Community Solar in PA: for Everyone
For lots of reasons, using the sun to generate electricity is not an option for many families: renters, shade trees, affordability, HOA restrictions, etc. Under current Pennsylvania law these people are out of luck. They are losing out on what is rapidly becoming the least expensive source of electricity. Solar radiation, the “fuel” for solar panels, is free. You never have to worry about the utility company raising its price, or the fluctuating (and mostly increasing!) cost of fossil gas, the fuel burned to generate much of the electricity consumed in Pennsylvania.
Fortunately, PA House Bill 504 (HB 504) would enable everyone to take advantage of Community Energy. This legislation, if enacted, would allow a church, a school, a factory, a warehouse, a parking lot, a landfill, or even an open field to install a solar array and share the electricity generated from the sun with their neighbors. A family that cannot, for whatever reason, generate their own solar electricity would be able to buy a share of the output from the developer of the solar array and see the savings every month on their electric bill.
HB 504, the Pennsylvania Community Energy legislation, addresses a lot of the details and the complications that could arise with such arrangements. The local utility must deliver the electricity, meaning there would be no need to run wires from the array to the homes or apartments of the purchasers. The utility would also be handling much of the accounting and billing between array owners and those buying the solar electric output. And of course, the solar developers can’t sell more “shares,” or more electricity than their facility generates.
A Tested Solution
Community Energy, or Community Solar as it is also known, has been implemented successfully in other states across the US.
Other states around us are benefitting from Community Solar; Pennsylvania needs to do the same.
Pennsylvania Politics
As with many good ideas, politics seems to be getting in the way of Community Energy in Pennsylvania. HB 504, the bill that would enable this sharing of solar-generated electricity, has passed the PA House of Representatives with some bipartisan support, but has not passed in the Senate.To win support from rural representatives, HB 504 includes other energy sources besides solar. For example, it allows farmers to install methane digesters that convert cow waste into usable energy, benefiting multiple farms. Farmers can also participate in community solar projects, sharing electricity generated on their land with neighbors.
But Community Energy (HB 504) has run into opposition in the Pennsylvania Senate, where the Republicans hold a majority. The gas industry opposes energy policies that reduce the utilization of gas in generating electricity. Electric utility companies are also lobbying against it, citing several concerns.
Implementing community energy will require upgrades to their electricity accounting and customer billing systems. They also claim that larger solar arrays of community solar providers may require more upgrades to distribution circuits and transformers compared to the changes needed to support small residential solar installations. Looking for any excuse, some utilities are trying to argue that more solar on the distribution grid will make electric service less reliable due to the variability of electricity from the sun. In terms of this last complaint, the percentage of solar electricity in Pennsylvania is so small that this will not be a problem for a long time, and by the time it would be a factor there will be plenty of batteries and other energy storage methods on the grid that will even things out.
Solar is the cheapest form of energy and should benefit everyone. Call your State Senator and ask them to support Community Energy and HB504. Find your State Senator and their contact information here: