House Bill 495, also known as the Solar Jobs Bill, was recently introduced in the N.C. General Assembly with bipartisan support. Cosponsored by majority whip Ruth Samuelson ® and two other Republicans, the bill seeks to double the solar set-aside from 0.2 percent to 0.4 percent by 2018. This means utilities will have to supply twice as much solar power than previously required by the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard passed in 2007.
This is a crucial piece of legislation arriving at a crucial time for the solar industry in North Carolina. Utilities have already secured enough solar to meet their mandated quota up to 2015. That means they have virtually no incentive to buy more solar power for at least three years. Though they will never admit it, the underlying reason is that purchased solar power is, by law, not profitable. Utilities are not allowed to turn a profit on any form of electric generation they do not own outright.
Undoubtedly, utilities will fight this piece of legislation tooth and nail to protect their profit margin — which, by the way, is guaranteed by law at a healthy 20 percent rate of return. Now is the time to contact your Representatives and tell them you support our state’s growing solar industry.
We shouldn’t force home-grown solar businesses right here in North Carolina to leave the state simply because the market they compete in here is unfairly biased.
Logan Stephens
UNC class of 2010
