A Resolution Summary Resolution on Changes to Residential Rooftop Solar Rebate Program D. SASARIDIS 16 JANUARY 2025 Overview Who: RMC Commissioners – Dino Sasaridis, Paul Robbins, Alison Silverstein. What: A resolution to improve and streamline Austin Energy’s solar rebate program and inspections, inclusive of solar and batteries. Why: Historic load growth will put stress on generation and transmission. Solar has the lowest cost of electricity generation and will fill this need, and batteries are needed to make the solar deployable at night, and reduce congestion. Costs and bureaucracy both bottleneck solar and battery deployments at the edge of the grid (on homes). This resolution aims to reduce bureaucracy, costs, and realign incentives towards this goal. When: Now, for a vote by RMC, to be presented to City Council. More about the ‘Why’ Claim: Significant demand growth is coming to the Texas grid. Summer baseline load is ~60 GW. This is mostly driven by electrification of carbon-based fuel activities. This is a good thing, but it will stress the electric grid. Passenger vehicle electrification: adds 12 – 18 GW to base load, 129 GWh/day Electrification of long-haul trucking: adds 8 – 12 GW to base load, 86 GWh/day • • • Growth of AI: 50 GWh/day • Air conditioner use: proportional to peak summer temperature, increases peak load on grid -> drives unreliability • Heat pumps displacing gas furnaces Industrial Heat via graphite heating • • Atmospheric carbon removal As Austinites, we will feel these changes impact us as rate increases and instability. Claim: Solar and batteries are a robust solution to adding capacity, but work is needed to reduce bureaucracy and streamline the process, which will decrease cost and increase competition. The language in this resolution can open Austin up to being a renewable energy superpower, setting an example for other cities, and making a difference in Texas. Content of the Resolution 1. Streamlining Administration 2. Consumer Protection 3. Standard for New Inverters 4. Improvements in AE Solar and Battery Inspections 5. Encouragement of Onsite Eneryg-Storage Batteries 6. Survey of Solar Inverter Installations to Determine Grid Protection Capability 7. Implementation Schedule 1. Streamlining Administration Eliminate the solar education course and quiz, which are presently required to receive the $2,500 rebate. The course and quiz are friction that discourage folks from installing solar, because receiving the rebate is gated by the quiz. Replace these two items with a flyer. • 26 …
BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Resource Management Commission Resolution on Changes to Residential Rooftop Solar Rebate Program WHEREAS, streamlining Austin Energy’s Residential Solar program will reduce customers’ and installers’ cost and time necessary for solar and battery installation while reducing administrative overhead for Austin Energy (AE); and WHEREAS, given the reasonably expected large increase in AE load growth in the next few years, aggressively increasing energy efficiency measures, distributed energy resources, solar installations, and onsite energy-storage batteries are critical means to achieve the Austin Energy Resource Generation and Climate Protection Plan and advance local resilience; NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Resource Management Commission makes the following recommendations to the Austin City Council to modify AE’s rooftop solar program and initiate a battery incentive program. 1. Streamlining Administration A. AE shall eliminate the solar education course and quiz, replacing it with a digital information flyer and material integrated into the solar and battery installation application process that contains the most useful information, such as an explanation of Value of Solar, how much yearly energy production to expect per panel, explanation of kW vs kWh, and other basic information. B. AE shall not condition rebate approval upon the customer’s current electricity usage. AE should require the contractor to provide values for expected usage and production to the customer. AE may warn the applying customer if proposed arrays exceed a certain percentage of the customer’s present electricity usage, to help the customer understand that they may be buying more solar and/or battery equipment than they may need, C. AE shall not place additional requirements on the installation or parts used other than those covered by normal inspection. 2. Consumer Protection 1 A. AE shall specify a minimum set of 10-year warranty provisions that every contractor must offer to be eligible for the rebate list. Installers can offer other provisions beyond that minimum set. B. AE shall provide up-to-date interactive reference solar and battery benchmark cost estimates for a few house types and roof scenarios to give customers a valid point of comparison to evaluate solar contractors’ sales cost quotes. C. AE shall require 75% TSRF (Total Solar Resource Fraction) for 3 kW of the total proposed solar installation, but not for the entire array. AE may require the contractor to calculate the TSRF for the entire array and communicate that estimate to the customer with an explanation of what that means for estimated annual …
