Kansas is a state full of sun, so why does Kansas lag behind in solar power?
Kansas is one of the 10 sunniest states and has comparable solar power potential to Florida, averaging more than 200 sunny days a year.
Yet, Kansas ranks 43rd in solar generation this year, with only 0.23% of the state’s electricity coming from solar, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, a nonprofit trade organization. The state also has little investment in solar generation on the utility-scale, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
In a study done for the state Legislature on electric rates, an engineering firm found that solar has many positives for the state, consumers and utility companies, including reducing carbon emissions, lowering bills, and reducing transmission line losses, as the electricity would be locally generated.
“We’ve got a top 10 resource,” said Zack Pistoria, the Kansas lobbyist for the Sierra Club, a national environmental organization. “We haven’t done anything on solar.” Part of the reason, he said, is some of the anti-solar policies the state has in place.
One example is the demand fees utility companies charge residents who use solar to generate energy at home. Utilities argued the fee was needed as a way to maintain infrastructure and transmission lines, but critics saw it as a way to discourage solar in the state.
While the rate was deemed illegal earlier this year by the Kansas Supreme Court, utilities are still charging it. For one Wichita man who has solar that means that even though he only used $2.84 in electricity last month, his bill was almost $50.
There were 1,507 solar installations in Kansas as of the end of 2019, according to data collected by Scott White, a research and project analyst for Cromwell Solar. There were 1,263 installations that were residential, 238 that were commercial, and six were utility projects.
The Sierra Club, alongside the Climate and Energy Project and other advocacy groups, has emphasized the importance of solar energy at the Statehouse, encouraging the public and private sectors to take advantage of Kansas’ solar energy potential.
“Like we’ve done with the wind industry in Kansas, there are huge economic advantages of going with solar power, from reduced power costs to increased jobs and economic development, with less pollution and less water use,” Pistoria said.
The Flint Hills Renewable Energy and Efficiency Cooperative is a group of volunteers than buys solar panels in bulk, resells them to homeowners, and helps the homeowners install them. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, they also would regularly hold educational community events to emphasize that solar is safe and is becoming less expensive each year.
Robert Rosenberg, co-director of the co-op, would like to see Kansas adopt some of the utility and smart grid plans that other states are doing. Solar is a unique renewable energy in that it offers peak energy when the sun is shining — the same time there’s peak demand as people run their air conditioning.
“Peak power is so expensive, and solar provides it. Utility companies are not having to invest in the infrastructure,” Rosenberg said. “They’re not accepting how other places are doing it, which is managing the grid and using that solar to benefit them and all of the ratepayers.”
The co-op has installed about 60 systems in the past decade and is currently selling panels for $450 each.
“The free market has driven the technology and cost-effectiveness for solar power,” Pistoria said. “Now, we just need fair, supportive rate structures at our regulator agency, an embrace of distributed solar by our biggest electric utility, and commitments by our government and business leaders to enable the solar industry to shine in Kansas.”
Part of what has held Kansas back is that it, unlike other states, does not have many incentives to encourage solar power growth and has rules unique to the state, such as only a utility can sell and generate power, that has hampered solar growth, according to Dorothy Barnett, executive director of the Climate and Energy Project in Kansas.
“In some states, you can do a few things,” Barnett said. “You can have community solar, where a neighborhood or a school district can come together and put in community solar. Everybody can buy in and then everybody can benefit from the generation. But in Kansas, only a utility can put in a ‘community solar project.’”
The Institute for Local Self Reliance is a national nonprofit advocacy group founded in the 1970s that helps local communities find sustainable community development solutions. It puts together a yearly community power “scorecard,” which tracks state energy policies and how they assist or hinder clean energy.
In its 2020 Community Power Scorecard, Kansas got the second-lowest score in the country, only doing better than Louisiana, for assisting clean energy. Kansas scored a single point for letting communities set their own building energy efficiency standards.
The Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy is operated by North Carolina State University and keeps information on incentives and policies that support renewable energy and energy efficiency.
According to the database, Kansas has the least number of policies and incentives that help renewable energy at 12, lagging behind states like Missouri with 60, Oklahoma with 29, and Colorado with 95.
“Of our surrounding states, we have the least amount of incentive and policies that are favorable for renewable energy,” Barnett said. “Most of the ones that we list on here are federal incentives and policies. They’re not state.”
This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 4:37 AM.
