arkansas electric cooperative corporation

Republican Sen. Jonathan Dismang of Searcy (at lectern) gestures toward Sen. David Wallace (R-Leachville) as Dismang presents Senate Bill 295 on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. The bill will establish new financial rules for utility customers who sell excess solar-generated electricity to the grid maintained by large utilities. (Photo by Wesley Brown/Arkansas Advocate)

Arkansas Senate passes amended net metering after companion bill stalls on House floor

BY: - March 7, 2023

A thrice-amended bill that opponents say would upend the state’s burgeoning solar industry easily passed the Arkansas Senate on Tuesday. Senate Bill 295, sponsored by Sen. Jonathan Dismang (R-Searcy), passed on a vote of 24-9 and was immediately sent to the House, where a twin bill awaits on the lower chamber’s floor that will likely […]

Workers install solar power modules for producing electricity on the roof of a house in Wessling, Germany. The German government introduced a feed-in tariff with its Renewable Energy Act in 2000 that guarantees homeowners a minimum rate for selling electricity from renewable energy sources into the nation's electricity grid. (Photo by Alexandra Beier/Getty Images)

Legislation threatens to hamstring Arkansas’ rooftop solar expansion

BY: - February 9, 2023

Arkansas’ major electricity companies favor proposed legislation that likely would end the state’s boom in rooftop solar generation.  Renewable energy advocates counter that such efforts will dismantle consumer-friendly policies put in place by the Legislature only four years ago. Introduced Wednesday by Rep. Lanny Fite, R-Benton, House Bill 1370 would end the state’s current policy […]

Arkansas legislators study solar power growth, net metering and recycling

BY: - September 8, 2022

State lawmakers on Wednesday began weighing how to regulate Arkansas’ growing solar industry. During the four-hour hearing, legislators heard a range of at times conflicting views about the potential impacts and viability of solar energy and net metering. Representatives of utilities, the solar industry and environmental advocacy groups agreed that solar power can benefit Arkansas […]