Sustained Growth in 2014 SnapShot UTILITY SoLar MarkeT

UTILITY SoLar MarkeT SnapShot

Sustained Growth in 2014

May 2015

Miriam Makyhoun, Research Manager

Ryan Edge, Research Analyst

Nick Esch, Research Intern

sepaTop10.org


Table of Contents

Executive Summary

............................................................... page 3

National Solar Market Snapshot

Solar market expansion............................................................. page 4

How much solar was installed in 2014?...................................... page 5

What market segments saw the most growth?............................ page 6

How does concentrating solar compare with photovoltaics?.......... page 7

Utility Solar Market Snapshot

Which utilities integrated the most solar capacity?....................... page 8

Which utilities interconnected the most solar systems?................ page 9

Hot Topics

Overview................................................................................... page 10

Rate design moves to the forefront............................................. page 11

New strategies for grid integration.............................................. page 12

Expanding into new states.......................................................... page 13

Community solar and utility-owned residential solar..................... page 14

Appendices

A-1: Solar megawatts by utility type........................................... page 15

A-2: Solar installations by utility type.......................................... page 16

A-3: Solar penetration by utility type........................................... page 17

A-4: Solar by state..................................................................... page 18

Methodology............................................................................. page 19

about the Report

In 2007, SEPA began surveying electric utilities on the amount of solar they integrated each year, driving to uncover the most accurate and granular solar market data in the industry. This year’s innovative infographic report format takes a fresh approach to presenting the 2014 solar market that combines significant data discovery with cutting edge takeaways.

P a g e 2


Executive Summary

Solar markets continued significant growth in 2014

n added 5.3 gigawatts (GW) 1 across more than 182,000 new systems; total installed solar nationwide is

16.3 GW across more than 675,500 locations. n annual capacity growth rates for the following market segments:

• Residential: 36% n

• Nonresidential: 12%

• Utility-scale: 23%

Solar costs are declining with an industry wide drive to lower non hardware soft costs in areas such as financing and customer acquisition.

The solar market is heavily concentrated in particular utilities and states

n Most solar-active utilities are in California, Hawaii, Arizona, New Jersey, and North Carolina. n aggregate solar portfolio by utility type:

• Investor-owned: 50% of capacity is made of utility-scale solar projects

• Public power: Residential and nonresidential rather than utility-scale 2 solar drive capacity

• Cooperative: Portfolios are composed of an equal mix of utility-scale, residential and nonresidential solar

Key business issues likely to persist for the next 2 to 3 years

n Rate restructuring to account for distributed energy resources will continue to drive discussion amongst utilities, regulators and stakeholders.

n Utilities , as well as regulators, need to innovate to meet evolving customer demands for clean, affordable electricity.

n Forecasts are predicting a very sharp drop in solar build-out after the federal tax incentive steps down in 2017.

n grid integration of distributed energy resources is emerging as an opportunity for technical adaptation and improved utility planning procedures.

n Community solar programs continue to receive strong interest from utilities of all types.

n Solar is increasingly becoming a least-cost option for utilities.

1 All capacity in this report is in alternating current (AC).

2 “ Utility-scale” refers to solar facilities of capacities of 5 megawatts and greater.

P a g e 3

NaTIoNaL SoLar MarkeT SnapShot

Solar market expansion

CA

1 8

NV

NY

6

4

NJ

5

MA

2

AZ

Top 10

Solar States

10

NM

MWs added in 2014 alone

9

TX

HI

7

3 NC

States by

Cumulative

Capacity n 8,648 n

1,220 - 1,225 n

250 - 578 n

20 - 212 n

0 - 18

See Appendix A-4 for a table of each state’s annual and cumulative solar capacity and project data.

Solar market expansion is driven by several factors: policy support for for renewable resources, the level of retail rates, the availability of incentives, and the strength of the solar resource, among others. n California , the leading state for solar growth, has an aggressive renewable portfolio standard (RPS) and other complementary state policies supporting solar development. n Both California and arizona , the second place state for annual solar growth, have significantly higher solar production compared to the rest of the nation.

3 Greater solar insolation boosts the economics of solar, in some instances making the cost of solar energy competitive with the price of natural gas. n North Carolina , the third place state for annual solar growth, has been climbing the charts for most competitive solar state over the past several years. Factors influencing its solar uptake include its RPS and state tax credit, and long-term power purchase agreements with fixed prices that provide competitive economics for many of the state’s developers. n New Jersey , another state with significant solar penetration, bolsters its market with solar renewable energy credits

(SRECs) that are traded for compliance purposes.

3 Each state receives more than 8 kilowatt hours per square meter per day (8 kWh/m 2 /day), compared with the rest of the nation, which receives an average of less than 5 kWh/m 2 /day.

MW = Megawatt-ac

P a g e 4


How much solar was installed?

Megawatts

2010

897

2,518

2011

1,577

4,095

2012

2,688

6,783

2013

4,198

10,981

2014

5,314

Annual MW

16,295

Cumulative MW

Number of installations

2010

68,846

158,705

2011

85,993

244,698

2012

111,515

356,213

2013

137,056

493,269

2014 182,262

Annual Systems

675,520

Cumulative Systems n approximately 5.3 gW of new solar was added in 2014, bringing U.S. solar capacity to 16.3 GW. This included more than 182,000 new systems, bringing the national total to more than 675,500. n U.S. solar capacity has increased at an average annual growth rate of

35% over the past four years.

For the second year in a row, solar was the second largest source of new

U.S. generating capacity behind natural gas.

n Declining technology costs combined with federal and state incentives have made residential solar installations an attractive investment for homeowners and continue to spur sector growth.

n Utility-scale projects — those of 5 MW or more — continue to deliver the majority of new solar capacity with 3,311 MW in 2014 .


P a g e 5


What market segments saw the most growth?

2010

2011

2012

2013

955

MW

2014 1,048

MW

•

•

•

Residential: 18% of capacity but slightly less than 96% of installations

Nonresidential: 20% of capacity but 4% of installations

Utility-scale: 62% of capacity but 0.05% of installations

3,311

MW

Annual growth rate in capacity for individual market segments: n The residential market saw an annual growth rate of 36%, propelled largely by third-party development, which represented 60% of the market.

4 n The nonresidential market , stagnant over the last few years, saw a bump in deployment of 12%, possibly due to the standardization of financing options for commercial and industrial projects.

average system size:

•

Residential: 0.005 MW

Commercial: .098 MW

Utility-Scale: 28 MW n The utility-scale sector is maintaining steady growth at 23% annually.

It continued to lead in capacity in 2014, adding 3,311 MW, compared with 2,699 in 2013.

Continued growth is expected over the next two years as developers rush to complete projects prior to the federal investment tax credit (ITC) step-down.

5

4 http://www.greentechmedia.com/research/report/u.s.-pv-leaderboard

5 See 26 U.S. Code §25D for individuals and 26 U.S. Code §48 for corporations. The corporate ITC will be reduced from its current 30% rate to 10% on January 1, 2017. The credit for individuals is scheduled to expire entirely by early 2017.


P a g e 6


How does concentrating solar power compare with photovoltaics?

2010

2011

PV

CSP

2012

2013

781

MW

4,533

MW

2014 n Concentrating solar power (CSP) performed well in 2014, with the completion of three projects totaling 781 MW — which accounted for 24% of utility-scale solar installed in 2014.

n The longer construction time and higher cost per Watt for CSP technologies appear to have hindered its growth ahead of the ITC step-down.

CSP does provide ancillary grid services and a level of dispatchability that photovoltaic (PV) technologies lack, which may revive interest in CSP in the future.

n PV has remained the market leader for solar technology deployment for the past several years and is forecast to maintain its top market position through the end of the decade.

a single 110-MW CSP plant

The Crescent Dunes project in

Nevada is due to be completed in 2015.

PV project average system size = 0.03 MW

CSP project average system size = 195 MW

110

MW

1,281

MW

Cumulative CSP through 2013

2014-2018 CSP Pipeline

Pictured here is Ivanpah, a CSP plant in the California Mojave Desert.


P a g e 7

U T I l I T Y S o l A R S n a p S h o t

Which utilities integrated the most solar capacity?

Annual Solar Megawatts by Utility (

MW

)

6

7

8

1

2

3

4

5

9

10

Pacific Gas and Electric (CA)

Southern California Edison (CA)

San Diego Gas & Electric (CA)

Duke Energy Progress (NC, SC)

National Grid (MA)

Arizona Public Service (AZ)

Jersey Central Power & Light (NJ)

Tucson Electric Power (AZ)

NV Energy (NV)

El Paso Electric (NM, TX)

Average for All Others

Total for All others

1,504

1,043

430

161

123

91

86

73

71

63

5

1,668

Annual Watts-per-Customer (

W

-ac)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Pickwick Electric Cooperative (TN) 1,679

Farmers Electric Coop - (IA) 1,158

City of St. George Energy Services Department (UT) 751

Kauai Island Utility Cooperative (HI)



503

307

281


Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. (HI)

Maui Electric Company Ltd (HI)



211

192

191

178

15

Cumulative Solar Megawatts by Utility (

MW

)

4

5

6

7

8

1

2

3

9

10





Public Service Electric & Gas Company (NJ)


NV Energy (NV)


4,604

2,320

1,239

805

607

382

364

331

National Grid (MA) 314

Xcel CO - Public Service Company of Colorado (CO) 275



19

5,055

Cumulative Watts-per-Customer (

W

-ac)

6

7

8

9

10

1

2

3

4

5

City of Milford (DE)

Pickwick Electric Cooperative (TN)

Farmers Electric Coop - (IA)

Navarro County Elec Coop, Inc. (TX)

Vineland Municipal Electric Utility (NJ)


Rockland Electric Company (NJ)



Big Horn County Elec Coop, Inc (MT)


912

893

860

820

31

1,830

1,680

1,653

1,312

1,302

1,147 n

The top two utilities, Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison, represent 48% of the total solar capacity installed for the year. n

While California, Arizona and New Jersey have lead the way, utilities in North

Carolina, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Colorado have been consistently adding solar as well.

Six utilities have surpassed 1,000

Watts of total solar per customer.


P a g e 8

U T I l I T Y S o l A R S n a p S h o t

Which utilities interconnected the most solar systems?

5

6

7

1

2

3

4

8

9

10

Annual Interconnections by Utility Cumulative Interconnections by Utility






45,265

34,588

15,750

7,931

6,841

Xcel CO - Public Service Company of Colorado (CO) 6,257

National Grid (MA) 5,270

Long Island Power Authority (NY)

Salt River Project (AZ)

4,741

4,109

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (CA) 3,280



233

48,220

6

7

8

9

10

1

2

3

4

5






151,642

104,289

47,752

36,396

31,806






12,203

12,127

12,089



624

228,145

Annual Percentage of Cumulative Percentage of

Net Metered Projects per Customer Net Metered Projects per Customer

4

5

6

1

2

3

7

8

9

10


Hawaii Electric Light Company (HI)



Electrical District No. 3 (AZ)


Roseville Electric (CA)


Trico Electric Cooperative, Inc. (AZ)



3%

3%

2%

1.5%

1.3%

1.1%

0.9%

0.8%

0.7%

0.7%

0.1%

5

6

7

8

1

2

3

4

9

10





Inland Power and Light (WA, ID)



Hercules Municipal Utility (CA)

Garkane Energy Coop, Inc. (AZ)

Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Co-op (AZ)

Average for All Others n n

The top 10 utilities accounted for 72% of the annual interconnections, with more than 134,000 installations in 2014. Pacific Gas & Electric interconnected 3,750 systems per month, the equivalent of almost 23 systems per work hour. This volume is increasing the pressure on utility management needs, from planning and contracting to inspections and interconnections.

50 utilities — 17% — interconnected more than 25 PV systems per month in 2014. n

Hawaiian utilities continue to lead in the number of interconnections per customer. They saw a notable dip in annual interconnections in 2014 because their distribution grids reached functional limits for supporting PV capacity. The situation has been remedied by new interconnection policies requiring advanced inverter functionality and demand-side management strategies designed to better integrate distributed solar resources.

12%

10%

9%

8%

5%

3%

3%

3%

3%

3%

0.2%

Last year, 44 utilities averaged at least one interconnection per day.


P a g e 9

UTILITY-SoLar HoT TopIcS SnapShot

overview

Rates

Rate restructuring will continue to be a point of friction between utilities and distributed solar. So far, some utilities have responded by proposing increased fixed customer charges or targeted demand charges to solar customers.

Others, driven largely by state policies — such as in New York and California — have decoupled revenues from volumetric energy sales.

Grid Integration

Utilities serving certain locations with high penetrations of distributed solar — specifically in

Hawaii, California and New Jersey — have turned their attention to innovative grid integration strategies. Advanced inverter functionality, energy storage, and solar energy production forecasting are the leading strategies on the supply side; while demand response and locational deployment provide some solutions on the customer side of the meter.

New Markets, least-Cost Resource

In the past year, prices for power purchase agreements (PPAs) in several states continued to fall and approached or in some cases even beat those for natural gas-generated electricity. The improving economics are moving solar into new states. Utilities are even beginning to report that they approach solar as a least cost resource.

The percentage of utility respondents who are offering or considering a community solar program rose 20% since last year.

Utility Rooftop Solar ownership

Several pilot utility rooftop solar ownership programs, targeted at the residential market, are being developed by the following utilities in 2015: investor-owned utilities Arizona Public Service (APS) and Tucson Electric Power

(TEP), municipal utility CPS Energy in San Antonio, Texas, and electric cooperative Wright-Hennepin in Minnesota.

The APS and TEP programs will target 10 MW and 3.5 MW of residential installations, respectively, and allow residents to host PV systems on their roofs while the utility finances, controls and bears the risk of the installed solar system. Both APS and TEP are considering ways to address underserved customers such as low-income consumers, as well as to identify locations on their distribution systems that would benefit from local generation.

In addition, an emphasis on panel orientation is being tested with west-facing systems, which are better aligned with each utility’s afternoon peak.

Community Solar

The percentage of utility respondents who are offering or considering a community solar program rose 20% since last year. During this past year, 15 utilities that were not considering a program are now doing so while six utilities that were considering programs have implemented them.


P a g e 1 0


Rate design moves to the forefront

7,204

Net Metered MW

Cumulative MW

1,674

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

The debate surrounding net energy metering (NEM) continued to heat up in 2014. Utilities, state governments and industry research groups have argued that net metering is effectively a subsidy for customers with solar generators by those without. This perceived inequality challenges the utility ratemaking process as utilities struggle to meet their cost-of-service and long-term capital financing obligations with revenue projections that, up to this point, have not accurately reflected customer investments in energy efficiency and distributed generation.

n NeM accounts for 672,732 cumulative solar projects, or 99% of all systems installed and 44% on a capacity basis.

n 73% of respondents are planning or considering a restructure of rates to account for better cost allocation among customer classes. The figure grows to 85% when utilities offering or considering feed-in or value of solar tariffs are included.

Net metering applies to 99% of all solar installations.

n 55 utilities reported they are currently exploring a value of solar tariff (at present, Austin Energy in Texas was the only utility implementing one in 2014).

n 32 responding utilities currently offer feed-in tariffs.


P a g e 1 1


New strategies for grid integration

advanced

Inverters

1

Locational

Deployment

7

Solar energy

Forecasting

5

3

1

1

7

7

37

6

3

3

3

3 energy

Storage

5 n Energy Storage: 67 n Solar Energy Forecasting: 64 n Locational Deployment: 67 n Advanced Inverters: 65

122 responding utilities are exploring new grid integration strategies, 60 of which are currently offering or planning to offer at least three of these strategies, indicating a holistic approach to grid integration.

n Locational deployment - Information systems, incentives and other strategies are used to influence where new distributed solar generators are sited in order to maximize their benefits to the grid or to minimize their integration difficulties.

10% (12) of respondents are employing locational deployment.

45% (55) of respondents are planning, researching or considering it.

n advanced inverters - PV system inverters are used to provide ancillary services to the grid, including reactive power support, voltage and frequency ride-through support, and curtailment.

14% (17) of respondents are pursuing advanced inverter functionality in some capacity.

39% (48) of respondents are researching or considering it.

n energy storage - Technologies (excluding pumped hydro) that store energy from intermittent renewable sources for the purpose of supplying that energy for peak load or to provide ancillary services to the grid, including ramp rate control, resource firming and dispatchability.

13% (16) of respondents have implemented energy storage solutions


n Solar energy forecasting - Solar production data are used in conjunction with forecasts for system load and weather for the purpose of utility resource planning and grid management.

11% (13) of respondents use solar forecasting for planning purposes.


P a g e 1 2


Expanding into new markets

?

Installed

Forecast

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

6,000

4,000

2,000

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Look for solar to continue growing into new states as the economics improve in solar’s favor — particularly for utility-scale installations. Large-scale solar plants have been announced for states in regions with newly emerging solar markets. The list includes Utah, along with states in the Midwest (Indiana, Missouri, Minnesota and Michigan) and the Southeast (Alabama,

Florida, Georgia and South Carolina). Expect this trend to continue as PPAs for large-scale solar projects become competitive with utilities’ avoided-cost rates.

n 52 responding utilities representing 21 states reported they were approaching solar as a least-cost resource for their integrated resource planning. n Several recent PPA announcements point to solar becoming a cost-competitive resource in a variety of locations:

•

Austin Energy (Texas) signed a PPA for less than $50 per megawatt-hour (MWh) for 150 MW.

6

•

TVA (Alabama) signed a PPA for $61 per MWh.

7

•

Salt River Project (Arizona) signed a PPA for roughly $53 per MWh.

8

The large-scale project forecast drops abruptly in 2017 when the federal ITC is expected to step down from 30% to 10%.

n Sustaining factors that may support this sector post-ITC:

•

EPA’s rule 111(d), the Clean Power Plan

•

State-level renewable portfolio standards

•

Falling solar technology costs

•

Solar as part of a balanced portfolio to better manage fuel price risk

6 http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2014-07-04/aes-solar-deal-game-changer

7 http://www.rechargenews.com/solar/1391789/tva-moves-to-buy-80mw-of-large-scale-solar-from-nextera

8 http://www.srpnet.com/newsroom/releases/112014.aspx


P a g e 1 3


Community solar and utility-owned residential solar

Not planning Planning offering

15 went from not planning to planning

16

6 went from planning to offering

28

3 went from not planning to offering

93 active

Community Solar programs

75% 25%

Utilitymanaged

Growing interest in community solar from utilities responding in both 2013 and 2014

36% 64%

Community solar programs, in which utility customers “share” a larger solar installation, are rapidly increasing in popularity among utilities. At least 93 community solar programs are currently active in the U.S., 77 of which are utility-managed, while 16 are managed by a third-party.

Thirdparty managed n Nearly 79% of utility respondents are offering or considering a community solar program. n Utilities expressed a strong preference for utility-managed programs (75%) — more than twice as high as third party-managed programs (36%).

Utility-owned solar on residential rooftops n Not planning n Implementing or planning

In 2015, four utilities are beginning to offer rooftop solar leasing programs with utilityowned, customer-sited solar installations on residential rooftops: Arizona Public Service and Tucson Electric Power in Arizona, CPS Energy in San Antonio, Texas, and Wright-

Hennepin Electric Cooperative in Minnesota.

These programs are designed to leverage the benefits of distributed generation for the grid, in some cases complemented by other strategies such as locational deployment, west-facing orientation and advanced inverters.

Utility ownership enables a broader set of consumers to go solar including low income customers and those with sub-optimal credit scores, meeting customer demand for clean, carbon-free electricity and serving as a hedge against suboptimal utility rate hikes.

P a g e 1 4

Appendix A-1: Solar megawatts by utility type

5

6

7

8

2

3

4

9

10

Investor-owned Annual MW

Pacific Gas and Electric (CA) 1,504

Investor-owned Cumulative MW

1 Pacific Gas and Electric (CA)




National Grid (MA)




NV Energy (NV)

El Paso Electric (NM, TX)

1,043

430

161

123

91

86

73

71

63

5

6

7

8

2

3

4

9

10






NV Energy (NV)


National Grid (MA)

4,604

2,320

1,239

805

607

382

364

331

314

Xcel CO - Public Service Company of Colorado (CO) 275

Investor-owned Annual Systems

4

5

6

1

2

3

7

8

9

10



45,265

34,588



15,750

7,931

Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. (HI) 6,841


National Grid (MA) 5,270

Connecticut Light and Power Company (CT)


Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. (NY)

2,974

2,649

2,395

Investor-owned Cumulative Systems

4

5

6

1

2

3

7

8

9

10



151,642

104,289



47,752

36,396

Arizona Public Service (AZ) 31,806


Public Service Electric & Gas Company (NJ) 12,089


National Grid (MA)


11,976

10,299

7,434

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Investor-owned Cumulative Investor-owned Cumulative %

Watts per Customer Net Metered Projects per Customer*

Rockland Electric Company (NJ) 912 Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. (HI)








Atlantic City Electric (NJ)


893

860

765

701

661

550

470

430

384

6

7

8

9

10

1

2

3

4

5






Entergy New Orleans Inc (LA)



12%

10%

9%

3%

3%

3%

2%

2%

2%

Xcel CO - Public Service Company of Colorado (CO) 2%

* Net metered projects per customer is the number of customer-sited solar projects divided by the number of total customers.

It is a way to measure distributed solar penetration.


P a g e 1 5

Appendix A-2: Solar installations by utility type

4

5

6

7

Public Power Annual MW

1

2

CPS Energy (TX)


44

42

Public Power Cumulative MW MW

1

2

Sacramento Municipal Utility District (CA)


9

10


Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (CA) 30

Imperial Irrigation District (CA)



Austin Energy (TX)

Anaheim Public Utilities (CA)

Silicon Valley Power/City of Santa Clara (CA)

36

24

10

10

5

5

6

7

8

3

4

5

9

10


CPS Energy (TX)



Austin Energy (TX)



Gainesville Regional Utilities (FL)

149

145

138

129

81

54

34

33

17

Public Power Annual Systems

4

5

6

1

2

3

7

8

9

10



4,741

4,109


Sacramento Municipal Utility District (CA) 1,943

Austin Energy (TX)

CPS Energy (TX)


909

820

600


Seattle City Light

Riverside Public Utilities (CA)

514

484

440

Public Power Cumulative Systems

4

5

6

1

2

3

7

8

9

10


Long Island Power Authority (NY) 12203



Austin Energy (TX)

CPS Energy (TX)


12127

8388

3894

2326

1880

Seattle City Light



1610

1398

1335

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Public Power Cumulative Public Power Cumulative %

Watts per Customer

1

2

City of Milford (DE)


1,830

1,302

Net Metered Projects per Customer

1

2


Hercules Municipal Utility (CA)

Sterling Municipal Light Dept (MA).


City of St Marys (OH)



City of Dover (DE)

City of Moreno Valley (CA)

Bryan Municipal Utilities (OH)

818

648

561

490

363

306

276

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Town of Concord (MA)

City of Palo Alto Utilities (CA)

City of Healdsburg (CA)


Electrical District No. 3 (AZ)

City of Moreno Valley (CA)



3%

3%

3%

2%

2%

1%

1%

1%

1%

1%


P a g e 1 6

Appendix A-3: Solar penetration by utility type

4

5

6

7

Co-op Annual MW

1

2



34

17

Co-op Cumulative MW

1

2



9

10

Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (MD)



4-County Electric Power Association (MS)


United Power (CO)

Delaware Electric Cooperative (DE)

Holy Cross Energy (CO)

5

2

1.75

.93

.88

.80

.77

.60

6

7

8

3

4

5

9

10



Appalachian Power (VA, WV)




Chickasaw Electric Cooperative (TN)

Choptank Electric Coop, Inc. (MD)

Co-op Annual Systems

4

5

6

1

2

3

7

8

9

10





United Power (CO)



Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (NM)


41

36

CoServ (TX) 33

490

471

308

266

167

107

87

Co-op Cumulative Systems

4

5

6

1

2

3

7

8

9

10







Guadalupe Valley Elec Coop Inc (TX)

La Plata Electric Association (CO)

Pedernales Electric Coop, Inc. (TX)

Otero County Electric Coop Inc. (NM)

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Co-op Cumulative Watts Co-op Cumulative % Net Metered per Customer

1

2



1,680

1,653

Projects per Customer

1

2





Big Horn County Elec Coop, Inc (MT)


Chickasaw Electric Cooperative (TN)

Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (NM)



1,312

1,147

820

592

438

234

233

224

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10




Otero County Electric Coop Inc. (NM)

Washington Electric Co-op (VT)

Graham County Electric Coop Inc (AZ)

Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative (CA, NV)

Diverse Power Incorporated (AL)

2,493

1,494

910

817

560

498

493

477

436

385

8%

5%

3%

3%

2%

2%

2%

1%

1%

1%

8

8

9

8

7

38

34

20

15

11

W = Watt-ac

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Appendix A-4: Solar by state

States

Co

CT

TN

VT

UT

TX

NM

IN

NJ

MA

NY

HI

NV

CA

AZ

NC

WA

PA oH

GA

MD

Fl

IA oR

DE

RI

Annual

MW-ac

38

38

38

71

66

52

40

40

3,062

215

205

181

131

122

102

6

6

6

6

12

9

33

32

18

14

12

Annual

Systems

Cumulative

MW-ac

Cumulative

Systems

1,373

155

1,104

1,503

1,092

1,619

1,690

165

213

691

104

2,108

2,025

354

105

6,651

2,974

253

979

103,105 8,648

15,241 1,223

976

6,616

5,275

11,335

11,319

578

1,221

500

322

412

365

271

250

87

316

108

85

5

81

31

189

74

36

108

123

212

18

55

18

5,417

12,128

6,694

729

29,262

7,430

1,740

3,618

337,508

56,191

3,242

31,549

17,907

26,180

53,463

3,849

1,016

6,235

8,429

1,598

10,656

6,508

8,764

1,900

2,498

417

States

SC

AR

Al

NE oK

KY

MS

KS

WI

DC lA

NH

MI

VA

Mo

MN

Il

ME

MT

ID

WV

WY

AS

ND

AK

SD

Annual

MW-ac

1

1

1

1

1

0.30

0.24

0.20

3

2

4

3

2

5

5

0

0

0.14

0.13

0.09

0.06

0.05

0

0

0.02

0.002

Cumulative

MW-ac

Cumulative

Systems

7

2

1

2

2

12

9

6

17

42

20

11

10

53

11

8

7

1

5

1

0

1

1

1

1

2

1,403

578

78

286

571

324

161

141

2,083

2,609

1,799

1,449

2,988

9,891

1,663

157

239

187

257

50

263

764

1,345

1,164

90

6

Annual

Systems

7

17

30

139

88

14

103

154

443

1

370

108

1,019

306

310

0

0

8

4

0

0

34

17

11

11

5

P a g e 1 8

Methodology

Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) first identified over 500 solar-active utilities with at least

1 MW of installed solar capacity through previous surveys and net metering data from U.S.

Energy Information Administration (U.S. EIA) Form 861. These utilities were contacted via email and phone in January and February of 2015, and 290 utilities responded by submitting either an Excel file or an online survey (58% response rate). The data includes the 290 responding utilities, and 768 utilities from U.S. EIA, giving a total of 1,058 utilities represented in the study.

This represents 34% of the electricity providers in the U.S.

9 SNL Financial power plant data was incorporated to verify large-scale project forecasting and procurement. SEPA vetted the accuracy of survey information through personal contacts at utilities and external data sources. For the

Watts-per-Customer category, utilities must have at least 500 bundled customer accounts.

All generating capacity is presented in grid-compatible, alternating current. Contact SEPA for more information.

9 This figure includes 3,081 utilities and it excludes power marketers. http://www.publicpower.org/files/PDFs/USElectricUtilityIndustryStatistics.pdf

Solar Electric Power Association

1220 19th Street, NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20036-2405

202-857-0898

©2015 Solar Electric Power Association. All Rights Reserved.


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