State Capitol, Albany, New York, May 1, 2008 -- State Senator Owen H. Johnson (4th Senate District, Babylon), Chairman of the Finance Committee, was recently presented with New York State Solar Policy Leadership Award by the New York State Solar Energy Industries Association. Senator Johnson accepted the award at the Association’s 2-day long “Solar New York” Conference and Exhibition held in Albany.
Senator Owen Johnson has long been a proponent of encouraging the use of alternative sources of energy, particularly solar energy. In 2005, the Senator sponsored legislation -- now law -- that exempts the sale and installation of solar energy systems equipment from state sales tax and gives municipalities the option of granting the local exemption. Another law authored by the Senator that same year broadened the existing solar electric generating equipment personal income tax credit to also include equipment utilizing solar radiation to provide heating, cooling and/or hot water. The law also raised the maximum allowable credit.
This year the Senator is sponsoring legislation in the Senate that would allow commercial net metering for solar energy and would also increase the size of a solar electric system that could be net metered for residential customers to 25 kW.
Senator Johnson explained that net metering allows a utility customer with an on-site electric generating system to send any excess power that they generate back to the utility grid, receiving an equal credit against their own usage. Under net metering, customers are credited for the excess energy they produce at the retail rate, and the credits can be rolled over from month to month. New York State law currently allows net metering for solar and wind systems on residential properties, and farm waste and wind systems on agricultural properties. Senator Johnson’s bill would enable commercial customers to reap benefits from solar energy similar to those now enjoyed by residential customers.
“I am very honored to accept this award from the New York Solar Energy Industries Association,” said Senator Johnson. “New York State has an important goal to achieve --increasing the proportion of renewable electricity consumers use to 25 percent by the year 2013,” said Senator Johnson. “Encouraging greater use of solar energy technology will move us toward realizing this goal while helping to create jobs and positively impacting our environment. The New York State Solar Energy Industries Association continues to be an important partner in this effort.”
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