2009 Renewable Energy Laws - Leases, Loans, RECs, and . . . Clotheslines
Laws
The General Assembly enacted 27 laws in the 2009 session touching on multiple aspects of renewable energy. One law (House Bill 464, Session Law 2009-149) conferred authority on the City of Raleigh to “sole source” land leases for a term of up to 20 years for the siting and operation of renewable energy facilities, when the prior law required the City to send lease offerings out for bids for any lease period longer than 10 years. This was necessitated in part by Progress Energy’s requirements for 20-year contracts.
The City of Raleigh commenced operation of its 250 kW photovoltaic (“PV”) project in collaboration with Carolina Solar Energy at the City’s E.M. Johnson Water Treatment Plant, the first project in the Southeast to use the First Solar thin film PV solar panels. The City has been operating a methane gas recovery plant for over 20 years to make steam power at Ajinomoto, and has been negotiating a contract to lease land at the City’s wastewater treatment facility, and evaluating other solar power projects.
The Studies Act (Session Law 2009-145) directed and authorized studies by the Environmental Review Commission on expanding alternative energy use by State Government and State vehicles, green school construction, on City and County ordinances banning the installation of clotheslines, and studies by the Joint Legislative Utility review Committee on “feed-in rates” to be paid to renewable energy electricity producers for each kilowatt-hour of electricity produced, on siting of wind energy facilities, and energy efficiency studies.
The State Energy Office was transferred from the Department of Administration to the Department of Commerce under Session Law 2009-446, and the Energy Policy Council also was transferred to the Department of Commerce, and the Council’s membership and duties were changed to increase the State’s focus on energy policy, alternative fuels and biofuels, energy efficient building design and construction, and renewable energy.
Loans
A revolving energy loan fund or funds were established for loans of up to $1 million per entity to install energy-efficient or renewable energy improvements, under the supervision of the State Energy Office, as part of legislation to facilitate expedited use and expenditure of federal funds provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Session Law 2009-475, section 13). In this same law, the NCUC was directed to “develop, implement and maintain an Internet Web site for the online tracking of renewable energy certificates in order to verify the compliance of electric power suppliers with the REPS requirements of this section [62-133.8] and to facilitate the establishment of a market for the purchase and sale of renewable energy certificates.” The NCUC must set up this website tracking system by July 1, 2010. (Session Law 2009-475, section 14(a)).
Cities and counties also were empowered to establish revolving loan funds and programs, using Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Funds and any unrestricted revenues to establish their own revolving loan funds “to finance the purchase and installation of distributed generation renewable energy sources or energy efficiency improvements that are permanently fixed to residential, commercial or other real property.” Loans may be made subject to an 8% interest rate cap and a loan term of 15 years. A “renewable energy source” has the same meaning as “renewable energy resource” in the Portfolio Standard law, at N.C. Gen. Stat. §62-133.8. Session Law 2009-522.
. . . Clotheslines
And, speaking of clotheslines, the General Assembly empowered the Town of Carrboro to adopt ordinances for the orderly installation of energy-saving and water-saving devices, including clotheslines, solar collectors, rain barrels, garden fences, “or any further technology designed specifically to generate or conserve energy through the use of renewable resources or to capture, store, or reuse water, so long as such installation is done by or on behalf of a person who otherwise has a property right to install such device.” The ordinance authority also empowers the Town aldermen to review, approve and deny homeowners association documents, including restrictive covenants, in connection with subdivision approvals. The Town’s authority cannot prohibit reasonable “screening” regulations for the “screening” of such devices in the restrictive covenants and HOA rules and regulations so long as these rules do not “have the effect of preventing the reasonable use of such device.” Session Law 2009-427. This law took effect in October 1, 2009, and “applies to deed restrictions, covenants, or similar binding requirements that run with the land recorded on or after that date.”