Dark times ahead for solar power

Sep 5 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Don Hopey Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The sun is shining on Pennsylvania solar power production, which for the first time tops 100,000 megawatts, producing enough electricity to power more than 12,600 homes.

But dark clouds are rolling in. Solar power installations have expanded so quickly and so successfully in the commonwealth due to federal and state incentive and funding programs that they have far out-stripped the solar power goals set in the 2004 Pennsylvania's Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act.

As a result, Pennsylvania's electric power suppliers no longer have an incentive to buy additional solar produced power, which is slightly more expensive than electricity generated from burning coal and natural gas.

The market for solar renewable energy credits is "crashing," and that's making it harder to fund and build new solar power projects and putting the state's solar power industry and its 6,700 jobs at risk, said Jan Jarrett, president and chief executive officer for Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future, a statewide environmental organization that focuses on energy issues.

"Right now there is more than enough solar in Pennsylvania to meet our Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act goals for 2013, and we are close to reaching the 2014 goals," Ms. Jarrett said.

To protect those jobs, she said, the state needs to adjust the AEPS program's solar power goals upward.

"Without this adjustment to the ramp, the solar market will grind to a halt for up to four years, forcing companies to leave for neighboring states where the regulatory environment for solar is more stable," Ms. Jarrett said.

A number of state and federal incentive programs that provided support for solar power development are ending. The tax credits extended under federal stimulus program spending have ended, Ms. Jarrett said. And the $100 million "Pennsylvania Sunshine Program," which provided financial incentives, is almost tapped out. It has a waiting list.

"I would hope to see the Corbett administration be supporters of this," Ms. Jarrett said. "But I don't see any indication he has an appetite for any bond funding for this kind of program. That's why we're looking to the AEPS adjustments as being key to the policy."

Patrick Henderson, Gov. Tom Corbett's energy executive, said, "We want a vibrant and sustainable solar industry in Pennsylvania -- one not dependent upon periodic legislative changes.

"Gov. Corbett is not supportive of raising costs through higher electric rates on PA homeowners and businesses," he added.

Don Hopey: dhopey@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1983.