Andrew Valainis - Montana Renewable Energy Association

24 Jan 2022

C-PACE: Financing Option for Montana Businesses

Education and Information

A new financing option is rapidly becoming available to Montana businesses! The common financing program, C-PACE, was enabled during the 2021 legislative session and is currently being rolled-out in counties across the state. The program, called Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy in many states, and termed Commercial Property Assessed Capital Enhancements in Montana, provides commercial property owners a way to finance renewable energy and energy efficiency investments. The program covers projects from solar panels to high efficiency HVAC systems and is available to businesses like farms and ranches, commercial office buildings, nonprofit organizations, and even multi-tenant buildings of 4 units…

22 Nov 2021

MRSAP Phase Two Report: Community Engagement

Education and Information, Special Programs

In 2020, MREA launched the Montana Rural Solar Access Project with the goal of ensuring that our rural communities across the state have access to the independence, cost savings, and resiliency that distributed solar can offer. In the Summer of 2020, we kicked off Phase One of the project with a research and literature review to understand how rural communities have gained access to distributed solar development in other states, what opportunities and challenges those communities faced, and how organizations like ours could bring these best practices to Montana. This year, we launched Phase Two to ‘ground truth’ this research…

19 Nov 2021

Reflections on the ASES Tour in Montana

Education and Information, Special Programs

Calhoun's solar-powered home in Whitefish, MT Every year the American Solar Energy Society holds their National Solar Tour, which encourages households and businesses with solar to host voluntary tours that local community members can attend. The tour provides opportunities across the country to learn from the tried-and-true experience of solar customers who have already gone through the process of installation. Here in Montana, we had participants across the state open their homes, in-person or virtually, to demonstrate their solar systems and answer questions about the process, and the benefits. Lee Calhoun, owner of Northstone Solar, participated for the first time…

19 Nov 2021

BUILD 2022

Announcements

Help MREA build a Montana where the widespread use of renewable energy drives Montana’s economy and powers every aspect of Montanans’ lives. MREA has always punched above its weight. For twenty years our organization has operated with limited staff capacity. And yet, in the last few years alone we have beaten back numerous attempts by legislators to kill rooftop solar. We earned a unanimous vote from the Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) rejecting a punitive attack on net metering by NorthWestern Energy. We expanded the reach of our education programs, bringing our annual Montana Clean Energy Fair to new communities,…

21 Sep 2021

ASES National Solar Tour in Montana, Oct. 2-3

Announcements, Education and Information, Special Programs

Join a local Montana event! The annual National Solar Tour - organized by the American Solar Energy Society - is coming up this weekend! Touring a local installation is an opportunity for community members to see the technology, ask questions, and understand how solar is benefiting the lives and businesses of their neighbors. This is a great way to support the development of solar in Montana. We hope you can attend one of these Montana based events! Click on the links below to see the location, times, and featured technologies (like solar, storage, heat pumps, and more). Virtual events will…

30 Aug 2021

MREA Gives Back: Whitehall Net-Zero Energy Affordable Housing Project

Education and Information, Special Programs

December 2020 marked the 20th anniversary of MREA's founding. Two decades ago, a small group of renewable energy installers, advocates, and supporters formalized what would grow into the education and advocacy organization that we are today. We are grateful for the immense support from our communities and combined efforts driving the development of renewable energy in Montana! In continuing our mission of expanding renewables to all Montana citizens, MREA is celebrating our 20th year by 'giving back' and supporting clean energy projects that impact the lives of our broader communities. While we can't grant funds ourselves, our goal is to…

26 Jul 2021

MREA Gives Back: Habitat for Humanity Workforce Housing Solar

Education and Information, Special Programs

December 2020 marked the 20th anniversary of MREA's founding. Two decades ago, a small group of renewable energy installers, advocates, and supporters formalized what would grow into the education and advocacy organization that we are today. We are grateful for the immense support from our communities and combined efforts driving the development of renewable energy in Montana! In continuing our mission of expanding renewables to all Montana citizens, MREA is celebrating our 20th year by 'giving back' and supporting clean energy projects that impact the lives of our broader communities. While we can't grant funds ourselves, our goal is to…

18 May 2021

67th Montana Legislature: Post-Session Review

Policy & Advocacy

This Legislative Session was challenging, to say the least. The pace and intensity was unlike any in recent memory, and opposition to renewable energy development continued to be deeply entrenched. Rooftop solar and small-scale renewables emerged from the session mostly intact, but not without their share of losses. One of those losses is the Alternative Energy Systems Tax Credit. In the early days of the session we worked on a bipartisan interim committee bill (HB17, Rep. Hamilton) to help lower- and moderate-income Montanans more easily access solar and wind by making the tax credit fully refundable. That concept didn’t gain…

02 Apr 2021

Utility Hijacks Rooftop Solar Bill, Attacks Solar Professionals

Policy & Advocacy

April 29, Update: HB448 was tabled in a Select Conference Committee meeting. MREA engineered a last-ditch effort to try and preserve the good parts of the bill, but that effort narrowly failed. The bill was then tabled, meaning it is dead. This is ultimately a great victory! The hijacked version would have been terrible for solar in Montana - for solar owners and consumers, as well as for our state's solar professionals. We are both thrilled and relieved that we were able to stop the bad version from moving forward. Thank you to all those who helped and supported us…

10 Feb 2021

Anti-Solar Bill Will Effectively Destroy Industry, Cost Montana Jobs

Policy & Advocacy

Update 2/19: Huge Win for Rooftop Solar! On Friday, Feb. 19th in the House Energy Committee, Rep. Brewster withdrew HB359 before it even had its hearing. Thank you to all of the Montanans who signed up to oppose the bill, submitted comments, and made phone calls. There were more than a thousand comments submitted in opposition to the bill! This loud and vocal opposition helped earn this huge victory for rooftop solar. Onward! House Bill 359 being introduced by Rep. Brewster (R, Billings) will effectively destroy Montana’s solar industry and cost the state hundreds of well-paying jobs provided by local businesses…