Kathy Castor: “My amendment is a great opportunity to put solar power within reach of more families and small businesses across…”

“My amendment is a great opportunity to put solar power within reach of more families and small businesses across America. It amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 under which Congress directs States to consider adopting certain regulatory policies. My amendment directs States to consider solar projects up to 2 megawatts in size to be connected to their power distribution system and that utilities allow the electricity produced by the community solar facility to be credited directly to each of the consumers that owns a share of the system, thus offsetting the cost of the electricity that would normally be billed by the utility to the customer. Currently, 14 States and the District of Columbia have shared renewable policies in place. My amendment would encourage other States to consider implementing new policies to promote community solar projects. Mr. Chair, 49 percent of households are currently unable to host a photovoltaic system because they do not own their building. They are renters or they do not have access to sufficient roof space, like high- rise buildings or multifamily buildings, or they live in buildings with too much shade or insufficient roof space to host such a photovoltaic system. It is also estimated that 48 percent of businesses are unable to host a solar array.…”