Agenda - 05-05-2009 - 3b - Laserfiche WebLink

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18 DEVELOPMENT OF A SOLAR CLUSTER IN ORANGE COUNTY April 13, 2009 Orange County Economic Development Commission Passage of the NC REPS has given rise to opportunities for industries to supply the energy options to meet the standards. The utilities are akeady at work identifying their sources to meet the REPS. The renewable energy to meet the REPS can be obtained from renewable energy produced by residential customers, business customer or larger commercial installations of renewable energy. As one of the first local responses to this encouraging climate, SunEdison LLC, a solar company based in Maryland, has proposed a 21.5 megawatt (MW) solaz farm in Davidson County. When completed, this could be the largest of its type in the United States. The project was enhanced with approximately $2M in incentives from Davidson County, including $1.8M for grading, and cash grants of approximately $250,000 (from Winston Salem Journal, May 15, 2008). A recent study by the Institute for Emerging Issues (IEI) "Solar energy is not feasible in states that don't provide incentives." Moray Diggins, state director of N.C. Sierra Club in reference to potential 21.5 MW solaz farm in Davidson County. proposed that the recent regulatory reforms will have a positive effect on the future of renewable energy -passing the REPS will provide an-incentive to both increase the renewable energy mazket and solidify the Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) mazket. An REC is earned by the generation of renewable energy and provides a revenue stream to the generator. Having an REC market encourages investment in the renewable energy market. Financial Climate Even in these uncertain times, the current financial climate is uniquely positioned to support growth of the solar energy market. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 extended the 30°Io personal and corporate investment federal tax credit for For EDC use only 12