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Community Solar Energy Programs: a Bright Spot for Just Energy Policy?

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Community Solar Energy Programs: a Bright Spot for Just Energy Policy? Michigan Technological University Digital Commons @ Michigan Tech Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports 2019 COMMUNITY SOLAR ENERGY PROGRAMS: A BRIGHT SPOT FOR JUST ENERGY POLICY? Emily Prehoda Michigan Technological University Copyright 2019 Emily Prehoda Recommended Citation Prehoda, Emily, "COMMUNITY SOLAR ENERGY PROGRAMS: A BRIGHT SPOT FOR JUST ENERGY POLICY?", Open Access Dissertation, Michigan Technological University, 2019. https://doi.org/10.37099/mtu.dc.etdr/855 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/etdr Part of the Energy Policy Commons COMMUNITY SOLAR ENERGY PROGRAMS: A BRIGHT SPOT FOR JUST ENERGY POLICY? By Emily W. Prehoda A DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In Environmental and Energy Policy MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2019 © 2019 Emily W. Prehoda This dissertation has been approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Environmental and Energy Policy. Department of Social Sciences Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Chelsea Schelly Committee Member: Dr. Richelle Winkler Committee Member: Dr. Roman Sidortsov Committee Member: Dr. Joshua Pearce Department Chair: Dr. Hugh S. Gorman Table of Contents Preface................................................................................................................................ iv Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ vi Abstract ............................................................................................................................. vii 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................1 1.1 An overview of energy governance in the United States .................................1 1.2 Exploring community solar to reconcile decision making scales ....................5 1.3 The scholarship: energy justice, collaborative governance, how they relate, why they matter ..........................................................................................................7 1.3.1 Energy Justice .....................................................................................7 1.3.2 Collaborative Governance ..................................................................9 1.3.3 The link between justice and scales of collaborative governance ....10 1.4 Structure of the Dissertation ...........................................................................13 1.5 References ......................................................................................................14 2 Policies to Overcome Barriers for Renewable Energy Distributed Generation: A Case Study of Utility Structure and Regulatory Regimes in Michigan .............................17 1. Introduction ...........................................................................................................17 2. Background ...........................................................................................................18 2.1. What is Distributed Generation?........................................................................19 2.2. Utility Regulatory Regimes: National, Regional, State, and Local .........24 3. Policy Review .......................................................................................................25 3.1. Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA), 1978 .......................26 3.2. Clean Renewable and Efficient Energy Act Public Act (P.A.) 295, 2008 26 3.3. P.A. 341 ...................................................................................................27 3.4. Clean and Renewable Energy and Energy Waste Reduction Act, P.A. 342 27 3.5. Customer Choice and Reliability Act of 2000; P.A. 141, 142, 286 ........28 4. Policy Interpretation and Implementation as Utility Driven Manipulation ..........29 4.1. Rate Cases and the New Inflow/Outflow Methodology..........................29 4.2. Legal maneuvers ......................................................................................29 4.3. Shifting Control .......................................................................................30 4.3.1. Demand Charges ..................................................................................31 4.3.2. Utility Discretion with Net Metering “Caps” .......................................31 4.3.3. Utility Shifting from Rate to Monthly Charges ....................................32 4.4. Modeling in Cost of Service Studies .......................................................32 i 5. Policy Implications and Recommendations ..........................................................33 5.1. Net Metering Cap Removal .....................................................................33 5.2. Support for Time-of-Use Rates ...............................................................33 5.3. Electric Choice ........................................................................................33 5.4. Annual Avoided Cost Calculations .........................................................34 5.5. Transparent Bookkeeping ........................................................................34 5.6. Municipalization ......................................................................................34 6. Conclusions ...........................................................................................................35 References .................................................................................................................36 3 Putting Research to Action: Integrating Collaborative Governance and Community- Engaged Research for Community Solar ...........................................................................44 1. Introduction ...........................................................................................................44 2. Background and Literature Review ......................................................................45 2.1. Community Energy .................................................................................45 2.2. Community-Engaged Research ...............................................................47 2.3. Collaborative Governance .......................................................................48 3. Purpose..................................................................................................................49 4. The Case Study .....................................................................................................49 4.1. The Communities ....................................................................................50 4.2. Methods ...................................................................................................50 5. Discussion and Reflection ....................................................................................52 5.1. Identifying Community Participants .......................................................53 5.2. Sustaining Participation and Avoiding Exploitation ...............................54 5.3. Turning Research into Action: Power to Make Decisions ......................55 5.4. Focus on Outcomes versus Outputs ........................................................56 6. Conclusions ...........................................................................................................56 References .................................................................................................................57 4 It takes a Village: Exploring community solar program viability in the Upper Peninsula, Michigan, USA .................................................................................................66 4.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................66 4.1.1 Literature review ...............................................................................68 4.1.2 Community solar ...............................................................................68 4.1.3 Environmental values and knowledge ..............................................69 4.1.4 Social factors influencing community solar viability .......................70 4.1.5 Trust ..................................................................................................70 4.1.6 Community identity ..........................................................................70 4.1.7 Income and economic status .............................................................71 4.1.8 Study background .............................................................................71 4.1.9 Case study background .....................................................................71 ii 4.1.10 Social feasibility study research methods .........................................72 4.1.11 Key stakeholder interviews ...............................................................72 4.1.12 Focus group discussions ...................................................................72 4.1.13 Community survey ............................................................................73 4.1.14 Measures ...........................................................................................74 4.1.15 Data analysis .....................................................................................75 4.1.16 Interview and focus group findings ..................................................76 4.1.17 Survey findings .................................................................................78
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