The lobby not on the Hill

Sometimes you don't have to go tell it on the mountain. Or the Hill.

The newly formed Solar Alliance, led by former Rep. Claudine Schneider, was announced today to lobby state legislatures in the U.S., aiming to affect policy from the ground up.

"It's been many years that we've been waiting for the legislation to follow the words," Schneider told the Cleantech Group.

Shneider's former colleagues at the U.S. House of Representatives passed their version of a national energy bill last month, but it's still a few battles away from becoming law, including a threatened veto from President George W. Bush (see What's next for the energy bill?).

The House bill calls for utilities to generate 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources like solar, wind and geothermal by 2020.

Unlike Washington, D.C.'s Solar Energy Industries Association, a national lobbying group, the Solar Alliance is based in Boulder, Colo., keeping well off Capitol Hill.

It was formed from the combination of Massachusetts-based PV Now and California's Americans for Solar Power.

"We're here to help legislators and regulators design a roadmap for an equitable and sustainable solar marketplace," said the former five-term congresswoman from Rhode Island.

While Solar Alliance's official statement today said it "works closely with the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and supports its efforts," Schneider said the alliance hopes to fill an apparent void left by shortcomings to date of the SEIA.

"There's a lack of national policies that address the foundations that are needed to have a sustainable solar marketplace," said Schneider.

"If we were to have national netmetering, interconnection legislation and some incentives we could be assured would be around for more than a year or two, as well as utility rate structures that were fair to residential as well as commercial purchasers of solar energy, then there would be no need for the Solar Alliance," she said.

Schneider, who formed a small anti-nuke committee in Rhode Island in her 20s, is no stranger to environmental causes.

She started an environmental law firm in 1974 before becoming head of the state's coastal zone management program four years later.

Schneider was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1980 and served through 1990, spending all 10 years on the Committee on Science and Technology.

The former congresswoman co-founded her own renewable company 13 years ago and was recruited to be head of the Solar Alliance while doing consulting work for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and others.

The group, which counts SunPower, MMA Renewable Ventures, BP Solar, Sharp Solar and Kyocera Solar among its board members, has already been active "for a couple of months," according to Schneider, even though the organization was only formally announced today.

Founding board members of the alliance paid $75,000 each to join, with associate members putting in $25,000.

She said the group has been working behind the scenes, influencing policy in New Jersey, California and Maryland.

Last month, the alliance filed comments with the California legislature on that state's proposed $50 million solar initiative.

The alliance was in favor of the plan, but said it "does not support the use of ratepayer funding to help investor-owned utilities develop potentially non-regulated solar business models."

In Europe, and especially in Germany, the utilities pay a premium for power from solar companies as a way to accelerate the technology's adoption.

"I'm still learning about it. It's much discussed and debated. Is it practical and doable here? I don't know that yet. I still have to do my homework," said Schneider of the tariff system.

The Solar Alliance's other targeted states are Pennsylvania, New York, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, North Carolina, Florida, Massachusetts and Ohio. But the alliance said it's not limited to that list.

Rounding out the lobbying group's board are American Solar Electric, Conergy, DT Solar, Energy Innovations, Evergreen Solar, First Solar, Mitsubishi, PPM Energy, REC Solar, Sanyo Solar, Schott Solar, SolarWorld, SPG Solar, SunEdison, Suntech, United Solar Ovonic, and Xantrex.

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