Indiana

Or why net metering is critical to a modernized electrical grid.

Senators on Indiana Senate’s Committee on Utilities blasted colleague Brandt Hershman over the weekend, saying the falsehoods he perpetrated in his testimony in support of SB 309 might have swayed the vote in support of the solar-damaging bill.

After the Indiana Senate passed SB 309 out of committee last Thursday, the Indiana Distributed Energy Alliance delivered a blistering letter to the Utilities Committee chair, saying the bill’s author misrepresented the intent of his bill to obscure his real goal – eliminating net-metering from the state.

The national solar association is setting up a committee to focus on solar expansion in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin in a move designed to refocus the association on state-level policy battles, which are where most observers believe the future of solar will now be decided.

State Senator Brandt Hershman has introduced SB 309 into the legislative docket, a bill that contains language that could scuttle net-metering long before its stated sunset of 2027.

A new report documents that most U.S. utilities remain firm on plans to eliminate coal plants on the already-announced schedule, offering the prospect of enormous business opportunities for the solar industry — as well as a glimmer of hope for displaced coal miners