Clean Energy Finance Forum

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.

A major rain and wind storm struck the state at the close of October, knocking out power to some 115,000 customers. Among those affected, 1,100 homes managed to keep the lights on thanks to pilot programs specifically designed to promote resilient backup power with energy storage.

On June 26th, Governor Janet Mills signed new legislation to broaden customer access to net metering (known in Maine as net energy billing) and to promote distributed energy generation, including through competitive procurements for long-term contracts with the state’s transmission and distribution utilities.

The city's municipal utility, the Tennessee Valley Authority's largest customer, has launched a study to explore whether it can save money by breaking away from TVA, possibly by developing or buying renewable energy sources like solar and wind.

Some residents are concerned about environmental impacts from proposed transmission lines.

Wind accounts for just over 3,000 megawatts of energy annually in North Dakota. That's about a quarter of the state's electricity needs.

A Vermont policy meant to steer solar projects away from undeveloped and agricultural land appears to be working two years after it was implemented.

The Green New Deal that some Democrats are now championing is unlike anything this country has ever done before. But scientists have been studying policies like these for decades. And their research can tell us a bit about what might happen if we pass this sweeping new vision for climate action and economic equality.