Iowa group wants solar panels for apartment dwellers and renters
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More Iowans could get access to solar energy if the state Legislature expands access to community solar — a concept that allows people to buy a share of a solar panel project.
Why it matters: Community solar could give renters and apartment dwellers who can't install rooftop panels another way to benefit from solar energy.
Catch up quick: Community solar program proposals at the Iowa Legislature have faced criticism from utility companies, who say rates could rise for customers who didn't participate.
- Solar customers could receive bill credits worth more than the savings their systems provide to the electric grid system, leaving the utility with a gap that other customers would have to cover.
- Last year, a community solar proposal faced opposition from MidAmerican Energy and Alliant Energy and ultimately died.
Friction point: A June report prepared for Iowa Business for Clean Energy argues third-party community solar could save participating Iowans money without raising costs for other utility customers.
- The report notes that adding batteries to the solar panels stores power, which can be released later, in the evenings, when electricity demand is higher, making it more valuable to the utility.
- That extra value could cover the cost of credits given to solar customers, per the report.
How it works: Instead of putting panels on their own roofs, customers pay to be a part of a larger solar panel project.
- The solar panels send electricity to the grid. Meanwhile, those solar customers' local utility companies give them bill credits based on how much electricity their share produces.
The other side: MidAmerican isn't opposed to community solar, but the utility company does not want it to shift costs to customers who don't participate in it, spokesperson Geoff Greenwood tells Axios.
- He noted that when the company proposed language that would avoid cost shifting, he says it was met with resistance.
- "The report argues that pairing community solar with battery storage may create additional value for the grid," Greenwood says. "That is a different proposition than the legislation considered previously and is something that would require careful analysis using real-world assumptions and data."
Zoom out: 24 states have passed laws allowing community solar programs, including neighboring Minnesota, which also offers a low- and moderate-income program.
What we're watching: If a new proposal for community solar comes in the next legislative session.