Legislation allowing community solar projects
UPDATE: this bill failed to pass the second funnel and is not moving forward.
Contact your representative today and ask for a YES vote on HF2672. To look up your House member, see Iowa Legislature - Representatives , www.legis.iowa.gov/legislators/house , or to Find your legislator
Legislation has been introduced that creates the basis for a successful, sustainable community solar program. You may also hear this legislation called the Local Generation Act.
It helps farmers and rural landowners increase and diversify income from their properties.
Landowners will be able to use solar farming practices like livestock grazing or growing forage or farm-to-market crops around the panels.
This bill provides reasonable, clear rules that layout subscriber participation. Subscribers with more than one power meter are allowed to subscribe all of their power meters to a community solar project or projects.
The bill makes larger community solar projects possible on brownfield sites. This provision turns a landowner liability into a cash-flow-producing asset for a landowner who has an otherwise unusable brownfield site.
Rural electric cooperatives can authorize community solar projects in their service area. Rural electric cooperatives can also opt out of participation in Iowa’s community solar program.
This bill provides guidance on how community solar subscriber credits are defined and allocated.
Finally, it provides guidance on project decommissioning when a community solar power project reaches the end of its life, including how decommissioning is to be done and financial protections for landowners and municipalities.
This is a good alternative to large-scale solar projects and will benefit local communities.
What you can do
- This bill is ready for House debate. Ask your state representative to support HF2672 (formerly HSB629), To look up your House member, see Iowa Legislature - Representatives , www.legis.iowa.gov/legislators/house , or to Find your legislator
More details on the bill
For those who want to dig into the details of the bill, the following provides that information. This starts by looking at bill HSB629.
The community solar legislation has many positive features that benefit landowners; Iowans who could use help paying their electric power bills; and diversified agriculture in Iowa. This bill creates the basis for a successful, sustainable community solar program. Section 3, part 2a on page 3, lines 18-22, clearly states the objectives and main benefits of an Iowa community solar program. The Explanation section of the bill on pages 8 and 9 provide a good summary of the bill’s features.
This bill helps farmers and rural landowners increase and diversify income from their properties. At the same time, their land can stay in agricultural production with solar farming. Solar farming can include grazing sheep or other livestock, raising forage, or raising farm-to-market and farm-to table vegetable crops in a community solar project. If the landowner and the community solar project developer prefer to simply plant perennial grasses, or grasses and forbs, and then do vegetation control with regular mowing, this increases soil organic matter and tilth over time and holds soil in place to eliminate soil loss.
This bill provides reasonable, clear rules that define subscribers and subscriber participation, including the provisions of Section 3, parts 1 (c), (e) and (f) on page 2, lines 10-12 and 17-30; and parts 2 e, f and g on page 3, lines 7-17.
Subscribers such as farmers and other landowners with more than one power meter are allowed to subscribe all of their power meters to a community solar project or projects, as described in Section 3, part 3 g on page 4, lines 34 and 35.
This bill’s Section 3, part 1 (d) on page 2, lines 12-16, makes larger community solar projects (up to 20 megawatts) possible on brownfield sites. This provision turns a liability into a cash-flow-producing asset for a landowner who has an otherwise-unusable brownfield site.
This bill exempts rural electric cooperatives from mandatory participation in Iowa’s community solar program. Section 3, part 2 b on page 3, lines 23-30 provides this exemption while also allowing rural electric cooperatives to authorize community solar projects in their service area if they wish.
This bill’s Section 3, parts 3 i-m on page 5, lines 2-35, and on page 6, lines 1-6, provide clear guidance on how community solar subscriber credits are defined and allocated.
This bill provides important guidance on rulemaking after the bill becomes law. Section 3, parts a-I on page 6, lines 7-35 and page 7, lines 1-9, lay the groundwork for rules that will facilitate a successful Iowa community solar program for utilities, landowners, and subscriber/consumers.
It is recommended that in the bill or during rulemaking, the Iowa Dept. of Economic Development should be designated to review community solar project proposals and approve projects. Approvals will be based upon how well the project and its developers satisfy the criteria in the state law and its rules.
This bill provides useful, detailed guidance on project decommissioning when a community solar power project is no longer generating electric power. Section 3, parts 4 a-c on page 7, lines 10-34, specify how decommissioning is to be done. Section 3, parts 5 a-c on page 7, line 35 and page 8, lines 1-2, specify financial protections that will be established and kept in place for the protection of landowners and municipalities.