31Aug 2016 by MREA
Solarize Missoula customer: “I would encourage everybody to do it”

Solarize Missoula customer: “I would encourage everybody to do it”

Rooftop Solar, Special Programs
Steve German had been thinking about solar for a while. “My daughter in Portland installed a system several years ago, and it’s been in my mind for quite some time that I should do it also,” he recalled recently. So when Steve read about ‘Solarize Missoula’ in the Missoulian late last year, he was interested. Solarize Missoula was a program to significantly increase solar installations in Missoula by making it simpler and more affordable for homeowners to pursue solar. The program was organized by the Montana Renewable Energy Association in partnership with the Missoula Federal Credit Union, Climate Smart Missoula, the City of Missoula, and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. On December 1, 2015 Steve attended an information session about Solarize Missoula at the public library, and signed up…
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21Aug 2016 by MREA

Legislature considers changes to Net Metering

Policy & Advocacy
The Montana Legislature’s Energy & Telecommunications Interim Committee (ETIC) is about to wrap up a 16-month study of Montana’s net metering law. Net metering has already driven millions of dollars of private investment in rooftop solar arrays and small scale wind turbines by giving Montana homeowners and businesses the option to generate their own energy, and the assurance that they’ll receive full, fair credit for extra energy they provide to their utility. As the study finishes up, ETIC is considering a package of draft legislation that includes a bill to increase the 50 kilowatt net metering system cap to 250 kilowatts for universities, National Guard facilities, local governments, churches and other tax exempt properties. Another bill would trigger a detailed cost/benefit analysis of net metering when output from net metering…
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