Utilities, Customers in US Southeast Embrace Community Solar

The growth of consumer purchases of solar power via community-based systems is accelerating throughout the Southeast as more utilities develop or roll out offerings.

The adoption rate is picking up, utilities and solar advocates say, because more consumers grasp the benefits of solar energy and more ratepayers who cannot, or don’t want to, buy their own solar systems find out they can participate in a system on a pro-rata basis.

Rural co-ops and municipal systems have moved quicker than investor-owned utilities because many are “more nimble and receptive to customers’ interests and needs,” said Katie Ottenweller, solar program leader at the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC).  But, she added, investor-owned utilities “are starting to realize the market opportunity here.  Utilities that are designing smart, affordable ways for customers to participant in a solar project in their community are seeing an outpouring of demand.”

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