WV News file photo: Six wind energy projects are online in West Virginia.
A WV News report by Clarissa Cottrill offers a good overview of why West Virginia needs to diversify its energy offering to include renewables. SB 611, a bill legalizing on-site power purchase agreements, is a relatively easy first step for lawmakers to take, according to Autumn Long, regional field director and West Virginia State Director for Solar United Neighbors, and James Van Nostrand, director of the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development and West Virginia University law professor.
“A big barrier of solar now is you’ve got the upfront cost,” Van Nostrand said. “The power purchase agreement is a big solar developer ... would come in and say ‘we’ll put the solar panels on your roof; we’ll own the panels and then we’ll do an agreement so we more or less share in the electrical output of those solar panels.’ ”
Agreements like this are fairly common around the country, Van Nostrand said, and are a way to make solar more accessible and affordable for people.
Besides the economic growth and business development potential, on-site PPAs would benefit tax-exempt entities through reduced energy costs and stabilized budgets.
“It allows institutions like our schools, governments and churches to go solar without a large up-front capital investments,” she said. “We think that would be a really good first step.”
Ask lawmakers to support SB 611 and #PPAs4WV with an email or a phone call.