Texas to Subsidize Small-Scale Solar Power Users?
Everything is bigger in Texas, including its commitment to solar power. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Texas state legislature is poised to approve a $500 million, five-year rebate program to subsidize solar power installations throughout the state, including 30% of that figure for small-scale solar power users. If approved, the program will be one of the largest in the United States.
Texas is well-known, of course, for being a leader in energy derived from oil and natural gas, but the state also embraced wind-derived power years ago, and now derives more of its electricity from wind than any other state. Now, the state expects to become a leader in solar-derived electricity as well. According to Jim Marston, head of the Texas Chapter of Environmental Defense, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal, the new rebate program would bring anywhere from 250 to 500 megawatts of electricity online—the same rough output as a natural gas power plant.
According to Raymond Walker, general counsel of Standard Renewable Energy, the bill “signals to the industry that Texas is a good place to do business for the renewable energy industry,” as quoted by the Wall Street Journal. The legislation would also bar homeowners associations from prohibiting solar panels on residential buildings.
Still to be determined, however, is the rate at which homeowners will be able to sell solar-derived energy back to utilities. The bill requires that utilities buy surplus electricity at a fair market price, which is often 20% less than the going rate for retail electricity.
Other states seem to be following suit. A new Arizona law requires that 4.5% of its electricity come from solar power by 2025, and a new law in New Mexico aims for 4% by 2020. A new bill currently before the California legislature, however, may trump them all. That bill is aiming for 33% by 2020.
By Robert Pothier