Opposition to a new solar project in Texas is coming from an unexpected place, Marfa. The community known for it’s progressive values and creative drive is also home to a group opposed to the development of a large solar project.
Texas Tribune‘s Brandi Grissom — From her front yard, Malinda Beeman can see the round pinkish-brown dome of Chinati Peak rising out of the desert miles away. It’s so quiet most days that she can yell at her five dogs and hear the echo reverberate off some cactus-covered mesa who knows how far from home. “It’s just a different life experience,” Beeman says.
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Austin Energy: The Austin City Council has reaffirmed its support for Austin Energy’s solar incentive program, including a new approach for commercial, multifamily, and non-profit customers. The new approach saves $2.4 million over the life of the program compared to the old way of administering the program for those customers.
Rather than provide an upfront rebate on the installation of solar systems, Austin Energy will pay for each kilowatt-hour of electricity produced over a 10-year period. This is known as a fixed performance-based incentive (PBI) and it achieves two goals. First, it provides a fixed payment flow to a system owner by which payback can be calculated and second, it encourages proper design and maintenance of systems to maximize their production.
Over the next five years, the PBI program is expected to pay, on average, 8 cents per kWh of solar energy produced with program funding sufficient for almost 260 solar systems, each up to 20 kW in size. Total PBI payments over the next 14 years under the plan are projected at $4.8 million. (more on this story)
