DC Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE)

SOLAR FOR ALL FEASIBILITY STUDY AND ANALYSIS: FINAL ASSESSMENT REPORT 

While the District Government is promoting the increased use of renewable energy, it wants to ensure that the benefits of renewables accrue to all income levels and groups. To that end, the DC Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) established the Solar for All Program (SfA), with a major goal a 50% reduction of the electricity bills of 100,000 low-income households by 2032. In support of this goal, DOEE retained CRP to assess the SfA, an assessment that was guided by an examination of (1) sources and uses of the funds from the Renewable Energy Development Fund (REDF) and the risks associated with the intended uses of the funds; (2) the measurement and distribution of qualitative (non-generation) benefits of SfA; and (3) a review of the RPS Expansion Act of 2016 to determine whether the Act’s goals can be attained. As part of CRP’s assessment, the CRP team developed three custom tools for DOEE –(1) a project efficiency model that allows the agency to compare the effectiveness of their project spending, (2) a solar deployment dashboard to enhance the agency’s ability to track project implementation across several projects, and (3) a model that allows DOEE to both project the costs of meeting the legislative goals and develop scenarios that can help the ageny define the subsequent phases of the SfA program. Overall, CRP found that DOEE was effectively managing SfA and the agency was meeting the program goals. However, the assessment report found a need to reexamine: (1) the overall SfA goals to make them more feasible and operational, given the practicality of being able to serve 100,000 households; (2) the ways to reduce the costs of installing solar associated with the 100,000 household goal; and (3) the ways in which the non-generation benefits are distributed to eligible households and to the community. DOEE should also reexamine the criteria for allocating funds to include comparative values of internal rates of return and present values of funded projects. With CRP’s proposed policy recommendations, the SfA will continue be a major policy tool to help bridge DC’s “renewable energy divide.” Click here to access the final report, which was released by DOEE in June 2019.