Blog Archive - CESA Staff
SMUD’s Energy StorageShares Program: The First Virtual Energy Storage Program in the US
SMUD’s innovative Energy StorageShares program is the first virtual energy storage program in the US. StorageShares allows SMUD’s commercial customers to invest in an off-site battery storage system and enjoy energy cost savings without siting batteries at their facilities. In this newly launched pilot program, eligible commercial customers make an up-front payment to SMUD for…
Michigan Solar Communities: Using a Community Solar Model to Expand Solar Access to Low- and Moderate-Income Communities
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s (EGLE) Low- to Moderate- Income Access Program uses a community solar model to enable customers to access solar, obtain weatherization services, and save on their electric bills. The program represents a close partnership between two local electric utilities (Cherryland Electric Cooperative and the Village of l’Anse…
Energy Trust of Oregon’s Inclusive Innovation Project: Leveraging Community Expertise to Develop Equitable Solar Programs
Energy Trust of Oregon has a long history of clean energy innovation; it was involved in expanding the first Solarize program in the country in 2009. More recently, Energy Trust’s Inclusive Innovation Project sought to adapt innovative business development models to create effective solar programs that reach under-resourced customers throughout Oregon. Over the past four…
The Mass Solar Loan Program: Bringing Solar Ownership to Low-Income Homeowners
The Mass Solar Loan Program, launched by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) and the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) in 2015, combines strategic incentives and partnerships with local banks and credit unions to increase access to solar PV financing, while creating a robust solar lending market. Most recently, its incentives have focused exclusively…
Massachusetts and Vermont crack the code on distributed energy storage
In 2019, Massachusetts commenced a nation-leading experiment by, for the first time, incorporating behind-the-meter energy storage into the Commonwealth’s three-year energy efficiency plan, through the ConnectedSolutions program, as a peak demand reducing measure. The state argued that this represented a new type of efficiency. Batteries do not generally reduce net consumption of electricity – the…
ConnectedSolutions First Results: Massachusetts’ groundbreaking efficiency program for customer batteries receives its first report card
Last year, with technical support from Clean Energy Group (CEG), Massachusetts became the first state to officially incorporate behind-the-meter battery storage into its energy efficiency plan, and utilities began enrolling customers across the state in a groundbreaking pay-for-performance program. Now, preliminary results from this program, called ConnectedSolutions, have been published in a report from Navigant…
DC Court Upholds Major FERC Storage Order, Should Lead to Massive New Battery Markets Across Country
This morning, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit upheld a major federal rule (FERC Order 841) that should lead to significantly expanded battery storage use in wholesale markets across America. In a hotly contested case, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit unanimously ruled that FERC has the authority to require states…
CESA Honors Six Clean Energy Programs with the 2020 State Leadership in Clean Energy Awards
The Clean Energy States Alliance announced the recipients of the 2020 State Leadership in Clean Energy Awards at its annual membership meeting, held online in early June. Since 2009, the biennial Leadership Awards have recognized outstanding state programs and projects that have accelerated the adoption of clean energy technologies. The six winners were chosen by…
The New England Battery Revolution: In a Public Health Crisis, State Efficiency Programs Are Making Resilient Power Affordable for All
In this time of the coronavirus, losing electricity has more far reaching consequences than ever before. To those at home with children, a power outage could mean no distance learning; to those with home-based medical equipment, it could mean illness or worse; to those now working remotely, it could mean inability to run a business,…
CESA Launches 100% Clean Energy Collaborative
The Clean Energy States Alliance has launched the 100% Clean Energy Collaborative, a new initiative to provide critical information sharing and knowledge transfer among states that have established 100% clean energy goals for their electricity sectors. The rapid adoption of aggressive clean energy targets by states has been one of the most important energy and climate change policy developments of the past few years; 14 states plus the District of Columbia have now set such goals. The new Collaborative will create a forum for those states to cooperate on program development in order to speed progress towards achieving the states’ ambitious targets.
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- IRA & BIL Implementation
- 100% Clean Energy Collaborative
- Building Decarbonization and Clean Heating/Cooling
- Energy Storage Policy for States
- Energy Storage Technology Advancement Partnership
- Interstate Turbine Advisory Council
- Low- and Moderate-Income Clean Energy
- New England Solar Cost-Reduction Partnership
- Offshore Wind
- Renewable Portfolio Standards
- Scaling-Up Solar for Under-Resourced Communities
- Solar with Justice: Connecting States and Communities
- State Energy Strategies Project
- State Leadership in Clean Energy
- Sustainable Solar Education Project