-December 21, 2020 at 10:15 a.m. Pacific Time

In today's Electrek Green Energy Briefing (EGEB):

The Vermont Public Utilities Commission (PUC) reduced the net metering rate by 3 cents. Net metered solar operators are currently paying 13.4 cents to 17.4 cents per kilowatt hour. On February 1, 2021, the price of electricity per kilowatt will be reduced by 2 cents, and on September 1, 2021, it will be reduced by 1 cent. 

Solar industry officials said that next year's interest rate changes and the end of the federal solar tax credit will hurt the expansion of Vermont solar and may cause unemployment in the industry. 

Thanks to the incentives provided by the state and federal governments over the past decade, solar development has grown rapidly and now generates approximately 7% of Vermont's electricity demand. This is enough to power 58,000 homes. Most of the electricity comes from the state’s net metering program, which allows utilities to pay individuals and companies for solar power.

Why do you want to cut it? PUC and Vermont Utilities argue that net metering is pushing up retail electricity prices for those who do not have solar energy because houses with solar energy can generate electricity on their own. In addition, the Vermont power grid is outdated and needs to be upgraded.

Dan Clapp of New England solar company ReVision Energy told VTDiger:

Our legislators need to work hard to improve policies...not to dismantle them.

James Moore, one of the co-founders of SunCommon, the largest solar company in Vermont, said:

We are addressing the climate crisis, and in Vermont, we have adopted this increasingly slow approach.

It's time to step on the pedal and formulate policies to accelerate this clean energy transition.

Electrek's view: What impresses us is that Vermont is the state of Senator Bernie Sanders and he vigorously promotes green policies. In fact, he called for a transition to 100% green energy.

In 2016, Sanders met with solar workers in Reno, Nevada, and stated that the Nevada Public Utilities Commission’s decision to reduce the net metering rate was “completely wrong”. So we wonder if he has anything to say about the rollback of solar incentives in his own state?

Hydro-Québec is Canada's largest electricity producer that primarily uses hydroelectric power generation. It is a utility company that manages electricity generation, transmission and distribution in Quebec, and exports electricity to parts of the northeastern United States. Hydro-Québec established EVLO Energy Storage Inc. (EVLO), a subsidiary that designs, sells and operates green energy storage systems.

Energy storage systems are mainly oriented to power producers, transmission suppliers and distributors, as well as the commercial and industrial markets of medium and large energy storage. Their modular design means they can be expanded to meet various needs. The EVLO system also includes power control and energy management software.

EVLO uses lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which can be recycled using a process that can recover and reuse 99% of the active materials.

EVLO's first global project is in France-the installation of a 9 MWh storage system in a transmission system operated by the French national transmission provider RTE.

Sophie Brochu, President and CEO of Hydro-Québec, said:

Energy storage will play a key role in the energy transition.

We firmly believe that Quebec’s expertise in batteries will help develop solar and wind energy. Our products will also have useful applications in existing power grids, such as managing power peaks.

The strong winds in the UK on Friday caused the country to break the record for green energy, which accounted for more than 40% of the electricity that day.

The wind turbine generated 17.3 GW on Friday afternoon, breaking the record set in early January.

As electricity demand dropped by more than one-fifth compared with last year, wind power reached a record nearly 60% of electricity consumption in August.

The abundance of clean electricity caused the carbon emission intensity of the grid to drop to the lowest monthly record of 143 grams of carbon dioxide per kWh in March. It is expected that the annual data will confirm that 2020 is the most environmentally friendly year.

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Electrek Green Energy Briefing: Daily technical, financial and political commentary/analysis of important green energy news

Michelle Lewis is the writer and editor of Electrek and the editor of DroneDJ, 9to5Mac and 9to5Google. She lives in St. Petersburg, Florida. She previously worked in companies such as "Fast Company", "Guardian", "Depth News", and "Time". Leave a message for Michelle on Twitter or via michelle@9to5mac.com. Check out her personal blog.

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