NYSEIA News

With state legislative sessions winding down across the country, the New York Solar Jobs Act is looking more and more like the biggest remaining opportunity to open up a major new solar market in 2011. No surprise then that the bill has support from a broad coalition of environmental, public health and industry groups.

 

Big names like Walmart, GE, Dow, and Staples have joined well over 100 other businesses and organizations in formally supporting the Act. And an impressive 66 lawmakers from upstate, downstate and both sides of the aisle have signed on as sponsors or co-sponsors. But with the last day of session coming up quickly on June 20^th, it’s a race against time to get the bill across the finish.

 

It’s crunch time. So, Vote Solar and our coalition partners are giving lawmakers a sign that the Empire State is ready to build a brighter energy future. A really big sign -- a digital billboard in Times Square. To show lawmakers just how serious New Yorkers are about solar, we’re encouraging public participation with a photo contest. Submissions that best illustrate New York’s support for solar will be displayed for all to see in the bright lights of Times Square.

 

We’re looking for family portraits in front of PV systems on Long Island homes. Or hipsters posing with panels near the Brooklyn Bridge. Or headshots in green hardhats and sunglasses from workers in Buffalo. Or if you’re a solar-friendly contender on a hugely popular reality TV show, send your pic our way! (Huge thank you to Ryan Park, Director of Business Development for REC Solar and America’s sunniest bachelor). Any way that contestants want to show their support for New York’s solar future, we want to see it in photo form.

 

Times Square is an iconic setting for what could be an iconic solar program. As it’s currently written, the bill charts an aggressive but achievable path for New York to get 3% of its power from solar by 2025. Specifically, each retail electric supplier will be required to procure SRECS from various market segments to meet annual compliance targets that scale up to the 2025 end goal.

 

Equivalent to an impressive five gigawatts of new solar development, the proposed program would mark a significant step forward from the state’s existing 54 megawatts of installed PV. It would jumpstart a diverse and competitive solar market, support tens of thousands of new jobs, and generate billions of dollars in economic output in the state. And perhaps most importantly to policymakers in these budget-constrained times, the program is designed to deliver those high economic returns at low ratepayer cost.

 

Today New York has some of the highest electricity rates in the country. Solar development would offset the most expensive and polluting slice of that electricity mix, peak generation to meet high summer AC load, with power from the sun, a fuel source that is reliable, local and free.

 

Why should Empire State ratepayers be spending money on imported fossil generation when they could be creating jobs in their own communities? Why spend billions on expensive upgrades to its outdated infrastructure when they could be producing power right when and where New Yorkers need it most? New York can keep throwing good ratepayer money after bad and see neighbors like New Jersey continue to eclipse its solar growth - or start investing in a brighter energy future. Here’s hoping lawmakers opt for the latter. And soon.