Nevada's Governor Jim Gibbons has signed two new solar energy bills into law. The first, AB 522, extends tax abatements for renewable energy power plant development. The second, SB 358, increases the state's renewable electricity targets and makes some improvements to the SolarGenerations rebate program.
"Unfortunately, the bill in its final form falls short of creating a robust rooftop and small scale solar market. The 5 percent distributed solar carve-out we supported would have created upwards of 6,700 jobs in the state by 2020."
-- Julia Curtis, Sharp Solar, Solar Alliance's Nevada Lead
Summary of primary solar provisions in AB 522:
Summary of primary solar provisions in SB 358:
Solar advocates from the Vote Solar Initiative, the Solar Alliance and the Large-scale Solar Association (LSA) said that AB 522 represents a great step forward for Nevada, but the groups said improvement need to be made to SB 358 before Nevada can take full advantage of solar energy.
“Through the process of passing SB 358, Senator Horsford, Senator Schneider, Assemblywoman Kirkpatrick and Assemblyman Conklin demonstrated that building a new solar economy in Nevada is a clear priority," said Julia Curtis of Sharp Solar, elected Solar Alliance's lead for Nevada. “Unfortunately, the bill in its final form falls short of creating a robust rooftop and small scale solar market. The 5 percent distributed solar carve-out we supported would have created upwards of 6,700 jobs in the state by 2020. We look forward to working with policymakers to ensure a more comprehensive solar program in the future."
Rather than increasing funding, NV Energy succeeded in getting a net reduction in rebate funding while allowing for a 9% increase in rebate availability annually. When rebates go in just 38 minutes for the whole year, I doubt 9% is going to have much of an impact.
In addition, NV Energy was able to get provisions enacted (or prevented such as DG) which essentially allow it to follow a path of owning all or almost all of the portfolio renewable energy. This means their is less chance for a viable market for regular consumers, and they will continue to pay a higher price.
By taking their action, with the assistance of our Legislators and Governor, Our state utility essentially won the market.
Good Job NV Energy and big hearty "Thank You" to our weak state government - you showed excellent skills at doing nothing, and feeling good about it.
Answer: A strong GEA where the utilities are NOT allowed to particpate since they are preditory and obvioulsy in sync with the state. It is not illegal or even illogical for the process the way it is and it makes perfect sense for both the state and the utiliy, but the collusion is perhaps unethical. Then again, who cares about ethics as Wall Street has proven.
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