New York Solar Energy Industries Association (NYSEIA) this week proposed a long-term solar electric incentive plan to help New York achieve its clean energy goals at the lowest cost to utility ratepayers. NYSEIA is advocating an expansion of the current state plan funded through the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) and the group is continuing to endorse a Solar PV roadmap developed by its stakeholders in 2006 that called for 2000MW of solar electric generation in the state over a 10 year period.
Among the recommendations in NYSEIA's platform:
- New programs should complement existing programs funded through the RPS, be performance based and designed to continue past the scheduled expiration of the RPS.
- Municipalities and not for profits should benefit from an incentive structure that places them on equal footing with the private sector.
- Utilities should be allowed to own “green attributes” or Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECS), for the solar power they buy.
- Legislation should be created to result in feed-in tariffs (FiT), government policies that require utilities to purchase electricity produced by renewable generators, for a guaranteed 20 years with “must sell”/”must take” provisions for generators and utilities, respectively.
- The Customer-Sited Tier (CST) funding in the RPS should be expanded to a fixed value of $50 million for each of the remaining years in the RPS and a funding mechanism should be developed for after it ends.
The New York Solar Energy Industries Association is the only statewide non-profit membership and trade association dedicated solely to advancing solar energy use in New York State. For information, visit http://www.nyseia.org
