The solar bill that’s been talked about for weeks has finally appeared in the
Georgia legislature:
HB 657.
It’s better than I expected, because it’s about rural solar generation and distribution.
However, there is a catch: a “community solar provider” must be certified
by the Public Service Commission, instead of just setting up in business
as in most states, and the PSC could certify only one state-wide monopoly;
note the summary at the front says “an independent community solar
provider” as in only one.
But the body of the bill is more circumspect and says “any”.
Perhaps if we get enough installations
the benefits of solar will become obvious enough that
the PSC will certify a lot of community solar providers,
and we can get on with solar in Georgia,
including house and business rooftop solar.
Many thanks to Representatives Kidd of the 145th, Kirby of the 114th, Rogers of the 10th, Brockway of
the 102nd, Fullerton of the 153rd, and others.
And special credit to Robert E. Green, Shane Owl-Greason, and Ted Terry
of Georgia Solar Utilities (GaSU) for shepherding this bill
into the legislature.
Shane Owl-Greason, Ted Terry, Robert E. Green
at the
Dublin High School solar groundbreaking.
The bill requires the PSC to study changes in retail
rates because of this bill.
Too bad it doesn’t go the rest of the way to
what North Carolina did,
and require timely public posting of who buys and sells which types
of energy at which prices, but at least it’s a start.
Maybe HB 657 will help get
HB 503 passed for Renewable Portfolio Standards.
However, HB 657 is cleaner than either HB 503 or SB 51 because it does not mess around
with biomass or for that matter any other energy source:
HB 657 is about solar energy and nothing else.
The main part of HB 657 is in Section 1, but first here’s how it
shoehorns
Continue reading →
