Cypress Creek Renewables plans to develop a series of solar-plus-storage projects with the Brunswick Electric Membership Corp. in North Carolina. Cypress Creek says it plans to develop 12 separate projects with a combined storage capacity of 12 MWh. The projects were slated to begin construction in June and be online by October 2017. The contracts will benefit from a new power purchase agreement structure that allows the co-op to purchase solar energy “at avoided cost” while still benefiting from the capacity capabilities of the batteries, the companies said.
NC CLEAN PATH 2025
In August 2017, NC WARN published North Carolina Clean Path 2025: Achieving an Economical Clean Energy Future, a plan for quickly transitioning the state’s electricity from fossil fuels to solar, battery storage and enhanced energy efficiency.
Local teams are working around the state to implement the plan. Learn more here. The articles below are either about the NC CLEAN PATH 2025 plan or about similar efforts underway in other places.
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Solar Bill Bad Deal — Letter to the Editor of the News & Observer
By Rita Leadem. Regarding “Residents could get rooftop solar option” (June 7): Duke Energy and legislative leaders sold North Carolina a bag of beans with the Competitive Energy Solutions bill.
Lousy Process Leads to Lousy Decision-Making on Energy Bill — News Release from NC WARN
The bill is not clearly beneficial for either customers or the solar industry. It could actually be harmful to the growth of solar in the state due to the countless limitations it places on rooftop and large-scale projects.
150 NC Faith Leaders Urging Duke Energy to Partner on Solar Program — News Release from Faith in Solar
North Carolina faith leaders are seeking to get their energy straight from the sun. More than 150 of them – along with the North Carolina NAACP and the Ministers’ Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity – are calling for Duke Energy to partner with them to help slow climate change by facilitating the installation of solar power systems on houses of worship around the state.
10 home batteries that rival Tesla’s Powerwall 2 — Business Insider
Tesla is far from the only company looking to profit off of rechargeable batteries for the home… [Click] to see the 10 at-home batteries looking to take on Tesla’s Powerwall 2.
Court of Appeals hears arguments on nonprofit that is selling solar energy to Greensboro church — News & Record
A North Carolina advocacy group argued before the N.C. Court of Appeals Thursday that it should be allowed to sell solar energy to a church in Greensboro. The court allowed oral arguments to be offered after the N.C. Utilities Commission banned NC WARN, an advocacy group, from selling energy to Faith Community Church.
Why none of this Charlotte solar developer’s planned 250MW worth of 2017 projects are in N.C. — Charlotte Business Journal
Pine Gate Renewables started operations at its first two solar farms just as the year ended and has secured financing to build 250 megawatts worth of projects this year. But none of that will be built in North Carolina. Pine Gate’s entire pipeline of N.C. projects has been eliminated by Duke Energy’s “stiffness test” for new solar project connections to its grid. Many in the industry contend this new requirement is grinding construction to a halt in the state.
Solar Power Is Not Merely Least Expensive — Clean Technica
We’ve seen a lot of commentary on the fact that utility-scale solar power has become the least expensive source of electricity in many places. There is more than that to be found in the data in Lazard’s Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis, Version 10.0, however, and what it tells us is that solar and wind power have benefits apart from the simple facts that their costs are low.
Durham nonprofit asks NC court to break Duke Energy’s power monopoly — News & Observer
Durham environmental advocacy group NC WARN is asking the state appeals court to break Duke Energy’s longstanding monopoly on electricity sales in the state by letting NC WARN resume selling solar-generated power directly to a Greensboro church.
Jim Warren: First, renewables; later, nuclear retirement — The News & Observer
Op-Ed by Jim Warren. The climate responds quickly to methane, so reducing emissions can slow global warming in the short term. North Carolinians must require Duke Energy to stop its massive fracked gas expansion and help avoid climate chaos.