On Wednesday, I told you about a new Arizona bill (House Bill 2701) that was designed to essentially kill the state's solar industry. It was intended to allow nuclear and hydroelectric power to be included in the state's renewable energy standard, which requires 15 percent renewables by 2025. With nuclear and hydroelectric inlcuded, there would have been zero incentive to integrate solar or any other type of clean, renewable energy.
The new bill would've also done away with the state's distributed energy standard, which requires 30 percent of all renewable power produced by utilities to come from rooftop systems.
Well, it looks like that bill was killed on Thursday after a flood of opposition forced a few less-than honorable policy makers to backpedal.
One very influential opponent to the bill was Suntech Power (NYSE:STP), which made it crystal clear that the state could very well lose the company's new manufacturing facility that would ultimately end up creating a lot of jobs for currently-unemployed Arizona residents.
Of course, it didn't take long for one bureaucrat to complain that the Legislature was being unfairly criticized as being anti-solar. According to House Speaker Kirk Adams, the Legislature has done several things in the past year to bolster the solar industry's efforts. Particularly SB 1403 which provides incentives for bringing high-wage manufacturing to the state.
So the question is, if these guys are so pro-solar, why would any of them support a bill that would essentially gut the industry's progress in the Grand Canyon state?
It's all politics. It's always politics with these guys. But thankfully, enough folks were fired up enough to let these guys know that solar will not be an afterthought in the state's energy mix.
Jeff
Comment 
Subscribe to