The Council granted Madison’s motion in part, increasing the eligible project size from 2MW to 5MW, and re-opened the docket for comment by stakeholders on a variety of issues. Since the Council adopted the City’s community solar rules in 2019, there has been no development in community solar. Quite simply, the current rules do not provide adequate financial incentive to community solar developers.
In The Alliance’s comments filed Friday, June 16, 2023, we advocated a change to the tariff rate – that is, the amount paid to subscribers for the energy their portion of the community solar garden produces – to a full retail rate, where Entergy would pay the same amount to subscribers that ratepayers pay for purchasing power from Entergy.
We also advocated for an amendment to the City’s Renewable and Clean Portfolio Standard, or RCPS, creating a mandatory carveout for locally-produced renewable energy, which would create a guaranteed demand for the power from community solar developments. Such a policy reflects the true value of local solar energy, including not only reliability and resilience, but local economic and labor development, as well.
In addition to Madison, intervenors Together New Orleans have put forth a proposed project by the Sisters of the Holy Family, a Roman Catholic order of nuns which owns a 22-acre tract of land in New Orleans East. Under the current community solar rules, their project would not be economically viable. Working Power, another community solar developer which has been in talks with the Orleans Parish School Board to develop projects on school board properties, submitted a letter to the Council last week expressing similar concerns.
While the Council has taken the laudable step of adopting community solar rules for New Orleans, it is clear that those rules are broken, as evidenced by the total lack of community solar development in the intervening years. We hope the Council will listen to community voices and community solar developers alike to create rules that produce results.
