Connecting to the Grid
In This Issue
Note from the Editor
State News in Detail
Miscellaneous News
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JANUARY 2013
Vol. 16 No. 1

Note from the Editor

 

I think we can proclaim that 2012 was the year we turned the corner and caught a glimpse of what high-penetration solar looks like. Defined from an engineering perspective, a circuit has reached "high penetration" when utility engineers determine that upgrades need to be made to the circuit before additional generation can be installed.

 

 

If we look closely at the policy actions that were taken last year, we can see solar leaders focusing less on incentives and more on technical and procedural issues to accommodate higher levels of growth.  And it's no surprise why.  Total distributed solar installations, not counting big utility projects connecting to transmission lines, have nearly quadrupled in just the past three years, climbing from 1143 MW in 2009 to roughly 4300 MW in 2012. Here's a quick recap of some of 2012's trends. 

 

State News in Detail 

 

 

Northeast States      

Massachusetts DPU begins work on grid modernization

 

Mid-Atlantic States   

MADRI takes a fresh look at distributed generation policies

 

Midwestern States     

Minnesota co-op embarks on crowd-funded solar project

 

Southern States     

DOE and TVA work to develop clean power transmission line

 

Western States       

Arizona utility-commissioned study finds net metering a negative impact for ratepayers

 

California incentive celebrates 1 GW milestone; Los Angeles approves Feed-in Tariff

 

Idaho regulators restrict availability to solar and wind projects

 

Washington UTC continues to work on interconnection, third-party issues

 

Other States                           

Hawaii PUC and FERC form info-sharing partnership around renewable energy data

 

 


Miscellaneous News

 

 

NREL Releases Interconnection Reform Report

 

Wind and Solar Power Paired With Storage Could Power Grid 99.9 Percent of the Time

 

IREC Announces New Training Program Certificate Standard

  
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