And exciting news happening in PA. Board will also give financial report and address bylaw amendment proposals. More info at below link. It is a meeting not to be missed. Register below. Free for members.
This meeting is intended for members in good standing only.
Dear MSEIA Members:
During the next 18 months we will cement the next phase (and possibly, the ultimate phase) in the growth of the solar market in NJ. During the last 17 years, major advancements have marked the making of a nation-leading solar market:
1999: EDECA establishes $250 million/4 year investment in renewables in Jersey.
2003: The governor's Renewable Energy Task Force establishes the first solar RPS.
2008: The Solar Advancement and Fair Competition Act fixes an ambitious, long-term solar RPS in law.
2012: The Solar Act of 2012 keeps the solar market from crashing with a short-term raise in the RPS, but at the price of a steep decline after 2018.
Now: MSEIA is pressing forward with a bill, already passed in the NJ Senate, to require 80% renewable electricity in 2050 (RETA). A short-term RPS fix bill is also moving in the legislature. An aggregated net metering bill has just been introduced, too. PACE legislation is also about to drop.
On the other hand, the 80% by 2050 bill faces foes. The RPS fix bill will run into Gov. Christie. The NJ Rate Counsel is on the warpath, exasperated by the high cost of Jersey solar incentives compared to surrounding states. The solar industry is fractured. And nuclear power now wants a share of climate change mitigation incentives. And if the solar RPS does not change at all, it goes down to 55 MW per year starting in June 2018.
The solar energy market in New Jersey can either go way up or way down, depending on the outcome of these processes, and others.
The Pennsylvania solar market is stirring, too.
Mustering the funding and the manpower, and threading our way through the complex and shifting landscape before us, will be a monumental task between now and the end of 2017. Do you want your business in this region to thrive? Even if you do everything right as a business, it will come to naught unless we all - together - get the right policies to support solar.
Please plan to play an active role in the creation of the next phase of solar growth. Attend the MSEIA Quarterly meeting at 5:00 at the EcoComplex in Bordentown. Register below. it is not too late. If you can't come in person, please participate via the conference call line. 712-432-0080 code 589878
Thank you.
Lyle Rawlings
President