FROM THE MOSEIA BOARD & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR…
The latest from MOSEIA leadership…includes the recognition that this year’s legislative session was the most intense for the solar energy sector in many years. MOSEIA led the way with some next level David vs. Goliath battles, a very successful Solar Advocacy Day, an increased role and more representation of the sector, and by stopping anti-solar legislation in two vital committee votes.
Now we are leaning into MOSEIA member visits and the plans for our 2024 Solar Summit & MOSEIA Annual Conference which will be held at Ameristar Hotel & Casino in Kansas City, Mo. on Thursday November 14th-15th and include a special “early bird” NABCEP training offering on Wednesday, November 13th. Register here.
In national news, SEIA is marking their 50th Anniversary this week with a roundtable discussion on the future and a gala reception & dinner. They conducted a successful media campaign surrounding the 5 millionth solar installation in the USA. Together with preliminary awards of additional funding from previous clean energy legislation, for the states engaged in greenhouse gas reduction fund and solar for all grant projects, the growth outlook is pretty solid for the sector. You can be sure that SEIA and MOSEIA are focused on solid policy, great grants & incentives, and dealing with any downsides of an exponentially growing sector (consumer protection, tariffs, etc.).
At home in Missouri, our focus now shifts to the grassroots advocacy in this election year, promoting the best of the sector over alarming solar consumer protection and “orphan system” complaints, as well as growing MOSEIA resources to make the case and carry the message in 2024 and beyond.
Please enjoy this edition of the Solar Sentinel, contact MOSEIA Executive Director, Jon Dolan, [email protected] for a member visit this summer, and/or with any questions or needs in MOSEIA’s support to you as we lead and succeed for the solar energy sector in the show me state.
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THE MISSOURI LEGISLATIVE SESSION ENDS…
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Gridlock defined the political “gridiron” this year in the state capitol. Some partisan, but mostly intra-party fighting, in the Senate, and a bit of scandal driven discord in the House, led to the most unproductive legislative session in the state’s history. With two years of no utility legislation and not much else getting done, the challenges continued for seeking regular order, good governance, & any progress on key provisions of utility and solar energy policies. It did however serve to protect us from the largest attack yet on Net Metering by the MUNIs and COOPs and the misinformation and punitive legislation seeking to reign in “solar farms” or empower local opposition to many utility scale solar projects.MOSEIA was steadfast in our priorities of protecting and expanding Net Metering, finding a fair local taxation of solar solution, enabling Community Solar, registering solar contractors, and correcting misinformation coming from national clean energy debates.
Missouri remains a great solar state for rooftop and small solar due to the success of the 18 year strong Net Metering & Easy Connection Law which affords Missourians many rights not held in other states. We also benefit from solid process and fair policies and approaches to interconnection above those NEM limits at our investor owned utilities (Ameren, Evergy, etc.).
MOSEIA’s tremendous work defending against an onslaught from the COOPs & MUNIs literally saved our sector from utilities gaining the right to demand fees & charges, deny projects and providers, and delay installs.
On the tax policy front, we led the way for all levels of solar in our collaboration, factual presentations, and support to finding a workable fair local solar taxation solution. No changes yet but also no new formula or policy and the clock is ticking. Please keep us informed of anything you see or hear from your local county assessors.
We were also very pleased to have had a great hearing on the enabling legislation for true (third party) community solar. With a large part of the federal grants depending on this arena opened, we remain hopeful.
Now that you have a bit of info from what MOSEIA leadership experienced, the best way to get you the most detailed info on the latest legislative issues is to link you to:
- Lobbyists End of Session Update - This report from our contract lobbyist, Ryan DeBoef, will give you the insight to the capitol our team saw in the final days of session.
- Bill / Legislative Details - The April update provides the links to the bills, text, summaries, actions, and other info (for those of you who like the deep dive), on all we worked on, advocated, defended, etc.
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THE 2024 SOLAR SUMMIT & MOSEIA ANNUAL CONFERENCE...
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The 2024 Solar Summit & MOSEIA Annual Conference will be held from 10:30am, Thursday, Nov. 14th through 11:30am, Friday, Nov. 15th at the Ameristar Hotel & Casino, Kansas City, MO.
Learn more here. |
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SCHEDULE
The schedule, including a start with unconflicted exhibit hours and lunch event, will remain the same, as will the sponsor levels from the past two years ($1K-$4K+ opportunities). That includes the presentation block for Training Level sponsors ($1.5K & above) and the MOSEIA Associate Membership included in the Kilowatt Level sponsorship ($2K & above). View General Schedule here.
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WHAT'S NEW?
A Special NABCEP “early bird” training offering, sponsored by BluSphere Energy & featuring training from Sean White, will be held at Ameristar, Wednesday, Nov. 13th & Thursday, Nov. 14th as a great addition to our conference exhibits, presentations, welcome reception, awards dinner, & annual meeting. Learn more here.
It includes…
- “Solar & Storage Basics,” with Sean White, 8:30am - 10:30am, Thursday, Nov. 14th.
- “The Super Solar Code Class,” with Sean White, 10:30am - 4:30pm, Wednesday, Nov. 13th
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SEIA CELEBRATES 50 YEARS & 5 MILLION SOLAR INSTALLATIONS…
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MOSEIA is a proud state affiliate of SEIA and as such enjoys Megawatt Membership benefits, affiliate support, and other benefits to promote solar in Missouri and nationally. So, we congratulate SEIA on an impactful 50 years building, supporting and promoting the solar energy sector and its many stakeholders.
Check out these links for the events surrounding the anniversary and the media and meaningful information about our nation reaching 5 million installations over 50 years and the projections to do 5 million more over the next 6 years.
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OVER THE PANEL & THE HORIZON…
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I want to encourage all members to reach out to me [email protected] or please welcome my email or call as I set out on personal MOSEIA member visits. Traveling to meet members where they are and to listen to you, your story, and thoughts on the solar energy sector and MOSEIA’s future is vital for our success.
In promoting advocacy and local grassroots activity during this election, we also plan to host three (St. Louis, KC, & Springfield) MOSEIA Leader Lunch & Regional Meetings. Stay tuned for more information on these great opportunities to interact member-to-member and with your MOSEIA Board Leaders in the run up to the annual conference.
Finally, one note of caution, concern, & care for solar customers. We are receiving more calls regarding service on “orphan systems.” Born mostly from defunct solar companies and lesser providers, customers are left holding the plug. MOSEIA hopes to lead the way in assessing and serving these customers and we get many other calls every day for regular referrals. Contact Jon Dolan now to position ensure your logo is on our member directory and we know your service area and niche for referrals. We want to support you and guide the public fairly and effectively for our mutual success.
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MEMBER NEWS…
Stay tuned for our new member Mid-Year Welcome as we have had more than a few in the first half of 2024.
And, please welcome Jeff Ownes, Blusphere Energy, and Will Hatch, Guarantee Electric Company, to the MOSEIA Board of Directors.
Enjoy the better weather now here for solar success and check out our annual conference info on the MOSEIA website. Remember, the sun never sets at MOSEIA, so email or call anytime.
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The Solar Sentinel is a publication for MOSEIA Members and solar sector stakeholders providing useful information on MOSEIA advocacy, events & other efforts on behalf of the solar energy sector in Missouri.
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