Clean Energy Finance Forum

New York’s Long Island Power Authority upped the incentives offered to community solar projects in its territory, providing some concessions to solar developers but ultimately falling short of what the industry said it needed to provide the certainty to finance projects there.

Seven states – Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, South Carolina, and Vermont – have enacted legislation to promote pollinator-friendly solar development. A new white paper by the Clean Energy States Alliance provides an overview of these state efforts and offers suggestions for what other states can do to promote solar while also creating or preserving healthy habitats for pollinators.

The New York Public Service Commission directed the state's energy development authority to offer additional financial options beyond traditional fixed-price contracts when soliciting bids to build renewable energy projects.

Now, in states from New York to California, the focus of the conversation has moved from: How can utilities weather the shift toward distributed energy without suffering big losses? to: How can utilities, their customers and the electric grid as a whole best harness the benefits of distributed energy resources?

The Alliance for Clean Energy New York says in a report that putting a price on carbon will help New York meet its aggressive goal of 70% of its electricity coming from wind, solar and other renewable sources by 2030.

Utilities like Duke Energy and Xcel Energy have issued billions in green bonds to fund renewables development. Green banks in New York, Connecticut and other states are backing investments in distributed resources and energy efficiency. It appears much more institutional money wants in on the green opportunity.

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority's (NYSERDA) Market Acceleration Bridge Incentive Program for energy storage is getting a record amount of participants, NYSERDA CEO Alicia Barton announced at the Energy Storage North America conference on Thursday.

The National Climate Bank Act introduced this year is based in part on successful projects in Connecticut and New York.