“[American Legislative Exchange Council] members have long abided by the fundamental principles of individual property rights and have worked to remove regulatory barriers that impede private landowners from utilizing the value of their property for energy projects, whether they are for solar, wind, fracking, biofuels, or other sources,” Jake Morabito, senior director of the group’s energy, environment, and agriculture task force, said in a statement to Canary Media.
Shared solar also boosts local economies. On average, 5 megawatts of community solar delivers $14 million in local economic activity and supports nearly 100 jobs, according to a nationwide review of economic impact reports released this month by the Coalition for Community Solar Access. At scale, the organization notes, that equates to $2.8 billion in local economic activity and more than 18,000 jobs (direct, indirect, and induced) per gigawatt of new installed capacity.
Plus, the energy bill savings offered by community solar have obvious appeal on both sides of the aisle. Developers often guarantee subscribers a 5% to 20% discount on the energy cost. For example, with a $100 investment, a subscriber could buy $120 worth of electricity.
Each of the state bills currently being considered is tailored to the state’s regulatory environment, but all allow customers to save on power bills.
“Ultimately, for me, it was giving Iowan consumers a choice,” said Iowa state Rep. Hans Wilz, a Republican, in a March interview on why he introduced a community solar bill. Not everyone can afford to put solar panels on their roof, he explained: “This is a way for all Iowans to be able to participate in a solar program.”
That’s a far cry from a common refrain that Lori Saine said she often heard from fellow Republicans during her tenures as a state representative and local official in Colorado: “‘You like China and Biden if you like solar panels.’”
As a commissioner in Weld County, Colorado, Saine helped update the jurisdiction’s code to allow community solar projects, and as a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council, she introduced the group’s model resolution supporting shared solar.
To be sure, even today community solar can be “a political buzz saw for some Republicans, especially if they’re in deep red districts,” which tend to be rural, Saine said. But once people “save some money on their energy bills, suddenly the tune changes really, really fast.”
As for whether the Republican-backed draft laws will pass, “it’s impossible to say,” said Hargarten, with the Coalition for Community Solar Access. Utilities consistently oppose such legislation, according to the group. Still, here’s one encouraging sign: A Montana shared-solar bill cleared both Republican-controlled chambers this month and now awaits the governor’s signature.
We’ll know soon enough the fate of some of these bills. Iowa lawmakers go home May 2, and Missouri legislators follow soon after on May 16. Ohio keeps legislating until Dec. 31.
The rising support for community solar among Republicans is “a kind of awakening,” Saine of Colorado said.
“It’s not a partisan issue if you’re generating an electron, and you’re doing it safer, more effectively, and cheaper, and then delivering that product to consumers who really, really need it — which is, by the way, everyone,” she noted. “That’s a win-win.”
