Virtual Workshop
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Designed for local Texas rural electric cooperatives, TXSES coordinated this workshop featuring national, regional and local experts who addressed questions that co-op members and staff are asking in the current energy transition. These questions center around the rising interest in solar energy and storage and other distributed energy resources, from EVs to load-controlled water heaters, heat pumps and smart appliances. Addressing a commitment to increasing access to solar for all, speakers highlighted grid modernization, system reliability issues and new challenges in setting rates and incentive programs.
Update for Texas Co-ops Jill K. Cliburn, Technical Advisor to the National Community Solar Partnership
–Update on community solar markets and innovations that address co-op goals
–Bundling community solar with storage, load management and more
–How co-ops can use IRA federal benefits and other resources to ease customers’ cost burden, while supporting a clean energy transition
Laura Doll, Regulatory Policy Advisor and TXSES Board Member
Dominic May, La Plata Electric Association, Durango, Colorado
–How Software tools help local co-ops orchestrate an increasingly complex grid
–Progress toward LPEA Renewable energy, EV, and clean electrification goals
–Linking technical systems and customer service
–Using data for cost-effective planning and compliance
Wesley Brinkmeyer, Manager of Community & Development Services, Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative
–Are Solar Subdivisions the Next Big Thing? Lessons Learned
Karl Rábago, Rábago Energy LLC. The Value of Local Solar in a State With Energy Needs as Big as Texas
–Solar and DER rates and incentives that work for Texas co-ops
–How to assess the rate impacts of solar to the local co-op, the wholesale system, and the Texas economy
–Bringing EVs and clean electrification into the mix: grid management, new partnerships, and rates for the energy transition