The Work Ahead
The Large Scale Solar Debate
During this interim session, one of the more significant topics being debated has been the ongoing discussion on how to best manage large-scale solar developments. On Wednesday, September 15, lawmakers from the Interim Joint Committee on Agriculture and Interim Joint Committee on Natural Resources & Energy met to hear testimony from a wide range of stakeholders, including the Energy & Environment Cabinet, landowners, citizen nonprofits and solar development companies. You may find the entire testimony from the Joint Interim Committee meeting here.
The development of clean energy at this scale is still a relatively new situation for many communities in Kentucky and there is still work to do to help educate communities on the many questions that are being raised. We also realize, as stated during the interim meeting, there is one clear reality: Solar is coming here because it is now cost-competitive, and companies are asking for it.
Working on Land Use, Pollinators
But there is also another reality: Kentucky has many important agricultural lands, and care must be taken to make sure that the integrity of our land is given proper consideration in this debate. In addition to a spirited debate that has been happening in Clark County, KCC has been keeping tabs on several other communities, including the current ramp up of this debate in the Maysville/Mason County region, where US-68 is currently sprouting a healthy crop of pro- and anti-solar signage.
The solar and farmland debate is brisk in Mason County
Since KCC has many members and constituents who may have differing opinions on land use relating to clean energy, we have tried to pay particular attention to this issue, starting with a session we held last January on Solar and Agriculture during KCC’s Annual Meeting, as well as develop a Citizen’s Guide to cover the basics for communities, and we have been working with the state’s pollinator stakeholder group to present information on how these operations may provide benefits through well-planned pollinator enhancements (slides from one of those pollinator presentations can be found here).
KCC co-hosted the Pollinator Stakeholder Group in June, featuring info on pollinators and solar integration.
The Appalachian regions are also increasingly important in this debate. A recent study from the Rocky Mountain Insitiute has concluded that Appalachian regions may see the most economic benefit from the deployment of wind and solar projects over the next decade.
From where KCC stands at this point in time, we are seeing a challenging but proactive dialogue happening in many areas between solar companies, agricultural interests, and lawmakers. And KCC is continuing to engage in several of these constituent conversations to help find solutions that work for communities.
Net Metering- New Developments
We also want to make sure that the debate over large-scale solar does not sideline the very real debate that is still taking place on distributed/rooftop solar. This week, the Public Service Commission released the following order on LG&E/KU’s recent rate case, impacting the net metering issue that KCC and allies have been engaged in for many years now.
Two areas of particular note in the ruling: First, we were glad to see that the PSC retained the monthly billing period for “netting” the credits for the energy you generate off of your solar panels- so solar net metered customers will continue to be credited within the same billing cycle as before.
Second, the PSC found that a reasonable net metered export rate (identified as NMS-2 rate) going forward should be $0.06924 for LG&E customers and $0.07366 for KU customers. While these rates are less of a credit than previous, they were better than what LG&E/KU had originally proposed, and are enough to keep distributed solar viable.
What does this mean moving forward? All systems placed in service after the effective date of the order (September 24, 2021), shall take service under the new net metering rates (NMS-2). Existing net metering customers will retain the right to continue with original one-to-one net metering (NMS-1) for 25 years, starting from the effective date of this order. For customers who have a net metering application pending at this time, the system must be in service prior to September 24, 2021 for them to qualify for NMS-1.
We want to thank the intervenors who worked tirelessly on this matter, including the Kentucky Resources Council, (representing Kentucky Solar Energy Society, Mountain Association, KFTC) and Matt Miller representing the Sierra Club, as well as Strobo Barkley PLLC representing the Ky. Solar Energy Industries Association.
Solar Tours
For us to continue this work, it is important that citizens continue to educate themselves on the advantages and challenges of clean energy. So we want to highlight an upcoming opportunity on October 2-3, when the American Solar Energy Society’s National Solar Tour will be taking place, and Kentucky’s local affiliate (The Kentucky Solar Energy Society) will be promoting sites on the tour that are within Kentucky (See this Facebook Event Link for local tour details). We encourage you to take advantage of these upcoming local tours to learn more about solar and the homeowners who have adopted it for themselves.