Early bird gets the solar worm: High demand yields incentive micro-drop in NY

The New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) and the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) have both announced reduced incentive rates, effective earlier this month.

As rates are reevaluated by the respective authorities and adjusted according to demand, these revisions reflect the continued high level of responses that both programs have received from New York State businesses seeking to take advantage of the financial benefits of installing solar.The PSC revision altered the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)’s attractive PON 2112 “Standard Offer” Program, which was expanded this past July as part of the NY-Sun Initiative to dramatically increase the amount of commercial distributed-generation solar installed in NY State. Effective September 3^rd, incentive levels were reduced from $1.40/W to $1.30/W for systems up to 50kW of installed capacity, and $1.00/W to $0.90/W for additional installed capacity up to 200kW. Although the maximum upfront rebates have been decreased from $220,000 to $200,000 per project, the program still offers significant benefits to potential solar system owners.Similarly, LIPA has revised their Solar Entrepreneur Program for commercial customers that allocates awards based on the Expected Performance Based Buy-down (EPBB) method, which incentivizes efficient and optimally-sited solar systems. Effective September 14^th, the revision implemented a reduced base rebate rate of $1.33/W, and maximum rebate of $133,000.Despite these changes, the generous upfront rebates provided by both programs remain significantly attractive for New York State businesses to “go solar”. This month’s step-down in incentive rate is the first for NYSERDA’s PON 2112 “Standard Offer” Program, and the third for LIPA’s Solar Entrepreneur EPBB Program. As both programs are first-come-first-serve and sustained demand and further step-downs are expected, we believe it is a great time for businesses to take advantage of the available rewards.To find out how your business can benefit from solar, request a Free Solar Site Assessment for a full technical and financial review from PowerFlex.