Community Rallies For Improvements to DC Solar Rebate Program

At the DC Council Roundtable meeting on the Renewable Energy Incentive Program, there were more than 50 attendees - from homeowners, to installers, to solar REC aggregators.  Many members of the Mt Pleasant and Capitol Hill Cooperatives presented information about their frustrations with DDOE's handling of the program - lost paperwork, failure to get rebate checks on time, and confusing paperwork.  While I was not able to stay for the portion of the meeting where Mary Cheh, Jim Graham and Tommy Wells heard DDOE's side of the story, I'm told that their were three main take away messages. 1) Mary Cheh ensured that she would make sure the "unspent" 2009 funds that should have been allocated to the 2009 waiting list will be restored to the program.  This is important because there may be up to $4 million in requested funds from 2010 applicants, so the extra $1 million to $1.5 million in leftover 2009 money can help ensure that new 2010 applicants can be paid this year. 2) DDOE apparently has promised to get 2 new full time hires on board by the end of April to actually administer the program.  3) That DDOE will provide Mary Cheh with a detailed progress report within 2 weeks, and will be providing monthly updates to the Council -- which we hope will also be made public.  Were you at the hearing?  Please comment with other perspectives.   Testimony provided for the hearing is posted here  http://docs.google.com/View?id=dhmfssjs_54fgqvp3dx

Have you had problems with the DC Renewable Energy Rebate Program?

If so, please feel free to reply to this post with issues you have had, and we will try to outline these problems at the upcoming Roundtable meeting (see previous post).

Hearing on DC Solar Rebates! Tuesday March 30th

I have pasted the notice here. It is really important that people come and share their experiences, and or hopes and desires for the program. The DC Council needs to know that the public cares about this program!

Notice of Public Oversight Roundtable

1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20004

COUNCILMEMBER MARY M. CHEH, CHAIRPERSON

COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Announces a Public Oversight Roundtable on

Implementation of the Renewable Energy Incentive Program

March 30, 2010

11:00 am

Room 412

John A. Wilson Building

1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

On Tuesday, March 30, 2010, Councilmember Mary M. Cheh, Chairperson of the Committee on Government Operations and the Environment, will hold a public oversight roundtable on the implementation of the Renewable Energy Incentive Program (REIP). The REIP was established by section 209 of the Clean and Affordable Energy Act of 2008 in order to provide rebates to owners of new renewable energy generation systems in the District. The purpose of the roundtable is to examine the implementation of the REIP and to determine whether any legislative or other reforms to the program are necessary. The public oversight roundtable will begin at 11:00 a.m. in Room 412 of the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Anyone wishing to testify at the hearing should contact Aukima Benjamin, Staff Assistant to the Committee on Government Operations and the Environment, at 724-8062, or via e-mail at abenjamin@dccouncil.us. Witnesses should bring 10 copies of their written testimony and submit a copy of their testimony electronically to tmoir@dccouncil.us. Representatives of organizations will be allowed a maximum of five (5) minutes for oral presentation, and individuals will be allowed a maximum of three (3) minutes for oral presentation.

If you are unable to testify at the hearing, written statements are encouraged and will be made a part of the official record. Copies of written statements should be submitted either to the Committee on Government Operations and the Environment, or to Ms. Cynthia Brock-Smith, Secretary to the Council, Room 5 of the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004. The record will close at the end of the business day on April 13, 2010.

Welcome to solarDC Blog

The Capitol Hill Energy Cooperative is bringing people together to exchange ideas about energy efficiency and renewable energy.  We are working with the Mt Pleasant Coop, and I'm glad to report that Anya Schoolman will be joining me in running this blog.  In particular, we will focus on efforts to solar energy to Washington DC -- and we hope that others will decide to form neighborhood co-ops to spread the word.   Here is some basic info about the Capitol Hill Co-op....

The good news...

-- three of our 170 (and growing list) of members have completed their installations.  Some pictures are posted on the bottom right area of the blog.

-- the project for my house will start in a few weeks (so I thought it might be a good time to begin blogging).

-- you can get enough government rebates to completely pay for your system.

The bad news...

-- although DC has a $2 million per year rebate program, the DC Department of Environment is not staffing the program in a way that allows it to administer the funding.

-- this could mean that DC applicants requesting rebates do not receive rebates, or if they are received, the disbursement is not timely.

We are working with the Mt Pleasant Co-op to request a meeting with the City Council and DDOE officials so we can get assurances that the project will be administered properly.