New Nevada Solar Laws Mark Exciting Progress on Large-scale Development, Fall Short on Tapping Full Solar Opportunity for Businesses, Consumers and Job Creation
June 1, 2009 –Carson City, Nevada – On Saturday Nevada’s Governor Jim Gibbons signed two new solar energy bills into law: AB 522, which extends tax abatements for renewable energy power plant development, and SB 358, which increases the state’s renewable electricity targets and makes modest improvements to the SolarGenerations rebate program. Solar advocates from the Vote Solar Initiative, the Solar Alliance and the Large-scale Solar Association (LSA) applaud progress on AB 522 and seek improvements to SB 358 before Nevada can take full advantage of solar’s many economic and environmental benefits.
“Today we are celebrating the passage of AB 552, which represents a tremendous victory for attracting significant clean energy investment dollars to the state,” said Jim Baak, director of utility-scale solar policy for Vote Solar. Vote Solar’s Nevada lead Annie Carmichael added, “While AB 522 marks a resounding win for the state’s large-scale solar future, we are disappointed that SB 358 was weakened to strip out provisions that would have supported solar for Nevada homes and businesses.”
“AB 522 marks exciting progress for unleashing the tremendous economic and environmental benefits of utility-scale renewable energy development in Nevada. We want to thank Nevada’s legislators and recognize Assemblywoman Kirkpatrick and Senator Townsend for their particular efforts in passing this critical piece of legislation that effectively tells the large-scale solar energy industry that Nevada is open for business, ” said Shannon Eddy, executive director of LSA.
“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.”
AB 522 (Kirkpatrick): Summary of primary solar provisions:
• Extends and enhances sales and property tax abatements for wholesale renewable energy projects in Nevada above 10 MW in size.
• Establishes a fund for low interest loans to build renewable energy projects authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
SB 358 (Horsford): Summary of primary solar provisions:
• Implements a new Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) requiring that the state’s investor-owned utility generate 25 percent of its energy from renewables by 2025; increased from 20 percent by 2015.
• Requires that 6 percent of the RPS come from solar resources beginning in 2016, an increase from 5 percent.
• Establishes a more efficient 30 day application approval process for the state’s SolarGenerations rebate program. Eligibility capacity and categories for the program remain unchanged (1 MW for schools, 760 kW for public buildings, and 1 MW for residential and small commercial under 30 kW).
• Establishes additional rebates for 2 MW of solar at schools.
About the Vote Solar Initiative: Vote Solar is a non-profit grassroots organization working to fight climate change and foster economic opportunity by bringing solar energy into the mainstream. Since 2002 Vote Solar has engaged in state, local and federal advocacy campaigns to remove regulatory barriers and implement the key policies needed to bring solar to scale. www.votesolar.org
About the Solar Alliance: The Solar Alliance is a state-focused alliance of global solar equipment manufacturers, photovoltaic (PV) system integrators, and financiers dedicated to accelerating the promise of PV energy in the United States. www.solaralliance.org
About the Large-Scale Solar Association: LSA is a non-partisan, solar advocacy association whose purpose is to advance the utility-scale solar market through progressive policy mechanisms. More information about LSA can be found at www.largescalesolar.org
Press Contact: Rosalind Jackson, rosalind@votesolar.org, 415-817-5061