The fallout from February’s winter storm in Texas could see new legislation enacted that would shift the cost of ancillary services onto renewable energy projects, potentially derailing solar deployment in a state that is currently on track to surpass California and become the US’ leading PV market. Jules Scully speaks to the market to determine the risk posed to solar as a result.
President Joe Biden has said this is the “decisive decade” for combating climate change, as he unveiled a new goal to at least half US emissions by 2030.
The American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) has welcomed the appointment of Michael Regan as the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The US clean energy industry ended last year with the fewest number of workers since 2015, as impacts of the coronavirus pandemic mean 12% of the sector’s workforce is unemployed.
A bill which promises to revamp solar support frameworks and stimulate investment in grids in the US has cleared its first hurdle, passing the House of Representatives.
Sector sheds in two months twice the workers it had gained over two years and could see cumulative losses of 850,000 by 30 June, according to latest update by E2, ACORE and others.
SEIA, ACORE and others lament US federal energy regulator’s dismissal of request to reconsider PJM rule change, which the industry feels will ‘pad fossil fuel profits’ at renewables’ expense.
The 106,000-plus workers let go last month alone indicates the sector could lose 15% of its workforce in the coming months unless action is taken, warns study by E2, ACORE, E4TheFuture and BW.
