In January, Councilmembers Alexander, Cheh, Bonds, Grosso, Barry and Wells co-introduced the Community Renewables Energy Act of 2013 (B20-0057).

The Community Renewables Energy Act of 2012 (B19-0715), the 2012 version of B20-0057, was originally circulated in early 2012. A hearing followed in the middle of June 2012, where Sol Systems Chief Business Officer, Sudha Gollapudi, testified in support of the legislation. The hearing resulted in a working group dedicated to finding an effective way to implement the community solar bill. The working group was unable to complete its work during last year’s legislative session, and thus the bill was reintroduced in 2013.

The Community Renewables Energy Act of 2013 is almost identical to the 2012 version. Many DC residents are unable to use solar energy because they are renters, or they own a property that is not ideal for a solar installation. With these restrictions, a large portion of DC residents do not have the ability to participate in the solar industry. The legislation would allow for any and all DC residents to purchase a share in a community solar system located anywhere in DC and receive credit for solar electricity from that system to offset their own utility bill in the form of virtual net metering. This form of virtual net metering would allow for anyone to reap the energy benefits associated with owning a solar installation.

The re-introduction of this bill to the DC Council for the 2013 legislative session illustrates the Council’s commitment to expanding access to solar for all DC residents. Furthermore, the passage of the Community Solar Act would help the District to achieve its aggressive solar carve-out requirements by installing a great capacity of solar.

Developers or investors interested in commercial scale project finance within the District should contact our project finance team at info@solmarket.com. In addition to project financing services, Sol Systems currently offers three SREC solutions for photovoltaic and solar thermal systems located in the District: Sol Annuity, Sol Brokerage, and Sol Upfront. Please email info@solsystemscompany.com for more information.

Sol Systems will continue to track the progress of this bill. Please check out our blog for further updates.

About Sol Systems

Sol Systems is a boutique financial services firm that offers investor clients direct access to the renewable energy asset class and provides developers with sophisticated project financing solutions. Founded in 2008, Sol Systems focuses on meeting the most critical needs of the industry, including SREC monetization, capital placement, tax equity, and New Market Tax Credits. To date, the company has arranged financing for thousands of projects and facilitated hundreds of millions in investment on behalf of Fortune 100 companies, private equity, family offices and individuals.