Consistency in the solar program for the last 15 years has allowed Pennsylvania to avoid what has become known as the “solar coaster.”
“Anyone who has been in the solar industry for the last 20 years has been on the solar coaster,” said Gabe Phillips, founder and CEO of Catalyst Power, an independent energy solutions provider specializing in integrating retail electricity with complementary cleaner energy solutions for the commercial and industrial sector.
“Lots of states announced incentives that have limited dollar figures or time frames associated with them and they get depleted. They’re meant to bridge the time frame between which things cost X today and half of X in the future. That goalpost keeps moving because of dynamics in the energy market, cost calculations, how difficult it is to get solar sighted and built, and transmission lines sighted, which also becomes potentially a federal issue,” added Phillips. Aside from state incentives and the obvious federal investment tax credit fluctuations the last 20 years, the other aspect of the solar coaster is tariffs from the previous Trump Administration. The tariffs were continued under the Biden Administration, then stayed, and then that stay expired.
“That whiplash was real and is likely to continue,” Phillips said. “How bad and in what directions, I have no idea. Trying to predict is an exercise in futility.”
Phillips’ background in energy trading and risk management has produced a track record of identifying gaps in the energy market and providing tailored renewable solutions. “This new administration represents an uptick in volatility in the availability in incentives for renewable energy anywhere in America, not just in central Pa.,” said Phillips. “Pennsylvania has had a modest solar incentive program. It’s not one of the stronger states in that regard, but it’s certainly an early mover in providing incentives for solar. Their value from a state incentive perspective has been modest over the recent decade or so, and the federal incentives available for clean energy in Pennsylvania have been very important for that state’s continued solar energy viability.
“This period of potential uptick in volatility associated with federal incentives for solar could represent some risk for Pennsylvania. If you’re a business owner who’s considering adopting a clean energy measure at your place of business, you have a slightly more limited window to do that before my expected increase in volatility associated with those incentives occurs,” said Phillips.
Solar incentive at the state level has remained consistent throughout multiple administrations, whether they were supportive or not of green energy. Phillips said he doesn’t expect that to change much, given the shift in federal incentives.
“To make Pennsylvania’s solar projects work economically, you have to take advantage of a few of the federal incentives, w
Lun. Dic 23rd, 2024
