Solar in the Southeast: Southern Alliance for Clean Energy Announces Sixth Annual Report

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (“SACE”) has issued its Sixth Annual Report titled:

Solar in the Southeast (June 2023)(“Report”)

The Report addresses the following states:

• Alabama
• Florida
• Georgia
• Mississippi
• North Carolina
• South Carolina
• Tennessee

The SACE describes itself as having a mission that:

. . . promotes responsible and equitable energy choices to ensure clean, safe, and healthy communities throughout the Southeast.

The Report states that:

To provide an equitable, unbiased comparison of various-sized utilities throughout the Southeast, SACE has ranked utilities on the basis of watts per customer (W/C) of solar power sourced to customers.

SACE is stated to have calculated a 2026 forecast for total installed capacity of solar power, particularly for state comparisons.

The overall purpose of the Report is described as documenting:

. . . current progress and trends at both utility and state levels, as well as identify policies and practices to drive continued solar growth in the Southeast.

Key points of the Report include:

• Duke Energy Progress and Tampa Electric are number one and two for purposes of utility leaders for the 2022 baseline and the 2026 forecast.
• Florida is the Southeast region leader in total installed solar capacity, reaching 7,288 MW in 2022.
• The Southeast has more than 18 gigawatts of solar on a full year operational equivalent basis.
• The Inflation Reduction Act is considered the most significant climate and clean energy policy in history because of its tax credits and other incentives (including a $9.7 billion grant program Empowering Rural America in the Southeast to achieve clean energy adoption rates comparable to investor-owned utilities).
• Walton EMC has the top spot on the SunRiser list.
• Utilities whose four-year forecast remains below last year’s region average include:
  • Alabama Power
  • North Carolina Electric Cooperatives
  • PowerSouth
  • Tennessee Valley Authority
  • Seminole Electric

A copy of the Report can be downloaded here.