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The ADVANCE, July 21, 2021 /Page 4A
Solar rooftop installers
warn looming cap threatens
industry in Georgia
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
Six years ago, the Gen
eral Assembly passed leg
islation allowing Georgia
property owners to use
third-party financing to
install rooftop solar panels
at their homes and busi
nesses.
Now, representatives
of solar installers and their
environmentalist allies are
warning the momentum
the industry has built since
2015 could grind to a halt
unless the state Public Ser
vice Commission (PSC)
orders Georgia Power to
lift a cap on a pilot rooftop
solar program limited to
5,000 customers. The pro
gram is about to hit that
cap because of an unex
pected surge of interest.
“It’s a very popular
program,” Don Moreland,
policy chairman for the
Georgia Solar Energy As
sociation and owner-oper
ator of Solar CrowdSource,
told the PSC during a re
cent hearing. “[But] once
we hit this cap ... it is going
to cause the rooftop market
to completely crash.”
The commission ap
proved the pilot program
as part of Georgia Power’s
2019 rate case. It got off to
a slow start, with just 1,347
applications last year.
But interest has taken
off this year. Just in May
and June, Georgia Power
received as many applica
tions as in all of 2020 and
three times the number
that came in during 2019.
“The large volume of
applications have been,
quite frankly, surprising,”
said Steven Hewitson, a
lawyer representing the
Atlanta-based utility at
the July 1 hearing. “That’s
slowed down the process
ing time.”
The pilot program is
due to be reevaluated next
year when Georgia Power
brings its next rate case
before the PSC. The util
ity wants to keep the cap at
5,000 customers until then.
“The limitations spe
cifically were put in place so
the company and the com
mission could evaluate the
impact of ... the program
to the system and other
customers,” Hewitson said.
“There’s no reason to revisit
that limitation now.”
But Moreland said the
PSC isn’t expected to issue
a ruling in the rate case un
til late next year. Waiting 18
months for a decision on
lifting the cap would cre
ate a long period of uncer
tainty that could “chill the
[solar] market,” he said.
“This is a popular
policy right now,” added
Russell Seifert, founder
and CEO of Creative Solar
USA. “It’s working.”
Seifert and others
point to neighboring states
that are more aggressively
pursuing rooftop solar than
Georgia. Florida leads the
way with more than 85,000
installations, according to
the U.S. Energy Informa
tion Administration.
More than 23,000
rooftops in South Caro
lina sport solar panels, and
more than 21,000 solar in
stallations have taken place
in North Carolina.
A coalition of solar in
stallers recently sent a let
ter asking Georgia Power
to lift the cap on its rooftop
solar pilot program.
“Rooftop solar means
local jobs. It puts money
directly into Georgia’s
economy,” Seifert said.
“[Lifting the cap] will allow
the industry to continue
its steady growth, provide
clear market signals to
promote additional invest
ment and allow the pilot to
continue until the commis
sion is able to fully review
it.”
Mark Woodall, legisla
tive chair for the Georgia
chapter of the Sierra Club,
said Georgia Power has
emphasized large “utility-
scale” solar projects over
rooftop solar because the
larger projects are less ex
pensive per kilowatt-hour
of power they produce.
“Utility-scale is cheap
er, but we need all the solar
we can get,” he said.
Jill Kysor, a senior at
torney with the Atlanta-
based Southern Environ
mental Law Center, praised
the PSC for supporting
utility-scale solar invest
ment. The latest example
came July 7 when the com
mission approved Georgia
Power’s plan to buy 970
megawatts of solar power
from five other utilities.
“We have become a
solar leader on utility-scale
solar because of commis
sion action,” Kysor said.
“There’s an opportunity to
follow through with roof
top solar without any big
risk.”
Even if the PSC doesn’t
lift the cap on rooftop solar
installations in Georgia,
the General Assembly may
step in. Legislation intro
duced in the state Senate in
March would limit the fees
utilities can charge prop
erty owners who install
rooftop solar and allow the
commission to lift any cap
a utility places on the num
ber of solar installations un
der certain circumstances.
Senate Bill 299 didn’t
receive a hearing because
it was introduced so late
in this year’s legislative
session. But it’s still alive
in the Senate Regulated
Industries and Utilities
Committee with the influ
ential bipartisan backing
of Senate Rules Commit
tee Chairman Jeff Mullis,
R-Chickamauga, and Sen
ate Minority Leader Gloria
Butler, D-Decatur.
State finishes fiscal year
with big tax revenue haul
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
Georgia hauled in
$3.2 billion more in taxes
during the last fiscal year
- a period dominated by
a worldwide pandemic
- than it brought in dur
ing fiscal 2020, Gov. Brian
Kemp reported Monday.
That represented a
13.5% increase in tax rev
enues during fiscal 2021,
which ended June 30.
Kemp attributed the
strong revenue numbers to
his decision to reopen the
state’s pandemic-stricken
economy sooner than
many other states while still
protecting public health.
“Thanks to our work
alongside the General As
sembly to budget conserva
tively and protect both lives
and livelihoods throughout
a global pandemic, Georgia
remains on solid financial
footing,” the governor said.
“The COVID-19 crisis
highlighted the importance
of states living within their
means, and Georgia did so
without widespread layoffs,
tax hikes, furloughs or dras
tic cuts to essential servic
es. ... State leaders worked
Please see Tax page 10A
ask
Mbo Magnolia^
Letters have been edited for length and clarity.
Dear Ms. Magnolia,
My sister-in-law hit me one day
when she had been drinking, and my
relatives keep telling me to “turn the
other cheek” and forgive her and not
report her. What does “turn the other
cheek” really mean? She hits her chil
dren, too. She leaves bruises and cuts.
What should I do? / consider myself a
Christian and believe in forgiveness,
but what about her children?
Worried
Dear Worried,
The duty of every compassionate
person is to defend the children and
to report those who abuse or bully
anyone. Anyone who is not capable
of protecting themselves should be
helped by someone stronger, so go
ahead and report this abuse and pro
tect the children.
The term “turn the other cheek”
is another matter. Religious leaders
differ on its meaning. Some suggest
that it means to just accept abuse and
be “submissive.” In the Christian Bi
ble, Jesus says, “. . .whosoever shall
smite thee on thy right cheek, turn
to him the other also” (Matthew 5:39
KJV).
My pastor says the verse specifi
cally refers to someone being hit on
“the right cheek,” meaning that a
right-handed aggressor would have
to hit him backhanded to hit his right
cheek, a demeaning insult in Jesus’s
time and today. Jesus advises that the
person who was hit should then turn
his head to put his left cheek forward,
standing up as an equal, daring to be
hit again. Turning the other cheek
instead of striking back or cowering
takes courage and is called passive-
resistance. WARNING: As with ev
ery proverb or parable, this one was
illustrating a specific idea at the time
and was not meant to apply to every
physical altercation.
If you have a question for Ms. Magnolia, please mail it to P.O. Box 669, Vidalia, GA
30475, or e-mail to msmagnoliaadvance@yahoo.com.
Hagan
continued from page 1A
the runoff. In her home
county of Toombs, Hagan
won 85.70% of the total
with 2,170 votes cast while
Sapp earned 362 votes for
14.30% of the total.
In Jeff Davis County,
Hagan won 19.78% of the
vote with 72 votes and
Sapp won 80.22% of the
total with 292 votes cast.
In Montgomery County,
Hagan won 75.26% of the
total with 727 votes and
Sapp won 24.7% of the to
tal with 239 votes. In Ap
pling County, the second
most populous county in
the District, Sapp claimed
massive support from his
home base with 2,033
votes cast for 92.62% of the
total. In Appling County,
Hagan earned 162 votes for
7.38% of the total.
A total of 6,057 votes
were cast District wide
on July 13, while a total of
4,801 were cast District
wide on June 15. In the
June 15 election Hagan
barely edged past Sapp
with 2,068 votes in the Dis
trict wide voting to Sapp’s
2,031 votes. The razor-thin
margin brought out local
leaders to urge citizens to
support Hagan.
Hagan assumes the
House seat left vacant
PLEASE
RECYCLE
when Greg Morris re
signed from office earlier
this year. Morris, a Vidalia
Republican, was elected to
the State Transportation
Board.
One of the issues con
fronting Hagan as she takes
her new seat will be this
year’s redistricting pro
ceedings and next year’s
legislative session before
facing the voters again —
possibly with dramatically
changed boundaries. Cur
rently, House District 156
includes Montgomery and
Toombs counties and por
tions of Appling and Jeff
Davis counties.
Hagan, an online con
sulting firm owner, said of
her victory, “A lot of people
got involved in the runoff.
We had volunteers making
phone calls and I think that
made a difference.” She
added, “We knew going
in that because of it being
a mid-term election and
because it was summer,
the turnout would prob
ably be low. In the runoff,
more people voted across
the District, but I still feel
the numbers were low. We
want to work on getting
more people involved in
the voting process.”
Hagan said her first
priority is learning the
ropes. As ofMonday morn
ing, she was still awaiting
the official certification of
the election results by the
Georgia Secretary of State’s
office before she could plan
a swearing in ceremony
and be named to House
committees. The certifica
tion is expected early this
week. Another priority will
be the 2022 election cycle
when she will be running
again for the House seat
she just won.
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CONFEREN
A FREE EVENT!
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P(S(0)^i1^P§)D
July 24, 2021
►»»»»»» 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm
The Stage at City Park - Vidalia
PM
ovu My
An event that offers a
message of freedom
and recovery to the
addicted through
Jesus Christ!
>LOCALRESOURCES
INFORMATION
TESTIMONIES
«««««<
Bring a chair and bring someone with you - you can
become a resource of information for a friend or
loved one!
Kelli Sharpton, Director of Health Services, is a proud member of
The Oaks Bethany Skilled Nursing team. Ensuring that high quality
care is provided to the patients and maintaining the high standards
of excellence that The Oaks Bethany Skilled Nursing is known for.
TheOaks
Bethany Skilled Nursing
1305 E North Street, Vidalia • 912-537-7922
When it comes to providing
of long derm Care
my years of experience
make the difference.
Kelli Sharpton
15 years