Press Mention Public News Service June 28, 2020
SACE Quoted
NC Continues to Lead Southeast in Solar Energy Usage
In this mention
North Carolina maintains the second-highest installed solar capacity in the U.S. after California, according to a new Southern Alliance for Clean Energy report. SACE solar program director Bryan Jacob attributes the state's leadership to its renewable portfolio standard and rooftop solar incentives, though Florida is projected to overtake North Carolina in 2021. The coronavirus pandemic caused significant job losses in the renewable energy sector across the state.
North Carolina's leadership has historically been legislative. North Carolina is the only state in the Southeast that has a renewable portfolio standard, where the state legislature required utilities to meet certain renewable targets by certain dates.
Bryan Jacob
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NC Continues to Lead Southeast in Solar Energy Usage
Jun 29, 2020
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Duke Energy remains the region's leader in installed solar capacity, but can no longer claim to have half of all the solar in the Southeast, according to a new report by Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
Bryan Jacob, the group's solar program director, co-authored the research. He says utilities in neighboring states have begun to close the gap when it comes to how many watts of solar power are sourced to customers.
However, North Carolina continues to have the second most installed capacity of solar in the country. It's second only to California.
"North Carolina's leadership has historically been legislative," Jacob states. "North Carolina is the only state in the Southeast that has a renewable portfolio standard, where the state legislature required utilities to meet certain renewable targets by certain dates."
Jacob says North Carolina also has incentivized utility solar development and has enacted a rebate program for rooftop solar.
However, a study from BW Research Partnership found the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic led to the loss of more than 26,000 renewable energy jobs across the state this past spring.
Jacob says states such as Florida are catching up quickly when it comes to solar capacity and investment.
"So we're now projecting that Florida will overtake North Carolina in 2021," he states.
Some experts say with more people choosing to stay home amid COVID-19, state lawmakers and regulators should be implementing measures to make it easier for residents to make their homes more energy efficient.
Reporting by North Carolina News Connection in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the Park Foundation.