What do current New York Governor Cuomo and former
California Governor Schwarzenegger have in common? Solar. Long-term solar
initiative.
In his 2014 State of the State address, New York Governor
Cuomo affirmed his commitment to solar energy by further expanding NY-Sun
Initiative, which he first proposed in his 2013 State of the State address. His goal is to achieve a 3-gegawatt of
installed solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity by 2023.
Under his vision, the New York State Energy Research and Development
Authority (NYSERDA) recently filed a petition for new funding of $864 million
for PV incentives from 2016 through 2023. By adding $108 million funding previously
approved for 2014-2015, there will be $1.08 billion for 10 years.
3 GW in 10 years. Does it sound familiar? This vision was once
created by former California Governor Schwarzenegger in 2004.
California created the California Solar Initiative (CSI), a
10-year PV incentive program, as part of former California Governor’s “Million
Solar Homes” vision. The state has a statewide goal of 3 GW PV installation by
2016 or in 10 years under Go Solar California campaign, which includes the CSI
and two other PV programs in the state. The CSI, when created, was
revolutionary because of the long-term commitment, not a single year budget. This
has provided certainty and transparency to program participants, creating a
stable solar market.
New York is going to follow the California’s declining
incentive structure and calling it a MW Block Incentive structure. Incentives
will decline as demand grows. Incentive levels are adjusted by market demand
and local conditions, not by fiscal year.
The overall megawatt goal will be divided into several
blocks. For the New York PV program, the megawatt targets in each block are
assigned to three categories: (1)
systems up to 50 kW (residential and small non-residential), (2) 50 - 200 kW
(medium non-residential), and (3) 200 kW – 2 MW (large non-residential) and further
divided to regions. In the recent filing, NYSERDA did not revealed how it will
divide 3 GW among the three categories and regions.
To create a strong statewide PV program, New York is going
to consolidate efforts by working with all - NYSERDA, PSEG Long Island (Long
Island Power Authority (LIPA) managed by PSEG from January 2014), New York
State Department of Public Service (DPS), and New York Power Authority (NYPA).
One of the CSI’s goals was to establish a self-sufficient PV
industry, in which solar energy systems become a viable mainstream option for
both homes and businesses in 10 years. Similarly, New York is aiming at “the
sustainable development of a robust PV industry.” NYSERDA stated in the filling
that it will set up the MW Block program to eliminate cash incentives as soon
as possible, encouraging the solar industry to continue the cost reduction
effort.
To support this new effort, New York has all
the ingredient for success. The state already has
favorable regulations/policies placed to support further deployment:
net-metering allowing up to 2 MW in size, 3rd-party solar PPA,
Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE), residential solar tax credit (up to
$5,000) are available. The Governor has also
created the Green Bank to support PV financing.