Scaling and Sustaining Community Solar in New York State

The New York community solar market has scaled up rapidly since its establishment in 2015. Regulatory and programmatic support has made it the second-largest state market overall, and the largest in terms of 2020 installations, but several challenges confront the industry’s continued growth and success—from interconnection bottlenecks and uncertainty over incentives and compensation, to improving access for downstate residents and low-and-moderate income communities. 

In this webinar, leading community solar developers, customer acquisition firms, policy experts, and advocates will explore the reasons why community solar has succeeded in New York, the critical challenges it faces today, and the policy improvements needed to position the market for future growth.

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Presenting:

NYSERDA – https://www.nyserda.ny.gov

Headline:

YSG Solar – http://ysgsolar.com/

General:

Ampion – https://ampion.net/

Arcadia – http://arcadia.com/ 

BlueWave – https://bluewavesolar.com/

Sunwealth – http://sunwealth.com/

Webinar Agenda

1:00–1:15 — Welcome and Introduction

Shyam Mehta, Executive Director, NYSEIA

1:15–2:00 — Developer Roundtable: The State and Future of Community Solar in New York

Since its establishment in 2015, New York’s community solar market has scaled up rapidly to emerge as the largest state market in terms of 2020 installations. On this panel, leading developers discuss key reasons for the market’s growth so far, lessons learned along the way, and critical challenges that must be addressed in order to sustain growth in the years to come. Topics discussed will include interconnection, siting, permitting, compensation, and incentives.

Timothy Ahrens, Managing Director, Renewable Energy Development, CleanChoice Energy

Emilie Flanagan, Managing Director, Carson Power

Kelly Friend, VP, Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Nexamp

Sam Jasinski, Director of Policy & Business Development, Borrego

Peter Ross, Associate, Foley Hoag LLP (Moderator)

2:00–2:30 — Shout it From the Rooftops: Expanding Urban Community Solar

A majority of New Yorkers live in the predominantly urban and suburban Downstate region and lack the ability to install solar at their place of residence, making the deployment of rooftop community solar systems critically important. On this panel, leading developers, policy makers, and advocates discuss the progress of the rooftop community solar market in New York to date, examine key challenges and barriers facing this segment, and outline recommendations to maximize its potential going forward.

Jamin Bennett, VP Business Development, Sunkeeper Solar

Ellie Kahn, Senior Policy Advisor, NYC Mayor's Office of Climate and Sustainability

Dennis Phayre, Business Development Originator, EnterSolar

Benoy Thanjan, CEO and Founder, Reneu Energy (Moderator)

2:30–3:00 — Customer Acquisition: Scaling, Sustaining, and Retaining

With the New York community solar market scaling up significantly over the last half decade, the customer acquisition and management business has evolved in tandem, aided by key regulatory policy improvements such as consolidated billing. This panel will discuss the ongoing maturation of the customer acquisition space for community solar, share current trends and best practices, examine the potential impact of Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) on existing business models, and identify key challenges and solutions for overcoming them.

Elizabeth Curran, Director of Policy, BlueWave Solar (Moderator)

Joel Gamoran, Vice President & General Manager, Energy Services, Arcadia

Chris Kallaher, Vice President, Law & Regulatory, Ampion

Sandhya Murali, Co-founder & COO, Solstice

3:00–3:30 — Building a More Inclusive Market: Addressing Access and Equity Gaps

Much work remains to be done to ensure that New York City and Long Island residents, as well as individuals from low-and-moderate income (LMI) and disadvantaged communities, are able to access the benefits of community solar. This panel will discuss barriers to community solar participation in these demographics, the role and impact of recently announced state and utility programs aimed at increasing LMI participation in community solar, and additional policy measures needed to expand access to community solar to communities and individuals that need it the most.

Sara Jayanthi, Project Manager, NY-Sun, NYSERDA

Sonal Jessel, Director of Policy, WE ACT for Environmental Justice

Marcel Rodgers, Senior Development Manager, Sunwealth

Stephan Roundtree, Jr., Northeast Director, Vote Solar (Moderator)