solar
Minnesota credit unions roll out residential solar loan program
The solar loan program aims to fill a financing gap for residential installations in Minnesota with discounted rates.
Ohio
Revised Ohio nuclear ‘bailout’ bill raises more questions
Republican lawmakers in the Ohio House introduced legislation Friday that would provide subsidies for two Ohio nuclear power plants owned by FirstEnergy Solutions, while at the same time defunding decade-old renewable energy and efficiency programs.
News
North Dakota considers changes to farmland rule to allow solar projects
State regulators are proposing changes after having to consider the rule for the state’s largest solar project. A decades-old rule meant to protect North Dakota farmers from unwanted pipeline and transmission projects is potentially limiting their ability to benefit from solar projects, according to advocates and state regulators. North Dakota’s prime farmland rule recently surfaced in deliberations over the state’s first utility-scale solar proposal, a 200-megawatt project by Geronimo Energy that will span 1,662 acres of Cass County in the Red River Valley. The North Dakota Public Service Commission approved the project in February and later initiated a process to revise the prime farmland rule so that future solar projects don’t face similar uncertainty. The entire footprint of Geronimo’s Harmony solar project is classified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as prime farmland.
California
Can California reach its clean power goals? It’s complicated
“It will be difficult (and costly) to reduce emissions, unless a wide range of options are available,” a new analysis says.
agriculture
Michigan revisits policy that limits solar development on farmland
A task force is examining whether participants in a farmland preservation program should be allowed to add solar panels.