Title: Vermont Solar Development Plan 

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The Vermont Energy Investment Corporation is conducting a broad stakeholder engagement process to examine how solar and distributed generation will help Vermont meet its Comprehensive Energy Plan (CEP) target of providing 90% of the state’s energy from renewable resources by 2050. The Vermont Solar Development project will work with stakeholders to create a solar deployment plan that can map to the CEP targets. The project seeks to research and discover the policies, regulations, and market development tools that will help Vermont reach CEP targets. For more information on this award and the Solar Market Pathways program, visit their website. 

APPROACH

The Vermont Solar Development project will coordinate and facilitate a structured stakeholder process to agree broadly on a solar deployment plan that can meet the renewable energy targets laid out in the Vermont 2011 Comprehensive Energy Plan (CEP). Researchers will use computer modeling in order to determine which policies, regulations, and market development tools will help Vermont reach its short term goals. The modeling will allow stakeholders to better understand what expanded solar deployment will look like in Vermont under multiple scenarios. The Vermont Solar Deployment Plan, to be released in late 2016, will specify expected levels of solar deployment needed for Vermont to make substantial progress toward meeting the CEP targets and define investment and project development needed in solar photovoltaics.

INNOVATION

In order to increase support for solar, the Vermont Solar Development Plan is considering the necessary policy, regulatory, and market conditions in 2019 and 2024 to allow distributed solar to play an important role in meeting Vermont’s Comprehensive Energy Plan goals. The project team is modeling different levels of renewable energy generation in Vermont based on three scenarios. The team has completed an initial scenario that accurately reflects solar deployment in Vermont and will determine the business-as-usual scenario. They have also developed an alpha scenario, specifying the type and level of Vermont’s solar market development within the five and ten-year horizons, consistent with the progress necessary to meet the longer-term CEP goal. The alpha scenario compares required solar market development and investments to the business-as-usual scenario.