The Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA) Will Help State Officials Ensure Solar Is Equitable and Consumer-Friendly

Montpelier, VT — The Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA), a national nonprofit that works with a variety of stakeholders to advance renewable energy in the United States, has been awarded $568,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative. Under the Solar Training and Education for Professionals (STEP) program, CESA will work with state and local policymakers and regulators to improve best practices, implement consumer protections, and ensure that solar markets remain inclusive and accessible.

Through its new project, called the Sustainable Solar Education Project, CESA will develop and disseminate educational materials, provide workshops, and offer an online course designed to assist state policymakers and program administrators improve consumer protection. By improving consumer information, implementing new measures, and strengthening programs and policies that improve solars accessibility among all income groups, the project will complement CESAs mission and the Energy Departments efforts to make solar energy cost-competitive with traditional energy sources by the end of the decade.

CESA will also engage stakeholders interested in improving solar inclusivity and consumer protection, and will offer technical assistance to policymakers and regulators to help them meet their goals.

"Effective state programs and policies have been essential to growing the solar market in the U.S." observed Warren Leon, executive director of CESA. "CESAs new Sustainable Solar Education Project will address two issues that state officials have identified as important to maintaining solars impressive growth: the need to make it easier for all residents of a state to participate in the solar market and the need to provide sound information and adequate protection so that consumers have confidence in their solar purchase decisions."

"We at CESA are looking forward to working with a broad group of solar policymakers and stakeholders to develop needed training and policy guides through the Sustainable Solar Education Project. We will work with state officials from across the country to inform their efforts to ensure that the solar deployments they are supporting are more affordable, inclusive, and are installed by reputable, competent vendors and contractors," added Nate Hausman, project manager.

Materials developed under this award will be available free of cost and posted on the CESA website at www.cesa.org/projects/sustainable-solar.

CESA will be hosting a series of Sustainable Solar Education Project webinars on topics related to solar PV equitability and consumer protection. The first of these webinars, "Residential Solar Financing 101," will take place on Wednesday, June 22 from 1-2pm ET, and will feature guest speaker Travis Lowder from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). For more information on this free webinar and to register, visit www.cesa.org/webinars/residential-solar-financing-101.


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About the Clean Energy States Alliance: Founded in 2003, the Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA) is a national, nonprofit coalition of public agencies and organizations working together to advance clean energy. CESA members—mostly state agencies—include many of the most innovative, successful, and influential public funders of clean energy initiatives in the country. CESA works with state leaders, federal agencies, industry representatives, and other stakeholders to develop and promote clean energy technologies and markets. It supports effective state and local policies, programs, and innovation in the clean energy generation sector, with an emphasis on renewable energy, financing strategies, and economic development. CESA facilitates information sharing, provides technical assistance, coordinates multi-state collaborative projects, and communicates the views and achievements of its members. Learn more at www.cesa.org.

About the SunShot Initiative: The U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative is a collaborative national effort that aggressively drives innovation to make solar energy fully cost-competitive with traditional energy sources before the end of the decade. Through SunShot, the Energy Department supports efforts by private companies, universities, and national laboratories to drive down the cost of solar electricity to $0.06 per kilowatt-hour. Learn more at energy.gov/sunshot.