Richard Killmer: Michigan Legislature should make community solar more accessible

Rev. Richard Killmer
·4 min read

Wildfires, monster hurricanes, sea level rise, droughts, floods have now plagued our world for decades. Scientists are clear about the cause. The sun's rays, which bounce off the Earth, are caught in a gaseous blanket in the atmosphere which warms the atmosphere and the earth.

What causes the thickening of that blanket? By burning fossil fuels including coal, oil and gas, we emit greenhouse gasses which add to the blanket and consequently catch even more of the sun’s rays.

Richard Killmer
Richard Killmer

What can you and I do about it? We can do everything we can to not rely on the burning of those fossil fuels, including where our electricity comes from and the automobiles we drive. Many people around the world purchase electric vehicles to stop burning oil and gas.

Likewise, people are disconnecting from electricity produced by coal, gas and oil, and are instead relying on renewable sources of energy including solar, wind and geothermal. One way to provide electricity comes from solar panels that are placed on their roof or on a ground mount.

The vast majority of customers chose to connect their solar panels to the grid. A grid-connected solar system allows people to power their home or small business with renewable energy during those periods when the sun is shining, and use utility-provided electricity when it is dark or there is bad weather.

In addition, electric utilities in many states allow net metering. If customers with solar power use more electricity than they feed into the grid during a given month, they pay the utility only for the difference between what they used and what they produced. In 2018, the Michigan Public Service Commission reduced the amount of money that customers received through net metering.

There are huge advantages of solar panels which are increasingly affordable. Solar will often increase the value of your home and they work in a variety of climates. Customers, equipped with solar arrays and energy storage like a battery and a cut-off mechanism to disconnect their residence from the grid, can keep the lights on when the grid goes down. Customers have a tangible influence on the strange weather patterns because they are no longer producing greenhouse gasses. Houses of worship can learn more about solar panels at solarfaithful.org.

There is another option besides having solar panels on your property. Community solar refers to a solar array where multiple customers can subscribe and receive a credit on their utility bill for their share of the power that’s produced. Residents, public organizations and private businesses sign up to receive energy from a certain number of panels, which can be purchased upfront or as a “pay-as-you-go” subscription.

Community solar customers typically subscribe to — or in some cases own — a portion of the energy generated by a solar array, and receive an electric bill credit for electricity generated by their share of the community solar system. Community solar can be a great option for people who are unable to install solar panels on their roofs because they are renters, can’t afford solar, or have roofs or electrical systems unsuited for solar.

The key components of community solar are that credit is on their electric bill and that they save money from solar. There are two models for paying for Community Solar:

  • Buying upfront where the customer pays for their part of the solar array and gets the value of power produced, less the cost of operations, maintenance and distribution

  • A subscription that pays the developer back for their investment (these often produce only small savings for the customer).

But here is the bad news. Under current law, direct participation in a community solar program is not allowed in Michigan, though renewable energy should be accessible and available to everyone. Michigan currently does not have an enabling law for community-owned solar, so community solar programs in Michigan are only developed and managed through a local electric utility.

Proposed Bipartisan legislation:

  • House Bill 4464 (introduced by Rep. Rachel Hood, D) and House Bill 4465 (introduced by Rep. John Roth, R)

  • Senate Bill 0152 (introduced by Sen. McBroom, R) and Senate Bill 0153 (introduced by Sen. Jeff Irwin D)

These bills would authorize the Michigan Public Service to create a clear pathway and program for community solar. The key provisions are:

  • Ensure that all customer classes have opportunities to participate as subscribers to a community solar facility.

  • Require that not less than 30% of the electricity produced by each community solar facility be reserved for low-income households and low-income service organizations.

Contact your state legislator to urge the legislature to support these bills guaranteeing people of Michigan community solar.

— Community Columnist Rev. Richard Killmer is a retired Presbyterian minister living in East Grand Rapids. Contact him at richardlkillmer@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Richard Killmer: Michigan Legislature should make community solar more accessible