Senate Bill 299 would remove barriers to solar energy that advocates say will help create thousands of new jobs.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Atlanta, GA (March 18, 2021) — Georgia Senate Rules Chairman Jeff Mullis dropped Senate Bill 299 this week, a bill to improve the regulatory environment for solar and remove barriers to economic growth. "Georgia's solar industry is ready to fuel major economic growth across the entire state for years to come", says Montana Busch, Co-Chairman of the Georgia Solar Energy Association. "Senate Bill 299 helps remove barriers to solar energy that have held rooftop solar energy back from growing thousands of new jobs for Georgians and will create a level playing field for solar to compete in a free-market fashion". 

"Georgia's solar power resources can be an economic engine for every corner of Georgia" says Busch, "by clarifying the existing laws, SB 299 helps to take the shackles off Georgia's sun to benefit every business, home, school, and houses of worship in the state while growing thousands of new, good paying jobs in the process".

Georgia currently ranks Top Ten in installed solar energy capacity with enough solar energy to power over 300,000 homes, making up just 3.4% of the State's electricity coming from solar. Solar energy currently employs 4,900 Georgians, and in 2019 Georgia had the highest percentage solar jobs growth amongst all states (30%). Currently, less than 4% of all solar installed in Georgia is owned by consumers where the energy savings generated directly benefits business owners, homeowners, schools, and houses of worship. In some neighboring states that same figure is more than 20%. Passage of SB 299 will eliminate critical barriers to customer-owned solar energy and give greater access to the financial benefits of solar to more Georgians. 

Follow the Georgia Solar Association on Twitter or on Facebook, or visit their website at www.gasolar.org/.

The Georgia Solar Association is a 501(c)3 organization established to benefit Georgia energy consumers by advocating for solar power in Georgia. Comprised of leading experts in solar manufacturing and installation, academia, finance, and the law, GA Solar is leading the effort in Georgia to promote the economic and environmental benefits of solar energy through education, advocacy, and industry support.

March 13, 2021 By Bill Nussey

Natural gas was the biggest contributor to the Texas grid outage of 2021

Clean energy became one of the hottest topics in the US in early 2021. This was, in part, thanks to the new administration’s climate-focused cabinet picks and their overall emphasis on clean energy. Sadly, the biggest clean energy headlines in February came from Texas, which experienced one of the worst power outages in recent US history. Seventy people lost their lives. Four million people lost power, some for many days.

Unfortunately, the efforts to understand how this happened and how to prevent a repeat devolved into political finger-pointing. Texas Governor Greg Abbot went on TV to make the case that solar and wind were to blame for the outages and that fossil fuels are the only reliable way to power electric grids. Conservative political leaders and talking heads echoed this message across the media in an attempt to slow the growth of clean energy

The fact is that nearly every type of power plant fell short during the Texas outage, including nuclear, coal, natural gas, and wind. But it was natural gas, by far, that contributed to the power plant failures that ultimately took down so much of the grid. The frustrating part of this needless debate is that the facts are not in dispute. The hour-by-hour status of Texas’ grid is a matter of public record, freely available from both state and federal sources. To show just how obvious this is, I downloaded the grid power plant mix for a few days before and during the outage and created this simple graph.

A few things are immediately clear from this graph:

Virtual Solar Day at the Capitol

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Atlanta, GA (March 11, 2021) — Nearly 75 advocates from across the state attended the Georgia Solar Energy Association’s (GA Solar) Solar Energy Day at the Capitol virtually to highlight the importance of the solar energy industry to Georgia’s economy and quality of life. Solar leaders from around the state engaged decision makers and stakeholders such as Georgia House Energy, Utilities, & Telecommunications Chairman Don Parsons, 2015 Free Market Solar Act sponsor and Lieutenant Governor Policy Director Mike Dudgeon, and Representative Kim Schofield. 

GA Solar’s policy committee shared broad policy priorities and two specific pieces of legislation (HB 483 and HR 70) with attendees as well as tips and strategies to help constituents reach their legislators. HB 483 (Frye) would make it easier for homeowners interested in solar but facing opposition from their Homeowners Association to move forward with an installation. HR 70 (Schofield) is a resolution in favor of a 100% clean and renewable energy by 2050 goal in Georgia.

“We were thrilled to have so many advocates take part in GA Solar’s Virtual Solar Energy Day at the Capitol,” said Montana Busch, Co-Chairman of GA Solar. “Home grown solar energy has become part of the fabric of Georgia and we appreciate the engagement from our state leaders. The economic impact of the solar industry on Georgia is substantial and we want to highlight the solar industry’s contribution as we make energy policy.”

People who were unable to attend Solar Energy Day are encouraged to reach out to their legislator and inspire them to learn more about the positive impacts of solar energy.  For more information, visit www.gasolar.org/.

Follow the Georgia Solar Energy Association on Twitter or on Facebook, and subscribe to their e-newsletter.