A FIGHT FOR SUN IN TEXAS

Austin Solar Advocates Looking To Find Common Ground On Utility's Plans

Angela Beniwal, 17 May 2012 (Solar Industry)

“Texas formed the Sustainable Energy Development Council (SEDC) in the early '90s to figure out how to maximize the clean energy potential of the state. Texas is now a leader in renewable energy production, due largely to that initiative…[T]he City of Austin, Texas, is following in the footsteps of the SEDC by creating the Austin Local Solar Advisory Committee, which is tasked with issuing recommendations on how to develop more local solar projects…[and] reach a consensus on how best to optimize Austin's solar resources…

“…Austin Energy is owned by the city. Currently, there is a little over 6 MW of installed solar - mostly in the form of systems 20 kW or smaller - in Austin. The utility's Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan includes a goal of reaching 35% renewable energy by 2020, with 200 MW of this coming from solar…However, the plan does not state whether the solar resources have to be local or if they can come from power plants located outside of the city…”

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“…[S]takeholders agree that they want more solar, but there are different viewpoints as to how to reach this goal…[A] U.S. Department of Energy study…[said] Austin could produce approximately 2.3 GW of power if panels were installed on all the unshaded, south-facing roofs in the city…

“The city is also in an unusual position because it owns the utility…Austin Energy supports adding more solar to its generation mix, but the utility does not necessarily think that all 200 MW needs to come from distributed resources within Austin…[Other] solar advocates are pushing for local solar in order to create a sustainable economy. Another goal is to avoid the boom-and-bust cycles that can result from temporary or changing incentives, such as the solar rebate that is offered by Austin Energy…”

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