As a prominent leader in Minnesota's solar industry, All Energy Solar finds it essential to support solar law change. The company involves itself in organizations working towards progressing Minnesota towards a low carbon energy future powered by solar and storage. Having legislative sessions attended by both employees and customers, All Energy Solar works to build up the state's solar industry.
MnSEIA is Minnesota's chapter of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). The non-profit organization seeks to grow and advocate for the state's solar and storage industry. All Energy Solar's Policy Analyst, Sarah Whebbe, has been a MnSEIA board member since 2018 and now serves as the board's Vice President. While having an active member is exciting, All Energy Solar was just as thrilled to have their Director of Permissions and Design, Danielle DeMarre, join MnSEIA's board earlier this year, making All Energy Solar the only company to currently have two employees on the MnSEIA board of directors.
Thanks to the help of MnSEIA, over the previous legislative session, All Energy Solar provided a "boots on the roof" perspective to help shape new legal framework charting the future of distributed generation growth in Minnesota. The most impactful issue that the company worked on focused on modernizing and improving the process of interconnecting solar and storage to the electrical grid. Whebbe mentioned the importance of customers speaking about their struggles with interconnections, saying, "It was impactful for our elective representatives to see the problems their constituents are facing when trying to connect solar to the grid." Thanks to these customers and supporters of the issue, ten million dollars of funding have been secured for upgrades to the distribution grid to minimize the barriers that small-scale projects have by lowering the cost.
While the political process is often long and hard, thankfully, change came this year for some solar policy. With two prominent advocates, All Energy Solar hopes to help lead their community toward clean energy advancement. Excited about her new role as a board member, DeMarre stated "Having two All Energy Solar employees serving the MnSEIA Board serves as a testament to the passion the company has to make solar more accessible to everyone."
"Those fighting for change will always want more, and while we might not get everything we campaign for, each win is another step in the right direction," mentioned Whebbe. While not all clean energy goals were achieved for solar energy advocates in Minnesota this year, significant progress was made. With 2024 being a big election year and renewable energy becoming increasingly necessary, there is no doubt the conversation about the role of solar continues. All Energy Solar is ready to speak on behalf of solar customers and the industry to promote positive change.
About All Energy Solar
All Energy Solar provides a full-service solar energy integration experience for residential, commercial, agricultural, and government customers seeking to transition to solar energy. www.allenergysolar.com.
