Inslee can cement climate legacy by making room for community solar - The Seattle Times

Inslee can cement climate legacy by making room for community solar | The Seattle Times

As far as state governors go, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is a clean energy and climate champion beyond compare.

Under his decade of leadership, the Evergreen State has enacted policies mandating the rapid decarbonization of Washington’s high-emitting electric power, transportation and buildings sectors and established one of the country’s first state-level emissions trading systems. He has even led on energy justice, an issue where so many policymakers come up short.

Gov. Inslee plans to step down at the end of his term in 2025, and he should spend that time cementing his legacy as a great climate leader. While he intends to maintain Washington’s position at the leading edge of climate policy, he must address neglected opportunities and do right by Washington’s most vulnerable residents to leave office with a flawless climate record.

One of the key opportunities available is to use his remaining time to embrace locally sited, subscription-based community solar projects.

There is little time to spare. While this year’s state legislative session was otherwise productive, the governor was not able to pass community solar legislation. There are four big reasons why his administration and the Legislature need to capture this opportunity before Gov. Inslee leaves office.

∙ First, as lawmakers and utility customers can attest in the more than two dozen states with such policies, community solar projects are one of the most effective means of providing equitable access to clean, reliable and affordable electric power to historically disadvantaged communities.

∙ Second, with an eye to Washington’s impending electricity shortage, community solar projects increase energy supplies, especially when they are paired with on-site energy storage.

∙ Third, new clean power resources will help to rein in the state’s power sector emissions which, despite Olympia’s commendable efforts these last few years, remain stubbornly high.

∙ And finally, the tax credits and grants made available by the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) make community solar expansion more financially attractive for project developers, encouraging development that benefits low- and moderate-income communities.

Earlier this year state Rep. David Hackney, D-Tukwila, whose constituents are disproportionately impacted by the harmful effects of a fossil fuel-dependent economy, and his colleagues introduced the Fair Access to Community Solar Act(House Bill 1509). The bill, which never made it to Gov. Inslee’s desk, would have afforded a broader swath of Washington utility customers the opportunity to access clean, reliable and affordable energy.

If enacted, the legislation would achieve this by establishing a virtual net metering(VNM) program for Washington community solar projects. This means that a utility customer who subscribes to a community solar project will earn credits on their monthly utility bills that correspond to the value of their share of the project’s electricity. This ensures that community solar subscribers — whether households, small and large businesses, schools, religious institutions or hospitals — are entitled to fair, market-based compensation through recurring bill savings.

Importantly, this legislation will ensure that both the power generated by community solar projects and the associated bill credits make it into the communities that stand to benefit most.

HB 1509 would require that at least 50% of subscribers to a community solar project in Washington be either a low-income customer, or an organization that provides services to low-income Washingtonians. In effect, this bill acts as a supplement to legislation enacted in 2022, which created a $100 million incentive program for low-income households and low-income service providers to install community solar facilities in an effort to relieve the energy burdens disproportionately affecting urban renters, rural and Tribal communities.

Indeed, the combination of cheaper electricity with monthly utility bill credits will help to insulate Washington community solar subscribers’ household budgets against inflation. This includes rising energy prices, which in the last year have driven more than a million Washingtonians to tighten spending on basic necessities or apply for government assistance.

The community-scale benefits promised by community solar projects cannot be overlooked. Beyond community solar’s capacity to improve electric service reliability for subscriber communities and their neighbors, the utility bill credits they generate strengthen their subscribers’ spending power which, in turn, can buoy local sales tax revenues in subscriber communities. The leasing of land used to host community solar projects provides new sources of taxable income in these areas, too.

What’s more, the construction, operation and maintenance of community solar projects support local economic development, providing jobs wherever they’re deployed. The equity provisions of HB 1509, combined with the energy justice eligibility criteria for the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) tax credits, will ensure that this job growth is concentrated in the communities where it’s needed most.

If there’s anything certain about Gov. Inslee and his allies in the Washington state Legislature, it’s that they’re committed to doing what’s right on climate change mitigation and adaptation. And by creating the space for community solar to thrive, Olympia can ensure that Washington’s solar policies don’t leave entire communities behind.