Good News for Solar
“Solar energy is kryptonite to the rich, powerful and authoritarian.” —Bill McKibben
As we experience record-breaking summer heat, all time high oil and gas production, and congress trying to get rid of clean energy incentives, you may be feeling pessimistic about climate change. I don’t blame you! But I want you to hear this: solar energy is booming. Take a look at these facts from the Solar Energy Industries Association:
248 gigawatts of solar capacity are installed nationwide, enough to power over 41 million homes.
Solar installations have grown 28% per year over the past 10 years and are not slowing.
Employment at solar companies has almost tripled since 2010. There are now 280,000 people working in 10,000 solar companies across the country.
The price of a kilowatt hour of solar electricity has dropped from $77 in 1977 to between 6 and 10 cents today.
States that voted for Donald Trump accounted for 75% of all solar installations in the first quarter of this year.
34 states have installed 1GW of solar or more.
Solar has a lot going for it. It’s cost effective and clean. It can reduce global warming and prevent 9 million deaths a year from fossil fuel pollution. But here’s what I like best: solar energy has the potential to change the world order.
The sun, as author Bill McKibben likes to point out, is freely available anywhere. No one owns the sun, and everyone has access to it. Solar panels are now accessible and affordable for smaller investors, businesses, communities and organizations.
Imagine if local communities, schools or regional co-ops generated their own electricity. In theory, every home, farm, and factory could generate their own energy from the wind or sun. This would free them from fossil fuels and shift the political and financial power from the ruling elite to local communities.
This “liberatory” aspect of solar goes even further. As author Amitav Ghosh writes:
If adopted at scale, renewable energy could transform, indeed revolutionize, the current global order. No longer would countries have to be dependent on unpredictable petro-states; no longer would they have to set aside huge portions of their annual budgets for oil payments, no longer would they have to worry about their energy supplies being disrupted by wars or revolutions in faraway countries; and perhaps most importantly, no longer would they have to rely on superpowers to keep open the sea channels through which oil tankers must pass.
Solar and wind have the potential to liberate and democratize energy generation at all levels. California now generates 57% of its electricity with solar, and just 35% with fossil gas. To fossil fuel executives, this is a scary trend. They don’t want renewables to grow and take away “their” market share.
According to Reuters, the top five fossil fuel companies returned $111 billion in profits to shareholders in 2023—a strong incentive for them to fight for business as usual.
Fossil fuel companies and their trade associations are pouring money into political campaigns and lobbying. Together they contributed $96 million to the 2024 Presidential election, and $243 million to lobbying and congressional campaigns in the last elections cycle.
Right now, this week, fossil fuel interests are working eliminate the renewable energy tax credits (established in the Inflation Reduction Act) from the Senate budget. We must not let them do this.
We the people must stand up for clean, democratic solar and wind energy. Below are two ways you can do this.
Two ways you can support solar and wind
1. Email or call your congressmen and women and tell them you support clean energy tax credits and want them to be part of the national budget. The Senate is debating the budget this week, so do this now.
2. Volunteer or participate in Sun Day, September 20-21. This is a national public event to celebrate clean solar energy and demand that our state and national governments support it.
Bill McKibben and Third Act are organizing Sun Day events. Congregational churches across the county are supporting it. Other partners are signing on as I write this.
Organizers want Sun Day to be as large and impactful as the first Earth Day in 1970. They want to show our leaders that there is strong public support for renewable and distributed energy. You can help by participating in Sun Day. Learn more about it HERE.
Maine Legislature Limits Solar Incentives
The Maine legislature recently passed a bill to roll back net energy billing (NEB), which is the program that provides incentives for Maine solar farms.
Since the current version of the NEB program was put in place in 2019, 300 new solar farms and 985 solar jobs have been created in Maine—a great success.
But the NEB program has come at a cost to electric ratepayers, and that is behind the legislature’s recent action to curtail it. The Governor’s Energy Office estimates the cost of the program at $234 million per year, about $3-7 per month on the average homeowner’s electric bill.
But solar is not the primary reason for electric rate increases. According to the Maine Monitor the cost of natural gas to fuel our power plants is. In the period from 2014-2023 gas prices increased 55%.
Storm recovery is another reason our power bills have gone up. Ten years ago, the cost of fixing storm damage in the CMP service area hovered around $32 million a year. In each of the last three years CMP storm recovery has cost ratepayers over $100 million, topping $228 million in 2024. The Governor’s Energy Office says the average rate payer will see a $20/month increase this summer to pay for storm recovery.
But the NEB program had a target on its back, and it succumbed to pressure from its opponents. I spoke with a solar developer, and several legislators and environmental groups to get a better understanding of what “rolling back net energy billing” actually means.
In short, the law calls for new tariffs on existing solar farms; and a new, less generous incentive program to replace the current program.
Only solar farms are affected by the legislation. Rooftop systems and small projects of less than 1 megawatt are not affected by the new law.
Passing the bill was a battle, with strong support and strong opposition.
To those tasked with balancing interests and serving the public---legislators, the public advocate, Efficiency Maine---the bill will reduce program costs while continuing to support solar projects. The bill had bi-partisan support and was signed into law by the Governor.
But to environmentalists, solar developers and solar installers, the changes will slow or possibly shut down the industry. Solar farm supporters told me the new tariffs will raise operating costs, cause industry layoffs, scare off investors, reduce savings for solar farm subscribers, and perhaps cause some solar farms to shut down. Changing the fee structure on existing solar farms was seen as punitive and unfair by these groups.
We will have to wait and see how the new law plays out over the next 12-24 months. While I’m never happy to see incentives for renewable energy reduced or removed, I am reassured by the fact that renewable energy is inevitable. As the climate warms and energy demand rises, renewable energy will continue to be an attractive investment.
If style kryptonite for the rich, it would explain why the budget being pushed by the Republicans would gut solar programs, solar initiatives, and funding and support for alternate energy supplies.
If investors and businesses can make enough money on solar, they will support the conversion. How is that financial game being played
out?