By Kathiann M. Kowalski, Energy News Network

Wind energy advocates say this year’s disappointing growing season in Ohio is a prime example why state lawmakers should be trying to make it easier, not harder, for farmers to put wind turbines on their properties. Unusually wet weather made it a bad year for many Ohio farmers, but those with wind turbines on their land had a welcome and predictable source of additional income to make up for some of the losses. About a sixth of Ohio’s farm acreage couldn’t be planted, according to data released this month by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency. Read more here. 

USDA Resource: Prevented or Delayed Planting

Photo: Wind turbines in Blue Creek Township, Ohio. Credit: Nyttend / Wikimedia Commons

Also Written By Kathiann Kowalski

• More renewables will mean less asthma and heart disease in the Midwest
• In era of cheap renewables, there’s still a need for research, NREL director says

ADDITIONAL. RECOMMENDED READING

• From Thomas Edison to now, efforts in building a modern, low-carbon future, GreenBiz
• Tips for overcoming roadblocks to a zero-carbon future, GreenBiz
• What ‘the kids’ need from the professional world on climate action, GreenBiz
• Younger Americans are willing to pay twice as much as their parents for clean energy, Quartz
• Google: Coming Soon to an RTO Near You?, Greentech Media
  Neha Palmer, Google’s director of operations and the lead on the company’s energy purchasing, said joining SPP and MISO offers the company an essential “seat at the table” among market stakeholders.
• Bulking up: Storage heads for center stage, PV Magazine Editorial Board
  Energy storage has largely served at the margin of power grids over the past decade. But the continuing cost crash in wind and solar generation are changing storage’s role. A recent round of projects, from Indiana to Arizona, suggests that storage is bulking up and is set to act more equally in generation.
• One gigawatt down, portfolio of gigawatts next, PV Magazine
  Fluence has been awarded or built more than 1 GW of energy storage capacity in 95 unique projects across 20 countries. Now, the company – a joint venture between Siemens and AES –is modeling the future of the power grid to predict where its expertise will be utilized next.
• These maps show the cities with the most solar in the U.S., Fast Company
  Cape Analytics, a company that uses machine learning to analyze geospatial data for insurance companies, scanned 38 million properties in 21 large metropolitan areas. A 2016 report from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratories found that solar panels installed on rooftops alone could provide as much as 39% of the country’s electricity.
• The Most Important Thing You Should Know if You’re Considering Solar in 2019, SEIA Blog

TRIBAL UTILITY-SCALE SOLAR

NM Native American Tribe Plans Solar Farm to Provide Renewable Energy Source, Inside Sources
A New Mexico Native American tribe plans to build a 50-megawatt solar farm, which includes a 20-megawatt battery storage unit, making it the first tribally owned, utility-scale solar project in the nation, according to a new report. The Jicarilla Apache tribe’s solar power project would transmit a large portion of its electricity to Albuquerque through the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), according to an Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) report.

SOLAR SCHOOLS

Solar power is coming to five schools in Newport News, Williamsburg Yorktown Daily
The city’s public school system has partnered with Sun Tribe Solar to add solar power panels at five schools. Installation starts in 2020. See the full pdf presentation here.

PACE FINANCING 

A $60,000 solar project, with no money down. Program helps Colorado businesses finance renewable energy projects, Colorado Sun. The Colorado legislature passed a bill authorizing the program in 2013. More than 35 states, plus the District of Columbia, have C-PACE enabling legislation, and more than $1 billion in projects have been financed so far. The program’s administrative costs are paid via a 2.5% fee (not to exceed $50,000 per project) added to each C-PACE project, which is typically included in the total financed amount. Program and projects are solely financed through private capital.

TRANSMISSION NEWS

• SPP Board Directs Construction of 44 Transmission Projects, Transmission & Distribution World These upgrades will facilitate reliable delivery of lower-cost generation.
• A penny for your powerlines, PV Magazine
  Research by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory suggests that overall costs of transmission needed to integrate variable renewables is between 0.1-1¢/kWh, on top of the 2.9-4.6¢/kWh utility scale wind and solar power costs.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

8 Countries (Besides the US) With Solar Under $25 Per Megawatt-Hour, Greentech Media
Around the world, solar power price records just keep on coming.

OPINION

How utilities wield bad science to stunt clean energy, Utility Dive. Contributed article by Greer Ryan, the Renewable Energy and Research Specialist at the Center for Biological Diversity, and Emma Searson, the Go Solar Campaign Director at Environment America.

This is especially true of distributed solar — small-scale solar installations on homes and businesses. These systems help everyone, not just those with solar panels on their roofs, by delivering reliable, pollution-free energy to our communities. They also bring enormous benefits to wildlife and wild places. For example, solar panels paired with native plant restoration can provide habitat for threatened pollinators. But because of utilities’ actions, distributed solar is being held back from its full potential. To fully realize the advantages of using the sun’s energy to power our communities, we need to fundamentally change the way we value energy sources.