PRODUCTION INCENTIVE CAPS REACHED
Solar installations in Washington have been booming thanks to a successful incentive program. Now several utilities in Washington report that they are close to hitting their solar production incentive pay-out caps.
This means that the amount of annual production incentive you receive could be reduced, depending on your utility and depending on what happens in the upcoming legislative session.
Installers are just being notified of this issue in the Seattle and PSE service territories. The existing production incentive program lacks transparency so it’s difficult to know for certain where each utility is in relation to its cap. Some small public utilities have already reached theirs. Some of these have closed their incentive programs to new applicants.
The primary cause of this situation is the rapid deployment of solar throughout Washington. Additionally, homeowners are installing larger solar systems and using Made-in-Washington equipment, with a higher incentive rate. Finally, a sunnier and milder winter and spring than forecast resulted in more solar production and less revenue for utilities.
WHAT IS BEING DONE?
SIW is actively working on a solution. We are engaging with leaders in the state Legislature and with utility representatives to pass a new solar incentive bill. The 2016 legislative session begins in January. It is critical to the future of state solar incentives that we pass a bill this session, both for current and future solar customers.
A bill to raise the overall cap was introduced during the 2015 legislative session but did not pass. We need your
help now.
WHAT YOU CAN DO?
Lawmakers need to hear from customers who may be impacted by the rate reduction. Below are steps you can take:
- MOST EFFECTIVE: Call or email your local officials with a personalized plea for their support. You can find their contact information at http://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder/.
- VERY EFFECTIVE: Fill out this Letter Campaign to automatically send a message to your local officials based on your address.
- STILL EFFECTIVE: Contact your utility and let them know you want to see the solar incentive program extended. Please ask them to support solar legislation in 2016.
- STILL EFFECTIVE: Fill out this Petition to the Committee Chairs who will eventually oversee the bill. Speaking directly with your local representatives is most effective, but this certainly helps.
Thank you!
This campaign is also available as a downloadable PDF below. Feel free to distribute to other solar supporters!
