Contact: Regina Weiss – 212-991-1069/917-288-5251
Regulatory Maze Creates Sustainable Energy Gridlock
Local governments undermine New York’s green energy goals
New York, NY, September 22, 2008 – In August, Governor Paterson signed legislation with the goal of increasing the ability of homeowners and businesses to generate their own electricity with solar and wind systems. New York’s new net metering laws allow people who install these small-scale renewable systems to send the excess they produce to the grid and receive credit for it, while helping to reduce pressure on local utilities. In signing the net metering bills, the governor rightly noted that, “There has never been a more important time than right now to significantly invest in renewable sources of energy.”
Today, the Network for New Energy Choices (NNEC) released a report detailing how some towns and cities undermine local investment in green energy, and frustrate residents and businesses that want to install small-scale solar and wind systems.
Taking the Red Tape Out of Green Power “provides a roadmap for local officials, including those throughout New York State, who want to streamline their towns’ regulations to promote green jobs at a time of economic turmoil, skyrocketing energy costs, widespread desire for energy independence, and increasing public concern about air quality and global warming,” said NNEC director Kyle Rabin.
Solar contractor Steven Engelmann recently told NNEC that local permit requirements on Long Island cause “by far the greatest delay in the industry, requiring so much time and energy, and delaying jobs to the extent that we have a hard time financially with our business because of it. Every town and village has very different requirements from one another. If we could have a standardized package of requirements for permitting, we would be able to manage the process better. Now, every town we apply in has different requirements than the town before, so we are developing a database of all the towns and villages and what their individual requirements are, which is a huge burden on our business.”
“We salute NNEC for its thoughtful and direct report,” said Carol Murphy, executive director of the Alliance for Clean Energy New York. “Customer-sited clean power is an important tool for combating global warming and the rising cost of power. We must remove the barriers to its rapid deployment, and this report makes clear and sound recommendations on how to do just that. In New York we are lucky to have a governor who is a strong supporter of renewable energy, but he cannot do it alone. Local government must also step up to the plate and cut the red tape preventing increased investment in domestically produced, emission free, fuel free electricity.”
With the federal government’s failure to address global warming, close to 900 U.S. cities and towns, including 39 in New York State, have agreed to reduce greenhouse gases in their communities by at least 7 percent by 2012. Support for small-scale solar and wind electricity generators would go a long way toward meeting those goals. You can read NNEC’s report
here.
“People who want to install these clean, efficient solar and wind systems can find themselves drowning in a sea of red tape,” said NNEC director Kyle Rabin. “And this goes way beyond a few frustrated individuals, affecting the local economy and the whole community. While the electricity generated may be used primarily by a single home or business, the benefits of these customer-owned renewable systems extend to everyone, including economic growth, reduced pollution, increased local energy independence, and reduced pressure on the local electricity grid. Streamlining the permit process will also give predictability to the private sector, and lay clear ground rules for small-scale renewable energy systems. But failure to streamline the process takes the wind out of our towns’ efforts to create a green economy and prevents those who want these systems from saving energy and money.”
Englelmann’s company has a full time person who handles the permitting process which, he pointed out, “adds a huge cost to each system we install for our customers. Some towns require architectural review boards, or building permit review boards, which deal with the aesthetics of how systems will look. These take lots of time and energy and have stopped several of our projects from moving forward.”
Kevin Mac Leod, chair of the Long Island Solar Energy Industries Association, said. “When our contractor members go to the towns to get permits to install solar and wind, too often they are frustrated by high fees and engineering requirements that border on the ridiculous. Typically, they have to submit three or four copies of architectural sealed blueprints, tax bills, and a current survey. Not only is this documentation unnecessary, it can add more than $2,500 to the cost of the job, making it less and less cost-effective for the homeowner.”
Taking the Red Tape Out of Green Power recommends that towns and cities take the following steps to streamline the ability of residents and businesses to install these renewable energy systems.
- Remove barriers to photovoltaic solar systems from building codes and simplify the permit application process. For example, exempt solar and wind energy devices from building codes’ standard height limits.
- Allow common small-scale solar energy systems to be installed on a rooftop without a building permit. Alternatively, simplify the permit process so that a contractor or homeowner can fill out a simple form and get a permit on the spot.
- Train building and electrical inspectors so that they are familiar with standard renewable energy systems.
- Waive permit fees for renewable energy installations or adopt reasonable flat fees for permits. In many jurisdictions, permit fees are a percentage of the cost of the system, significantly inflating the price of installation.
- Incorporate information about wind energy opportunities into community planning.
- Establish small wind turbines as permitted uses, with appropriate design guidelines, performance standards, and review processes.
In addition, state governments, including New York, can facilitate the process by mandating that towns adopt consistent and appropriate permit requirements and uniform standards, and educating building and electrical inspectors about the proper installation of common renewable systems.
“New York is undergoing a renewable energy breakthrough,” said Jeff Jones, director of New York State Apollo Alliance. “
Taking the Red Tape Out of Green Power points out how state and local governments can help achieve our clean energy future. This means more jobs and a stronger economy, as well as a clean environment, especially through distributed solar and small wind development. The New York State Apollo alliance, a coalition of labor, business and environmental groups, believes the recommendations outlined in this report will benefit working families across the state.”
Or, as Adam Browning, executive director of The Vote Solar Initiative, put it, “When you remove red tape, you find green jobs underneath.”
“Photovoltaic solar and small wind turbine generators are well established technologies, with proven, off-the-shelf systems that come ready to install,” NNEC director Kyle Rabin points out. “While the upfront costs of these systems are high, in today’s energy marketplace they also pay for themselves more rapidly than ever before, making them an increasingly attractive way to confront rising energy costs. Rebates and tax incentives are also increasing the systems’ affordability for many customers. At the very same time, irrational and inconsistent permit requirements are frustrating homeowners, businesses and contractors, and suppressing investment in renewable energy.”
“This report will help local government officials to facilitate the use of renewable energy in their communities at a time when hundreds of cities and counties across the country are looking for ways to reduce their energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in the effort to fight global climate change,” said Damian Pitt, a certified planner who is the principal author of the report.
NNEC’s report has been endorsed by the American Planning Association’s Environment, Natural Resources and Energy Division, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, The Vote Solar Initiative, American Wind Energy Association, Solar Energy Industries Association, American Institute of Architects, ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA and other national, regional and local groups.
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