Five important news stories tell the tale of state policies, supply chain, the upcoming administration and more.
1. California’s new community solar program still isn’t working
In California, where electricity demand is skyrocketing, the Public Utilities Commission’s final decision on community solar has yet to create a viable community solar program for solar developers and other stakeholders.
The California Public Utilities Commission issued a proposed decision in March that the Net Value Billing Tariff conflicts with federal law, leaving to question the future of the potentially burgeoning community solar market.
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2. Trump touts solar trade tariffs
With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, along with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and CHIPS and Science Act, the U.S. has a strong industrial policy for the first time in about 50 years. More than $265 billion of clean energy investments have been made, with 330,000-plus new jobs anticipated, since the IRA was enacted.
President-elect Trump said on the campaign trail that he would cancel all unspent IRA funds, het some analysts believe the IRA may be protected by its strong performance. A recent Bloomberg Intelligence report predicted the policy could be hit by targeted cuts, rather than complete cancellation.
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3. Solar cell manufacturing begins, with sights set on supply chain gap
The pursuit of onshoring the U.S. solar manufacturing supply chain has come with the challenge of imbalanced capacities of domestically made modules, cells, wafers and ingots. But according to the U.S. Solar Market Insight Q4 2024 report by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie, the tide may be turning.
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4. California utilities scapegoat rooftop solar for high electricity rates
In the past two years, the fight against rooftop solar in California has been an assault. A series of rulemaking decisions backed by the three utilities PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E gained support from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which moved in lockstep to gut rooftop solar. California created stringent labor rules for commercial solar installations with AB2143. The state also determined that multi-meter properties such as schools and farms cannot use their own solar energy production and must sell it to the grid at a low price and buy it back at a significantly higher price.
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5. The future of clean energy policies in a new Trump administration
Analysts weighed in on what will happen to policies such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act under a second Trump administration, and the consensus is that the strong results of these policies will keep them mostly in place. A Bloomberg Intelligence report saw these policies potentially under threat, but rather than dismantling unilaterally, changes may be made with targeted cuts. Afterall, a clear benefit of the policies is reshoring the American supply chain and jobs.
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