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Texas solar industry watches as trade case moves forward
Retweeted by David Fahrenthold: https://twitter.com/Fahrenthold
"That decision could be acutely felt in Texas, where the solar sector has grown significantly in recent years, due in part to an influx of cheap products from abroad." https://www.texastribune.org/2017/10/03/texas-solar-industry-watches-trade-case-moves-next-phase/ @snajmabadi digs into wonky, but important #txenergy issue.
Link to tweet
Texas solar industry watches as trade case moves forward
Many in the Texas solar industry are worried a federal agency might hobble their business in an effort to protect domestic manufacturers of solar panels and cells.
BY SHANNON NAJMABADI OCT. 3, 2017 10 HOURS AGO
A recent solar energy boom in Texas and other states could be hobbled, critics warn, if a federal agency agrees to levy taxes or other protective measures on solar products made abroad. ... The U.S. International Trade Commission is scheduled to hold a hearing Tuesday to consider imposing a tariff or price floor on imports of solar panels and cells to help domestic manufacturers compete. But opponents hope to convince the commissioners that protectionist policies would harm the bulk of the industry that works with solar panels and cells but doesn't manufacture them.
"Looking at the full industry, it's thousands and thousands of jobs across a range of functions: large-scale project development, marketing, installation, construction, financing, operations and maintenance," said Charlie Hemmeline, executive director of the Texas Solar Power Association, a state-based industry group. "To artificially raise prices hurts those job categories. ... The commission voted 4-0 in September that the amount of solar cells and panels being imported into the country was causing serious injury to domestic manufacturers.
Next month, the commission is expected to send recommendations on how to address the issue to President Donald Trump, who has broad latitude to determine what course of action to take. He is expected to make a decision in December or January.
That decision could be acutely felt in Texas, where the solar sector has grown significantly in recent years, due in part to an influx of cheap products from abroad. The Texas solar industry added 2,366 workers in 2016, a 34 percent increase on the previous year, according to The Solar Foundation, a solar advocacy group. About a third of the state's solar jobs are in manufacturing, Foundation data shows.
Many in the Texas solar industry are worried a federal agency might hobble their business in an effort to protect domestic manufacturers of solar panels and cells.
BY SHANNON NAJMABADI OCT. 3, 2017 10 HOURS AGO
A recent solar energy boom in Texas and other states could be hobbled, critics warn, if a federal agency agrees to levy taxes or other protective measures on solar products made abroad. ... The U.S. International Trade Commission is scheduled to hold a hearing Tuesday to consider imposing a tariff or price floor on imports of solar panels and cells to help domestic manufacturers compete. But opponents hope to convince the commissioners that protectionist policies would harm the bulk of the industry that works with solar panels and cells but doesn't manufacture them.
"Looking at the full industry, it's thousands and thousands of jobs across a range of functions: large-scale project development, marketing, installation, construction, financing, operations and maintenance," said Charlie Hemmeline, executive director of the Texas Solar Power Association, a state-based industry group. "To artificially raise prices hurts those job categories. ... The commission voted 4-0 in September that the amount of solar cells and panels being imported into the country was causing serious injury to domestic manufacturers.
Next month, the commission is expected to send recommendations on how to address the issue to President Donald Trump, who has broad latitude to determine what course of action to take. He is expected to make a decision in December or January.
That decision could be acutely felt in Texas, where the solar sector has grown significantly in recent years, due in part to an influx of cheap products from abroad. The Texas solar industry added 2,366 workers in 2016, a 34 percent increase on the previous year, according to The Solar Foundation, a solar advocacy group. About a third of the state's solar jobs are in manufacturing, Foundation data shows.