4 Key Takeaways | Solar Industry & Chinese Tariff Update
Good morning! This is Akin’s newsletter on climate change policy and regulatory developments, providing information on major climate policy headlines from the past week and forthcoming climate-related events and hearings...more
The California Energy Commission (CEC) last Friday released a draft strategic plan for offshore wind development, which estimates a potential generation capacity of up to 59.6 GW off the state’s coast and lays out strategies...more
On the heels of its recent lawsuit filed against MC Solar, Florida Attorney General (AG) Ashley Moody filed two additional lawsuits against Vision Solar and SetUp My Solar for allegedly deceiving Floridians in violation of...more
In recognition of the substantial effect that widespread use of electric vehicles (EVs) will have in reducing carbon emissions, the state and federal government have set ambitious goals to increase the number of EVs on the...more
On October 5, Arkansas Attorney General (AG) Tim Griffin issued an enforcement advisory to Arkansas solar installation companies. The letter outlines solar installation companies’ legal obligations under the Arkansas...more
As U.S. consumer solar energy use increases, so does potential exposure under state consumer protection statutes. A recent decision by the California Court of Appeals in the case of Hagey v. Solar Service Experts, LLC...more
President Joe Biden traveled to Philadelphia last Thursday as his administration announced the first-ever sale of offshore wind leases in the Gulf of Mexico, which caps several years of advancing offshore wind in the Pacific...more
On 9 March 2023, the European Commission adopted the Temporary Crisis and Transition State aid Framework ("TCTF") aimed at boosting and retaining clean tech investments in Europe. The TCTF marks an unprecedented loosening of...more
Last Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved a plan that will set the state on a course to adding 86,000 MW of new resources to the grid by 2035. That amounts to “more than a doubling of the...more
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is considering asking electricity providers in the state to procure 4 GW of new capacity to ensure grid reliability, in addition to the 11.5 GW of procurement the regulators...more
The Inflation Reduction Act’s incentives for energy storage projects in the U.S. came into effect on January 1, 2023. Standout among those measures is the availability of an investment tax credit (ITC) for investment in...more
In a Solar Panel Purchase Agreement (“PPA”), a developer (“Developer”) finances and installs solar panels on an owner’s (“Owner’s”) property and stipulates that the Owner use the electricity generated which is often cheaper...more
The U.S. photovoltaic (PV) industry, solar module suppliers, manufacturers, and renewable energy developers are facing new regulatory challenges with the implementation of new legislation which has a significant impact on...more
On June 6, 2022, President Biden issued a Proclamation, citing Tariff Act section 318(a), 19 U.S.C. § 1318(a), to temporarily allow the importation of crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) cells and modules from Cambodia,...more
On March 18, 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) released its Photovoltaics End-of-Life Action Plan. SETO’s Plan recognizes the current reality for solar PV panels that have...more
HB 741, a bill passed by Florida’s Senate and House of Representatives and awaiting the signature of Governor Ron DeSantis, is expected to devastate the state’s growing solar power industry. ...more
On February 4, 2022, President Biden issued a Proclamation extending the United States' safeguard measure on imports of certain crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) cells (whether or not partially or fully assembled into...more
On October 2, 2020, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (Board) announced the opening of the second year of the Community Solar Program (PY2) as well as various changes from Program Year 1 (PY1) of the program. The...more
On 6 April 2020 the prime minister of Vietnam issued Decision 13 which sets out a new and long awaited feed-in-tariff regime for solar power projects in Vietnam to apply from 22 May 2020. ...more
Lifting U.S. import tariffs would knock 30% off solar system prices, according to new study - Greentech Media – February 4 - Solar system prices dropped 90 percent over the last nine years, but the decline was...more
Focus - BLM approves First Solar’s 450-MW project in Riverside County - SFGate – January 15 - The U.S. Department of the Interior this Wednesday announced the authorization of a roughly 3,000-acre solar farm near...more
Focus - Los Angeles has lined up record-cheap solar power. But there’s a problem - Los Angeles Times – August 27 - Los Angeles has been sitting on a contract for record-cheap solar power for more than a month, but the...more
Zambia sets sights on yet more solar as another 34 MW is connected to grid - The 34 MW Ngonye solar photovoltaic plant, in Zambia, has been connected to the country’s grid and has started operations....more
Topics covered include tax equity, the solar start of construction rules, the investment tax credit (“ITC”) and tax basis risk after the Federal Circuit’s opinion in Alta Wind, the inverted lease structure, back-leverage...more
In September, the State of Hawaii Department of Taxation issued a letter ruling (Hawaii Letter Ruling No. 2018-01) that clarified the “placed in service” requirement in the application of the Renewable Energy Technologies...more