We’ve been following three solar-related bills this session. For the most current information about any legislation, visit LegiScan.
HB 3010 by Rep. Zwiener (D-45) requiring municipal/county governments to use SolarApp+ (or another online program with similar capabilities) to streamline the solar permitting process. Never had a hearing in State Affairs Committee.
HB 4455 by Rep. DeAyala (Dist 133), amends Sec. 202.010 of the Texas Property Code changing the requirement from 10% to a 25% increase in energy production if the solar energy device is located in an area not designated by the property owner’s association. Never heard in House Business and Industry Committee.
SB 2257 Sen. Cesar Blanco (Dist 29) & HB 4542 Rep. Joseph Moody (D-78) never left their committees (Senate Business and Commerce and House State Affairs respectively). The bills would have required electric utility providers (municipal utilities, co-ops, and retail electric providers) to use a net-metering buyback plan for homeowners with excess generation to interconnect to the grid.
Authored by Schwetner and King. Currently, the bill has been placed on the Major State Calendar, and has passed out of both House and Senate committee assignments. The bill would establish a so-called “performance credit mechanism” with little regulatory oversight to help spur the construction of new dispatchable generation facilities. Estimates have pinned the cost at around $9B to taxpayers, however, the bill does have a $1B/yr annual limit which large generators have specifically indicated is not enough for them to warrant the construction of new facilities.
Authored by Kolhorst and Middleton. Currently referred to in the House State Affairs Committee. The bill would impose extreme permitting processes for utility-scale renewable energy facilities (specifically proposed solar and wind electricity generating facilities). Unless this passes out of committee tomorrow, it is DOA.
Authored by Perry. Currently, the bill has been placed on the Local, Consent, and Resolutions Calendars, and has passed out of both House and Senate committee assignments. The bill would direct the Texas Department of Agriculture and Texas A&M Agrilife + Forest Service to study the effects of the operation of and the impacts of the disposal of solar, wind, and energy storage equipment.
Authored by King. Currently, the bill has been postponed, but has passed out of both House and Senate committee assignments. The bill would establish an allowance to be applied on a per-megawatt basis, to assist in covering the costs of interconnecting new dispatchable, non-renewable energy sources to the ERCOT grid, and would act as a de jure subsidy for the fossil fuel industry.
Authored by Hughes. Currently, the bill has been sent to the Governor, where it awaits his signature. The bill would require any municipal climate charter (climate plan, action plan, vulnerability assessment, etc.), to be specifically approved by the state legislature before it can be voted on by the municipal voters and passed into municipal law. Since the Texas Legislature only meets only two years, it would significantly slow the adoption of local climate legislation. Additionally, the bill would limit the ability of municipalities, as the government closest to the people, to exercise their will, and would instead interject state politics into local issues.
Authored by Schwertner. Currently, the bill has been placed on the Major State Calendar, and has passed out of both House and Senate committee assignments. The bill would establish a special fund for dispatchable (non-renewable) utility generators to tap to receive 2% interest loans for up to 60% of the cost of developing new dispatchable generation facilities by 2029. While the bill would not go into effect without the enabling legislation of SJR 93, it would still withhold taxpayer dollars; would provide up to 20% of costs in the form of company bonuses; and, generators have admitted that the extra financing is not necessary. Although the bill is technically meant for building any on-demand power, it excludes batteries that are typically used to store wind or solar power.
SJR 0093 is authored by Schwertner. Currently, the bill has been placed on the Constitutional Amendments Calendar, and has passed out of both House and Senate committee assignments. The bill would serve as enabling legislation for SB 2627, another of Schwertner’s bills aimed at using taxpayer funds to subsidize the development of new natural gas powered electric generation facilities.
Authored by Moody, and identical to Blanco’s SB 2257. Currently, the committee report was printed and distributed to the general legislature after passing out of both the House and the Senate committees to which they were referred. The bill would require areas outside of ERCOT to implement net-metering programs for solar homeowners to receive buybacks for excess electricity produced.
Authored by Craddick, Capriglione, and Cooke. Currently, the bill has been laid on the table subject to call, having passed out of the House but not the Senate. The bill is in contrast to SB 1860. Rather than requiring approval from the politically-driven legislature, the approval of climate charters would have to come from relevant state agencies. The bill would be much more receptive to municipal charters, and would be significantly more nonpartisan.
Finally, other bills of relevance include the following:
SB 624Kolkhorst R (D-18) imposing permitting restrictions and fines on solar and wind energy projects in the state. Engrossed on April 24 and sent to House State Affairs on May 8.
SB 114 Menendez D (D-26) requires electric companies to create residential demand response programs, creating incentives for Texans to reduce energy use during peak electric demand periods. Engrossed on May 3, referred to House State Affairs on May 6; placed on general state calendar on May 23.
SB 1699 Johnson D (D-16) provides that a retail electric provider may aggregate distributed energy resources; and (2) a person may generate electricity if the person is aggregating distributed energy resources. Placed on General State Calendar on May 22.
SB 2112 Johnson D (D-16) would accelerate the state’s reliability process by establishing the Texas Power Resiliency Fund that would provide grants to critical public safety and health facilities — such as fire and police stations, hospitals, and nursing homes — to help them develop and plug into standard VPP (or microgrid) packages. Engrossed on April 25. Referred to House State Affairs on May 4 where it was left pending.
HB 3010. Rep. Erin Zwiener (D-45). HB 3010, requiring municipal/county governments to use SolarApp+ (or another online program with similar capabilities) to streamline the solar permitting process, is currently stalled. Referred to House State Affairs committee on March 14, it never had a hearing. Efforts to insert the language of HB 3010 into SB 2127 (Sen. Brandon Creighton [R-4]), a bill designed to limit the legislative autonomy of municipal/county governments from passing policies that contradict state law, were unsuccessful. Despite this, staffers for Creighton voiced some support for HB 3010 and have been willing to help identify another bill to which HB 3010 could be attached.
HB 4455. Rep. Mano DeAyala (R-133). HB 4455 amends Sec. 202.010 of the Texas Property Code changing the requirement from 10% to a 25% increase in energy production if the solar energy device is located in an area not designated by the property owner’s association, was referred to House Business and Industry committee on March 21. The bill was never set for hearing. The bill would have restricted homeowners from installing solar where they wanted. At this time, TXSES has not identified any attempts to attach the language of the bill into another.
SB 2257 Sen. Cesar Blanco (D-29)& HB 4542 Rep. Joseph Moody (D-78). SB 2257 and its House Companion HB 4542 appear unlikely to make it out of their respective committees (Senate Business and Commerce and House State Affairs respectively). The bills would have required electric utility providers (municipal utilities, co-ops, and retail electric providers) to use a net-metering buyback plan for homeowners with excess generation to interconnect to the grid. The bill’s ultimate impact however would have been minor, as it only would have applied to areas outside of ERCOT (<10%).
Most rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems are required to go through a permitting process implemented by local authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs), such as community or county governments. But, as rooftop PV becomes more efficient and accessible, it is straining the capacity of AHJs nationwide to issue permits.
The Solar Automated Permit Processing Plus (SolarAPP+) software eases the permitting process for residential PV and solar-plus-storage systems. With SolarAPP+, AHJs can instantly issue permits for code-compliant residential PV systems.
NREL has released a 2022 performance report on SolarAPP+, which includes these key results:
Expanding rapidly—15 AHJs had publicly launched SolarAPP+ by the end of 2022, and 16 more were piloting the platform. Another 89 AHJs were testing or preparing to pilot SolarAPP+.
Beyond the Sun Belt—Initially, SolarAPP+ was predominantly adopted in Arizona and California, but communities in other states, such as Connecticut, Texas, and Virginia have also implemented the tool.
More permits—Across 31 AHJs, 206 installers submitted more than 11,000 permits using SolarAPP+ in 2022—a 300% increase over 2021.
Shorter project timelines—A typical SolarAPP+ project is permitted, installed, and inspected approximately 13 business days sooner than projects permitted in the traditional way.
Staff time savings—SolarAPP+ saved approximately 9,900 hours of AHJ staff time in 2022 (i.e., permitting department staff).
No negative impact on inspections—SolarAPP+ projects were approximately 29% less likely to fail inspections than projects that were permitted the traditional way.
On May 16, the International Code Council (ICC), a collaborator that helped develop SolarAPP+, will host a webinar in which building officials from four communities—Denver, Colorado; Houston, Texas; Harrisonburg, Virginia; and Guilford, Connecticut—will discuss how automated solar permitting reduced permitting timelines, freed up staff time, and helped advance their community’s goals. NREL researchers will also present results from the SolarAPP+ 2022 performance review.
A second webinar will follow on June 6, providing a live demonstration of how the SolarAPP+ platform can permit residential solar and energy storage systems, too, showing how a contractor would input a system and an inspector would verify compliance in the field.
Austin, TX – Tool, Texas and Waco, Texas have been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory as one of 12 communities nationwide to adopt the innovative solar permitting platform SolarAPP+. Through the program, Tool and Waco are eligible to receive $15,000 if SolarAPP+ is adopted successfully.
“We’re excited to see NREL’s announcement and the fact that residential solar is receiving its time in the spotlight here in the cities of Tool and Waco,” said Patrice Parsons, Executive Director of Texas Solar Energy Society (TXSES). “Texas is a leader in the burgeoning residential solar industry, and this platform will make it easier for local governments to slash red tape and remove another barrier for Texans to access clean, affordable and resilient energy. This latest development underscores all the hard work that TXSES and our partners continue to do.”
SolarAPP+ is an online platform that instantly issues permits for code-compliant residential rooftop photovoltaic (PV) and battery systems. As many consumers and local jurisdictions know, permitting can often slow the process for residential solar and battery installations. Current permitting delays are estimated to increase solar cost by $7,000 per project. With the convergence of increased consumer interest in solar installation and federal legislative momentum, clearing this potential bottleneck of long review timelines and complicated permitting applications is imperative. SolarAPP+ provides local governments, installers and homeowners with a streamlined process to more quickly achieve clean power generation from the sun.
SolarAPP+ has already approved more than 10,000 permits across jurisdictions, including successful programs in Arizona, California, Illinois and Texas. Earlier this year, Houston announced a Solar APP+ pilot program. Since SolarAPP+ provides an immediate permit for those communities vetted and determined to be eligible, projects have been installed about two weeks faster under the program.
“In cities like Tool and Waco and across the state, TXSES continues to work tirelessly to ensure programs like SolarAPP+ and others are helping both new and existing solar customers reap benefits from their rooftop PV systems,” said Parsons.
About The Texas Solar Energy Society
For more than four decades, TXSES has been the pre-eminent statewide non-profit organization developing free, fact-based information and quality educational materials that inspire innovation, share best practices and inform decision-makers on the critical importance of sound, favorable solar policies that will grow the industry equitably, build healthy, resilient communities, support local, well-paying jobs and lay the foundation for energy independence. A membership-based organization, TXSES’s unique niche is its well-established local chapters in Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Houston and San Antonio. www.txses.org
What does it take to keep a preeminent, 40-year-old solar nonprofit thriving during a pandemic, extreme weather conditions and intransigent decision makers? For the past three years, Patrice ‘Pete’ Parsons has been at the helm of TXSES, carrying out the organization’s mission to educate and inspire every Texan to adopt solar energy as part of an equitable 100% clean energy future. Keeping the organization growing requires exemplary leadership and vision.
“My professional career in clean energy has prepared me for this assignment,” said Parsons. “Technologies have advanced. Consumer awareness has never been higher; demand has never been stronger. Climate change is no longer a speculation. My work at TXSES feels more urgent than ever.”
We sat down with Pete for an in-depth conversation about where TXSES has been and where it’s going.
TXSES: It’s been three years since you took over at TXSES. Where has the time gone? Your career has included work in the public, private and NGO sectors. Did that prepare you for a 40-year-old statewide solar nonprofit with regional chapters in five major metropolitan Texas cities?
PP: I’ve had a rewarding, inspiring professional career in clean energy which started back when Ann Richards was governor. I was at the General Services Commission (GSC) at the time and tasked with implementing her executive order directing all state agencies to recycle and buy recycled paper. I also worked on re-writing the Architectural and Engineering (A&E) Guidelines for state construction which included recycled building materials. I was fortunate to work on the state’s very first wind project in the Davis Mountains that would provide power to all state buildings in Austin.
After GSC, I took over the Governor’s Energy Office which I renamed to SECO, the current State Energy Conservation Office. I was focused on exploring how renewables could make an economic and environmental impact on the state. From there, I worked for the General Land Office (GLO) and Land Commissioner Garry Mauro which included representing him on President Clinton’s National Alternative Fuels Task Force and the EPA Clean Air Advisory Committee. It was a ton of fun!
TXSES: Feels like we’re only halfway to present day!
PP: After the GLO, I worked for HARC (Houston Advanced Research Center) where I started a Fuel Cell Research Center. I assembled a team of privately held companies to fund research on PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cells for stationary applications. From HARC, I went to ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability as its South-Central Director to help 50 cities implement climate action, sustainability and resiliency plans. It was exciting but exhausting! That’s when Ann Hamilton, formerly with the Houston Endowment and current TXSES board member, told me about the ED opportunity with TXSES. In addition to my interest in seeing how I can make a difference in the solar arena, returning to Austin felt like the right move so I could be closer to my mom, my children and my grandchildren. So to answer the question: did my previous work prepare me for TXSES? Absolutely. So much has happened over the past 30 years. Technologies have advanced. Consumer awareness has never been higher; demand has never been stronger. Climate change is no longer a speculation. My work at TXSES feels more urgent than ever. We have no time to waste.
Pete Parsons at HARC meeting, ca 2000
TXSES: So tell us what TXSES is focusing on these days.
PP: With all that’s happening in the clean energy space, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. To respond to consumer demand for solar, we see strategic distributed solar opportunities for a more resilient grid with rooftop and community solar. There’s no drop in consumer demand; in fact, our installers tell us they need workers! In response, we jumped in to help. For the past 18 months, we’ve been focused on building an educated, quality-trained diverse solar workforce for low-income populations; we’re pleased with our progress.
TXSES: Who else is TXSES targeting with education and training?
PP: Thanks to marketing support from the Texas Electric Cooperative, we’ll be holding training for Texas rural electric coops with experts from industry, national labs, and consultants who will share their experience and knowledge about technical opportunities and challenges, funding, state and national examples of community solar, residential and commercial solar programs, how to value solar. We hosted two of these workshops for New Braunfels Utility (NBU) earlier this year which were wildly received. According to NBU, these workshops provided a wealth of information that increased its understanding of and confidence in implementing initiatives that are new to many coops.
TXSES: TXSES was involved in last year’s effort to educate homeowners in the Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC) service territory. How did that go?
PP: There’s good news and not-so-good news. Working with other stakeholders, we focused on organizational change at the PEC to diversify its leadership and promote clean energy programs. Our efforts included leadership diversity, a vigorous public awareness campaign for solar in PEC’s service territory and a value of solar study to quantify the costs and benefits of each solar owner’s array to PEC’s system.
We hosted several town halls to educate PEC homeowners about proposed changes to PEC’s rates for solar generation. Despite our efforts, PEC prevailed its bid to implement anti-solar policies that affect current solar homeowners and potential solar homeowners. As the largest rural electric coop in Texas AND the US, PEC’s actions are especially concerning. That said, we’re not deterred. In fact, it only fires us up to ramp up our consumer awareness efforts so PEC homeowners have fact-based information to make decisions that will impact their lives and ours as well.
TXSES: The recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has substantial funding opportunities for states. In fact, we’ve not seen such a tranche of federal money for energy initiatives since ARRA (American Recovery & Reinvestment Act). What are your thoughts about this?
TXSES: It is the most significant climate legislation in US history. Modeling finds IRA’s $370B in climate and clean energy could help cut US greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions up to 43% BELOW 2005 levels by 2030…just seven years away! Reports of job growth exceed one million new jobs, affirming our work to educate and train a quality, diverse solar workforce. To capitalize on those federal dollars, Texas must pass bold clean energy targets. But with actions like appointees to the quasi-secretive State Energy Advisory Plan Committee by the governor, lieutenant governor and speaker, opportunities to realize those bold clean energy targets will be a challenge.
But the opportunities are huge. The State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) will have its hands full administering those dollars. While fossil fuels do benefit from this bill, clean energy resources like solar, wind and efficiency are the real beneficiaries of IRA. One of the really big wins: the 30% federal tax credit for rooftop solar installations now has a 10-year extension! Other consumer tax credits include energy-efficient windows, doors, electric water heaters, furnaces, electric vehicles (EV) and EV recharging equipment. Just a couple of weeks ago, SEG Solar announced it will build a 2 GW capacity solar module manufacturing plant in Houston. Construction is expected to begin at the end of this year and be operational by mid-2023. And while this was in the works before IRA, I think we’ll see more solar manufacturing facilities pop up all across the US, thanks to the IRA.
TXSES: Another reason to make sure we’ve got a strong solar workforce! But…what about the delays in permitting? This has been publicized a lot lately.
PP: Bret Biggart, Freedom Solar (and TXSES Platinum Business Member) wrote about this very issue in a recent issue of Texas Monthly. If Texas consumers want to go solar and help relieve pressure on the grid, why make it so difficult? It’s not that difficult a process, and certainly not helping consumers have a favorable view of their utility. But there’s a great tool to help alleviate this issue. Solar App+ software developed by NREL is a free online tool that completely automates the permitting process, shaving five to 10 days off the process. Solar App+ is projected to add solar to 2.4 million homes and 30,000 jobs across the US. We’re working to raise awareness of Solar App+ by Texas local governments and coops so they can deploy it.
TXSES: This was one of the hottest summers on record. We’ve not seen final numbers for August or September but 2022 ranks as one of, if not the hottest summers on record, and the likelihood that this kind of weather pattern is now the norm. How do you see TXSES responding to this over the next five years?
PP: It’s not just summer temperatures that are extreme. Remember Winter Storm Uri in February 2021? This is everyone’s conversation today. What do we do? Where do we go? How do we pivot and adjust to this new existence? Our collective response must be thoughtful, smart, common sense. We formed a policy committee for our business members to ensure we know first-hand what issues are impacting the industry. Five years is just two legislative sessions. In fact, we’re gearing up for the 86th legislative session in January which is safe to assume will have a significant energy focus. We’ll be busy doing what we do best: educating decision-makers and individuals with fact-based information about the value and benefits of solar. We can no longer limp along with an antiquated, volatile electric grid and policies that support the status quo while consumer demand for solar is off the charts. At TXSES, we’re not standing idly by, hoping our decision-makers boldly confront the issues of climate change, drought, extreme heat and cold temperatures. Consumer demand drives policies. We’re deeply committed to our decades-old work to make sure all Texans are educated about solar.
