Solar in the Southeast: New Report Highlights Solar Data and Trends Throughout the Southeast
Contact: Jennifer Rennicks, SACE, 865-235-1448, [email protected]
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy held a telephone press conference at 11 am ET, Tuesday, February 27 to address any media questions on the report. A recording of the call can be found here.
Speakers Included:
Dr. Stephen A. Smith, Executive Director, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
Bryan Jacob, Solar Program Director, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
John D. Wilson, Research Director, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
Atlanta, GA – As solar energy development continues to expand in the Southeast, increasing almost 30 fold over the last five years, the growth patterns remain varied depending on specific location. The Solar in the Southeast 2017 Annual Report from Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) was released today, highlighting solar data and trends throughout the region, including Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
Using the metric “watts per customer,” which looks at the amount of installed solar relative to the total number of customers served, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy offers a unique analysis, with detailed information at the regional, state, and utility level. The watts-per-customer metric provides an unbiased standard by which utilities and states can be compared and contrasted.
Current and Forecasted Utility Solar Leaders
Duke Energy Progress, Duke Energy Carolinas, and Georgia Power are the region’s current solar leaders based on the 2017 watts per customer ranking. Looking forward, the report calls out seven utilities with the highest forecasted solar growth by 2021. Duke Energy Progress and Georgia Power both make this list, as well, along with South Carolina Electric and Gas, Tampa Electric, Duke Energy Florida, Jacksonville Electric Authority, and City of Tallahassee. These utilities each serve more than 100,000 customers and are noted in the report as “SunRisers,” due to their ambitious levels of planned solar growth.
Current and Forecasted Utility Solar Laggards
In contrast to the “Sunrisers”, the report also identifies three major utility systems – Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Santee Cooper, and Seminole Electric Cooperative – as laggards, or “SunBlockers,” who steadfastly stick with outdated plans for low levels of solar development over the next four years. For example, the monopolistic behavior of TVA is restricting solar choice across the Tennessee Valley.
Policy Focus
Leading states like North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia have enacted strong policies that foster and encourage renewable energy growth. On the other hand, utilities in other Southeastern states – particularly Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi – continue to operate in a public policy vacuum. The slow pace of solar growth in these states, and the outdated thinking by utilities, leaves them with solar projections considerably below the regional average through 2021.
State Highlights
North Carolina has enjoyed a favorable policy environment and currently has the most solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in the Southeast at 3 gigawatts (GW) and second-most in the United States. Duke Energy Progress and Duke Energy Carolinas combined to contribute 83 percent of North Carolina’s solar in 2017. In particular, Duke Energy Progress will more than double their watts-per-customer ratio by 2021. North Carolina’s recent energy law (HB 589) is contributing to that continued growth.
Florida utilities are on a path to 4 gigawatts (GW) by 2021 due to major announcements of utility-scale solar development in 2017 from Florida Power & Light, Duke Energy Florida, Tampa Electric Company, and JEA. Florida has been a strong regional leader in residential solar for the past 5 years and has seen the rooftop market further accelerate following two ballot initiatives in 2016. However, this rooftop (distributed generation) market is vulnerable in the Sunshine State as some utilities begin to revise their “net metering” approach. For example, JEA will compensate fuel-cost only for new solar installations after April 2018.
In Tennessee, the Tennessee Valley Authority was an early regional leader in small-scale, distributed solar. Recently, however, TVA has failed to respond to customer demand for solar, and their current Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), which calls for between 150 and 800 megawatts (MW) of large-scale solar by 2023, represents a very low solar target for a utility of TVA’s scale. Forecast at just 125 watts-per-customer by 2021, TVA’s commitment to solar is well below the forecasted Southeast average of 523 watts-per-customer. Despite being the second largest utility in the Southeast and serving 16 percent of customer accounts, TVA represented just six percent of total solar capacity in the Southeast in 2017.
“This analysis demonstrates the enormous potential that remains in the Southeast for increased solar development while also shining a light on those utilities who are poised to fall behind in the coming years,” said Dr. Stephen A. Smith, Executive Director of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. “Using the unbiased watts-per-customer metric, we are able to see which states and utilities are on track to continue bringing affordable solar to their customers, and which will need a serious course correction to avoid being in last place. It is our hope that this data will be used to make informed planning decisions by utilities and regulators across the board.”
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About Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
Founded in 1985, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is a nonprofit organization that promotes responsible energy choices that work to address the impacts of global climate change and ensure clean, safe, and healthy communities throughout the Southeast. Learn more at www.cleanenergy.org.