable

• What does “unable”

mean?

• Etc. etc.

We can all help move Shared Solar forward byparticipating in DEEP and PURA proceedings to help develop good program rules!

Getting Ready for Shared Solar: 4 local steps we can take

1. ID sites

2. ID subscribers

1. Sites

Brownfields Big buildings

Along highwaysParking garages

250+ closed landfills in CT

3. Talk with developers

4. Prepare proposals for early 2020

Source: USSolar Website

Getting Ready for Shared Solar:4 local steps we can take

2. Subscribers

• 800,000 potential

• Must be in the same utility service

area as the source (Eversource or UI)

“Communities of interest:”

• Neighborhood residents

• Tenant or condo assn. members

• Faith group members

• Subsidized housing residents

• Chamber of Commerce members

• ______________________

• ______________________

Variety of structures:

• Non-profit

• 3rd party developer

• Co-op

• NOT: utility-owned

Getting Ready for Shared Solar:4 local steps we can take

3. Talk with Developers

90+ solar companies in CT

Three developers selected for Pilot:

Sources: PURA Decision in Dkt 17-06-28; attendees of DEEP Scoping Meeting 11/5/18

Other developers:• Ameresco

• C-TEC (Bloomfield Pilot Project)

• Capital for Change (Thompson Pilot

Project)

• Kearsage Energy

• MSL Group

• Verogy

• Pinegate Renewables

Resources:• REEBA (Renewable Energy and

Efficiency Business Assn)

• NECEC (Northeast Clean Energy

Council)

• CT Green Bank

• CT Fund for the Environment

• National: (CCSA) Coalition for

Community Solar Access

2018 Action: Larger Solar Installs(businesses, government, farms)

Sources: PA 18-50; CT Green Bank Comprehensive Plan, revised July 2018. Note: the market is for a range of energy

efficiency services as well as renewable generation. TAM = technical potential; SAM = economic potential

A mix of opportunities and limits …

• One year of LREC and ZREC funding streams

• Capped at 50mw/year for 6 years (300 mw) total (Virtual Net Metering, commercial, government, farm)

• Annual “use or lose”

• Start date January 2020

• “Procurement” through auctions, lowest bidder, lots of uncertainties – rates, utility control

• DEEP and PURA proceedings over next year

… that ignores the potential:

Large Solar -- Virtual Net Metering (VNM)

VNM = shared solar for towns, farms and the state

Source: http://www.reeba.org/system/wp-content/uploads/Panel-5-VNM.ppt

Large Solar -- Virtual Net Metering (VNM)

Source: Eversource, Virtual Net Metering Annual Reports, PURA Docket 11-07-05, Compliance Order #2; towns

8.5

14.0

4.8

Towns have used VNM for 27 projects totaling 27.3 MW through 2017

(Eversource area)

Approved

In Service

Waiting List

Newtown landfill: • 4-acre array

• Power costs at 6.3c/kwh instead of 9.8c.

Police, public works, other town

facilities.

Woodstock: 9.3 c/kwh instead of 16 c

TOWNS

Large Solar -- Virtual Net Metering (VNM)

Farmers want renewables

7.3

5.0

Farms have used VNM for 13 projects totaling 12.2 MW through 2017

(Eversource area)

In Service

Approved

CT’s VNM ended long before

demand was met.

Sources: Eversource, Virtual Net Metering Annual Reports, PURA Docket 11-07-05, Compliance Order #2;

CT Farm Energy Survey 2014, CT Farm Energy Program, https://ctrcd.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/2014_Farm_Energy_Survey.pdf

FARMS

Sources: DEEP – Reducing Energy Use at State Facilities -- www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/energy/lbe/Reducing_Energy_Use_at_State_Facilities_February_2017.pdf and utility annual

reports on VNM to PURA.; Acadia Center report on LBE - http://acadiacenter.org/document/status-of-connecticuts-lead-by-example-energy-efficiency-program-for-state-buildings/

Efficiency – same huge potential

“Lead By Example” efficiency program launched in 2012

Renewables - huge potential:

• 3000 electricity accounts

• 600 million kwh a year

• 14 cents/kwh

• $84 million in annual electricity costs

Virtual Net Metering?

Large Solar -- Virtual Net Metering (VNM)

STATE

2018 Action: Rollback of Residential

Solar Compensation

Sources: PA 18-50; CT Green Bank Comprehensive Plan, revised July 2018, p.40-42

What Changed?

• Simple net metering (monthly

accounting, annual true-up) ends after

300 mw reached

• New solar rates one of 2 schemes:

• “Buy-All / Sell All” or

• Daily or hourly or instantaneous

power tracking

• New rates:

• Unknown, untested

• Could make it harder to load

shift, integrate storage

• Make rooftop solar less

economic

• Throw growing solar industry into

chaos

Why is this bad for CT?

• Imperils enormous potential in residential

rooftop solar

• To date:

• 30,000 solar homes

• 215 mw

• 1-2% of state’s consumption

• Potential (CT Green Bank):

• 500,000+ homes (could be

650,000+ as costs go down)

• 3,890 mw

• 22% of state’s consumption

• $12 billion investment

• 70-100,000 job years

LEGISLATIVE CORRECTION NEEDED IN 2019

DEEP and PURA Dockets to watch

DEEPDepartment of Energy and Environmental Protection

PURAPublic Utilities Regulatory Authority

Docket 18-08-33 – 4 Tracks:

1. Review Utilities’ Proposals for Procurement

• Utilities submitted draft plans Oct 2018

• Interim decision - Aug 2019

2. Rate issues common to residential &

commercial & shared solar:

• REC treatment

• System benefits

• Customer load

• Consumer protections

No decision expected

3. Residential solar rates replacing net metering

• Interim rates -- decision Dec 2018

• Permanent rates – decision Aug 2019

4. Shared solar

• Rates

• Program guidelines

• Starts after DEEP files draft, July 2019

We ALL Want renewables – 2 recent polls

Sources:

https://www.consumerreports.org/alternative-energy/majority-of-americans-want-cleaner-energy-from-renewable-sources;

http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/20180917/PRINTEDITION/309139928

• 81% - reducing pollution from power plants is a worthwhile goal.

• 76% - increasing renewable energy is a worthwhile goal.

• 70% - expect electricity to become cleaner over time.

• 53% - willing to install solar panels on their own roof or participate in a community

solar garden or array if they could recover their investment in five years.

• 48% - willing to pay $5 more per month for energy that comes from renewable

sources.

• 18% - believe that their utility company cares about lowering costs for consumers.

Sept. 2018 - CTSierra Club/Greenberg Quinlan

Oct. 2018 - USConsumer Reports

2018 CT Elections

“If newly elected lawmakers are looking for a bi-partisan issue that can make a big

impact in their communities, they need to look no further than community solar… the

community solar market can sustainably scale to 50-80 times its current size by 2030

or to 57-84 GW. … 9 million new solar customers, including 4 million low-to-

moderate income customers … $120 billion in capital investment in new local

energy infrastructure …. a win-win-win for customers, the grid, and the

environment.”

-- Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA), 11/8/18 (bold added)

New Governor:

Energy and Technology Committee:

• New leaders, new members

House and Senate:

• More favorable

“I will streamline our state’s community solar permitting process and

virtual net metering rules to sped construction of medium-to-large solar

installations over brownfields, parking lots and warehouses..”

Sources: https://nedlamont.com/issues/energy/expand-renewable-energy; http://www.communitysolaraccess.org/election-

results-signal-continued-growth-trajectory-for-community-solar-in-2019/

We all pay for solar rebates

Sources: Eversource Rate 1: https://www.eversource.com/Content/docs/default-source/rates-tariffs/rate1.pdf?sfvrsn=10

United Illuminating Rate R: http://www.uinet.com/wps/wcm/connect/0cc7658041384518ac0fec7a239a91d1/Rate_R_03-30-

2017.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=0cc7658041384518ac0fec7a239a91d1

“Combined Public

Benefit Charge”

1.3 cents/kwh:

• System Benefits Charge

- 6/10 of a cent /kwh

• Conservation Charge -

3/10 of a cent/kwh

• Conservation

Adjustment Mechanism

– 3/10 of a cent/kwh

• Renewable Energy

Charge - 1/10th of a

cent per kwh

(26 cents in this

example)

But we don’t all benefit from the Residential Solar Incentive Program

Hartford and

East Hartford

pay more,

get less.

New Haven pays more, gets less.

Meriden, Middletown pay more, get less.

Our Goal:

Full statewide shared renewables –

so EVERYONE has access

to clean energy

How will we get there?

1. Spread the word!

I want

solar,

please!

• Tell friends and family about new

opportunities

• Letters to the editor, to Legislators

• Ask legislators where they stand

• Invite us to speak to your group

• Engage town groups and leaders about

sites and subscribers

“We are the leaders we’ve been waiting for.”

How will we get there?

2. Town resolutions: call on legislators to support

shared solar, VNM, fair pricing for solar

CFE can help:

Model

resolutions

Organizing

tips

Local

contacts

“When people lead, the leaders will follow.”

How will we get there?

3. Sign up. Get informed. Stay in touch.

http://www.ctenvironment.org

Claire203-787-0646 x122

ccoleman@ctenvironment.org

David860-508-0107

ddesiderato@ctenvironment.org

sharedsolar@ctenvironment.org

Working together, we’ll get there!

CFE is working toward a clean energy future.