Solar Group Claims Residential Solar Industry, "Will Grind To A Halt," Absent Sought Waivers
March 20,2020
The Maryland-DC-Virginia Solar Energy Industries Association (MDV-SEIA) sought from the Maryland PSC an emergency order, "calling for regulated utilities in the state of Maryland to expedite approval of interconnection applications of Level 1 customer-generator systems and provide permission-to-operate notices within 48 hours of application submission, over the next six months."
"In no uncertain terms, the COVID-19 ('Coronavirus') has already caused significant operational disruption to the residential solar industry which provides thousands of jobs and resiliency for Maryland residents. Given that national and international medical experts, namely the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization, all have confirmed that the spread of Coronavirus will worsen without accelerated testing and there will likely be a need for ongoing social distancing and quarantining, the solar industry’s ability to provide the essential service of customer-sited solar could come to a halt. Maryland could lose countless jobs and achievement of clean energy goals will be substantially stalled. Our installers, who typically earn hourly wages, are most vulnerable, as they depend on hands-on work to provide a regular paycheck," the group said
"Fortunately, the Public Service Commission has an opportunity to mitigate the impact to the solar industry and deployment statewide. Section 20.07.01.01-1 of the Code of Maryland Regulations allows for the waiver of regulations with good cause shown. As Maryland’s utility regulator, the PSC can require utilities to give Level 1 systems permission to operate – within 2 days of receipt of an interconnection application – provided that the interconnections have sign-off by a licensed electrician and otherwise comply with the regulatory requirements outlined in the COMAR. Such an emergency measure would still allow for utilities to inspect the systems at a later date," the PSC said
"We have seen a drastic slowdown in interconnection approvals within only the past week. Without regulatory intervention – and these systems are not allowed to operate quickly during this time – our state’s residential solar industry will grind to a halt. Thus, the solar industry is in urgent need of emergency action by the Maryland Public Service Commission ('PSC') to allow for expedited interconnection of residential solar systems to prevent possible shutdown of our ability to provide the essential service of home solar," the group said
"We are only requesting a temporary emergency order that would be in effect for six months, or when business in Maryland resumes normal course. We need to be able to continue on with business as usual, to the greatest extent possible, during these times," the group said