Solar Thermal Electric

Alternative Energy Sales Tax Exemption

Utah exempts the purchase or lease of equipment used to generate electricity from alternative resources from the state sales tax. Eligible purchases or leases must be made for or by an alternative energy production facility on or after July 1, 2004, and before June 30, 2027. All leases must be made for at least seven years.

Eligible  resources include wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, hydroelectricity, and energy that is derived from coal-to-liquids, nuclear fuel, oil-impregnated diatomaceous earth, oil sands, oil shale, petroleum coke, waste heat from an industrial facility, or waste heat from a power station in which an electric generator

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Green Power Purchasing Goal for Federal Government

The federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005) extended and expanded several previous goals and standards to reduce energy use in existing and new federal buildings. Section 203 of EPAct 2005 required that, to the extent it is economically feasible and technically practicable, the total amount of renewable electric energy consumed by the federal government during 2013 and thereafter shall not be less than 7.5%. That target was updated and expanded by a Presidential Memorandum on December 5, 2013, and again by an Executive Order on March 19, 2015. The Executive Order established additional targets, culminating in a required

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Interconnection Standards

DC's interconnection rules apply to all distributed generation systems of 20 megawatts (MW) or smaller that are operated in parallel with the electric distribution system and are not subject to the interconnection requirements of the PJM Interconnection.

The interconnection rules set four levels of review for interconnection requests. A project must meet all of the requirements of a given classification in order to be eligible for that level of expedited review. The level of review required is generally based on system capacity, whether system components are certified, and the type of distribution circuit to which a facility will be connected

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Penelec SEF of the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies Grant Program (FirstEnergy Territory)

FirstEnergy (formerly GPU) established the Metropolitan Edison Company Sustainable Energy Fund and the Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund in 2000. The Community Foundation for the Alleghenies in Johnstown, Pennsylvania administers the Penelec loan and grant components of the Fund. The fund is administered by the Berks County Community Foundation. The majority of funding available from the fund takes the form of investments made in businesses pursuing one or more of the fund's objectives. These funds typically will be distributed as loans or equity investments, but a limited number of grants are available each year for specific purposes. The following are the

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Interconnection Standards

In November 2005, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) approved rules governing the interconnection of distributed generation (DG). Indiana's interconnection rules require the state's investor-owned utilities to provide three levels of interconnection to customer-generators.

  • Level 1: Applies to inverter-based systems with a maximum nameplate capacity of 10 kilowatts (kW). These systems must comply with IEEE 1547 and UL 1741 standards. There are no application fees or other fees for Level 1 interconnection review. Utilities may not impose additional requirements not specified in the IURC rules. There are specific limitations on a single system's potential impact and the aggregate potential impact
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Metropolitan Edison Company SEF Loans (FirstEnergy Territory)

FirstEnergy (formerly GPU) established the Metropolitan Edison Company Sustainable Energy Fund in 2000 with an initial contribution of $5.7 million. The fund later received an additional contribution of $2.5 million as a result of the merger between GPU Energy and FirstEnergy, bringing the total to $8.2 million. The fund is administered by the Berks County Community Foundation. The majority of funding available from the Metropolitan Edison Company SEF takes the form of investments made in businesses pursuing one or more of the fund's objectives. These funds typically will be distributed as loans or equity investments. The program is open to

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Xcel Energy - Renewable Development Fund Grants

Note: Xcel is not currently accepting proposals for this program. The most recent application deadline was April 1, 2013. See the program web site for information regarding future solicitations.

The Xcel Energy Renewable Development Fund (RDF) was created in 1999 as an outcome of 1994 Minnesota legislation concerning spent nuclear fuel at Xcel Energy’s Prairie Island Nuclear Plant. The original legislation has been amended and added to several times, expanding the amount of money collected by the fund and prescribing funding allocations for specific programs. Funding available for the grant program thus depends on the other funding obligations that

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Portfolio Energy Credits

Nevada's Energy Portfolio Standard requires NV Energy to derive or save a minimum percentage of the electricity it sells from renewable energy resources or energy efficiency measures. Included in the standard is a Portfolio Energy Credit (PC) trading program.
Beginning January 1, 2003, Nevada's renewable energy producers can earn PCs, which can then be sold to utilities that are required to meet Nevada's portfolio standard. One PC represents one kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity generated, with the exception of the multipliers described below.   Each kWh generated by a photovoltaic (PV) system installed on the premises of a retail customer on
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Interconnection Guidelines

The Arizona Corporation Commission adopted final rules for interconnection of distributed generation facilities in 2020 after a multi-year proceeding. 

There are three levels of review for interconnection applications:

1. Super Fast Track - available for inverter-based generating facilities with a maximum capacity of 20 kW or less which only uses certified equipment

2. Fast Track - available for generating facilities with a maximum capacity of less than 2 MW.

3. Study Track - available for generating facilities of 2 MW or greater or that do not meet the screening requirements for the other tracks.

Additionally, customers seeking interconnection of a

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Interconnection Standards

Hawaii has established simplified interconnection rules for small renewables and separate rules for all other distributed generation (DG). For inverter-based systems up to 10 kilowatts (kW) in capacity, there is a simple application process for interconnection. Systems must meet all applicable performance and safety standards from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Underwriters Laboratories, National Electric Code, and where applicable, public utilities commission rules.  For other smaller systems, there are simplified interconnection procedures for net metered systems powered by solar, wind, biomass and hydroelectric up to 50 kW. 


History

Two dockets were opened in 2006 to streamline interconnection procedures

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