Dec. 12, 2023

Illinois Solar Energy Association with Kevin Borgia | EP181

Show Notes
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The Illinois solar industry is booming thanks to forward-thinking policies like the Future Energy Jobs Act and the recent Climate & Equitable Jobs Act. Solar companies looking to tap into this growth market must engage locally to capitalize on opportunities fully. That's why joining the Illinois Solar Energy Association (ISEA) can pay dividends through supporting pro-solar advocacy, making Springfield connections, navigating policy complexities, and accessing the stakeholder network.

Today on the Clean Power Hour, ISEA Board President Kevin Borgia makes the case for solar companies of all sizes to get involved with the only organization providing that unique blend of Illinois intelligence, relationship building, and collective clout.

Kevin Borgia, VP of External Affairs and Policy at SunVest Solar, joins host Tim Montague to discuss the Illinois Solar Energy Association (ISEA). They talk about the exponential growth of the solar industry in Illinois over the past 5 years thanks to legislation like the Future Energy Jobs Act and the Climate & Equitable Jobs Act.

Kevin outlines key benefits of joining ISEA for solar companies looking to grow in Illinois, including supporting pro-solar policies through advocacy and lobbying days in Springfield, gaining crucial intelligence about navigating the complex Illinois energy market, networking with other local players at ISEA's monthly solar social events, and more.

If you are a solar company interested in engaging with the policy process and networking in the thriving Illinois market, be sure to contact Tim and consider becoming a member.

Key Takeaways

What unique benefits does joining the Illinois Solar Energy Association (ISEA) offer solar companies looking to tap into Illinois' growth market?
Why is it important for solar companies to engage in collective advocacy and policy-making through groups like ISEA?
What are some of ISEA's member offerings like networking events and Springfield lobby days?
How has the mix of policies like FEJA and CEJA succeeded in unlocking transformative solar growth over the past decade in Illinois?

ISEA
Kevin Borgia

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ISEA is that local voice. And by being a part of ISEA, you're able to participate in our lobby days in our grassroots grasstops activity that we're doing. We're running lobby days in Springfield. We'll be probably doing one in spring date TBD. Where you can come down and talk with your legislators, we can show that the solar industry is a force

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Today on the Clean Power Hour, what your company should know about the Illinois Solar and Storage Association. I'm Tim Montague, your host check out all of our content at cleanpowerhour.com Give us a rating and review on Apple and Spotify. That's the best way you can help others find this content, check out our YouTube channel. We have all of our content on YouTube, please subscribe, hit that bell. And my guest today is Kevin Borgia. He is the VP of External Affairs and policy at Sunbelt solar, based in Wisconsin. But working in the primarily Illinois market is my understanding. And Kevin is a repeat guests. I love having repeat guests on the show. So if you've been on the show, and it's been a few years, it's been four years, Kevin, since you were on the Clean Power Hour. But please reach out to me. I love having repeat guests. But welcome to the show, Kevin.

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Great to be here.

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Thanks, Jim.

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We were talking about ISEA the Illinois Solar and Storage Association or Illinois Solar Energy Association, and you play a special role in that organization. We're gonna get into that. And I am just to be clear, I have a partnership with ISEA. I have been contracted to do business development for the organization which I so gladly do because I live in Illinois. I live breathe sleep Illinois solar. I work nationally also.

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But I am all about Illinois solar and it is heady days in the Illinois market. Right. We have some wonderful legislation called CIJA. The Climate Inequitable Jobs Act, which is creating a smooth runway for 10 years of rapid growth of the distributed generation solar market. So Kevin, let's get into some nitty gritties. About why.

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What is Sia? And so let's just go there. Tell us how and why you got involved with the Illinois Solar and Storage Association.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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Thanks, Tim. So I see even though it's solar and storage Association, we just continue to say I see. I see it has been around for over 40 years. I first got involved in Ico back in 2008. When it was a very different industry a very different time. I was actually in the early stages of founding and being the executive director of what was called the Illinois Wind Energy Association, a totally separate group that existed for many years to represent the then burgeoning wind industry in Illinois. And I was director of that group for about four or five years, before merging it into kind of a regional affiliate of kind of the national wind industry network. And so I spent a long time in the wind industry. But I transitioned over to the solar power business about six or seven years ago. And so I've been in various different roles in different companies since then, in some cases, as a member of ISEA, in some cases, as a consultant to ICF. And most for the past, probably about four years or so, I've been a member of the board and the past to have been the board president of ISEA. And so I've been definitely involved in kind of Illinois, Renewable Energy Policy circles for a good 15 years now. And I think, you know, like you said, we've got this seizure law really changed things significantly and set Illinois on a great trajectory of growth. It's looked at, in varying ways as a national model. And, you know, I'm very excited to be part of ISEA, as we kind of tried to take the association and the industry really to the next level in the state.

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So paint a picture for our listeners. What, how has the solar industry changed in Illinois in the last five years, I dove in, in 2016, not even knowing about fija, honestly.

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And then we got fee, John that created the first wave. And now we're under Seija, which started in 2021. But paint a picture for our listeners, what's going on in Illinois sold or for the last five years? Yeah,

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great, great question. I mean, things have changed enormously, right? I mean, let's see, five years ago, we would have been in the early stages of just setting up you know, many of the market rules that exist today under the adjustable block program and other things and so, a lot of the national players were kind of just looking at Illinois A lot of companies were just in the early stages of kind of the growth trajectory, you had a lot of smaller mom and pop shops that were very much, you know, kind of shoestring operation because the market was kind of underdeveloped in Illinois for a variety of reasons. And, you know, fija allowed the many of those companies to really expand and grow and scale up into, into, you know, the companies that are really active and thriving in the market today, and really drew in the national players. And so you're kind of gone from an industry of a very small niche, not a lot of growth, very, very focused on resi. And, you know, maybe some kind of small CNI to to a full robust industry involving, you know, national giant players like Sun runs on power, and their networks, you know, very large kind of commercial industrial developments happening, my company does a lot of CNI development, as well as community solar development, which is, which is significant and has been written into the seizure law, specifically to grow and I think has really helped a lot of Illinois ratepayers to save a lot on their power bills. And then we have a very robust utility scale industry to I don't know exactly where things stand, but I remember some point last summer, Illinois was host to the the largest solar project in America with the Black Diamond double black diamond project or something down near Springfield.

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And so you know, you've got really kind of the the diversity of the industry, kind of small, medium and large, really growing up in this state. And all that's generally happened since since feature passed in. In 20 2016.

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Yep, yeah. So we had fija, the future energy jobs act, then we got Seija, the climate and equitable JOBS Act, which just expanded our RPS. And you know, what's happening is consumer dollars are flowing into the industry, through renewable energy credits through their bills, right, everyone who gets a Amarin comment or Mid American power bill has a small fee on there for the RPS the renewable portfolio standard, we got our first RPS in oh eight.

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And that led to a wave of big wind. So we had big wind and I thought I'd work in wind before I worked in solar, because that's what was visible, right?

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And but now we have very robust community solar large CNI, small CNI, commercial, industrial, and very robust residential. And you've mentioned utility scale.

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So it's all of the above. And that is really how we're going to green the grid in the United States is with all of those segments of the industry. It's not one or the other. But so if you were a prospective member, let's just cut to the case here.

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If you were a prospective member, Kevin, what would get you interested in becoming part and joining ISEA?

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Yeah, absolutely.

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I mean, the key thing is that, number one, you'd be supporting the organization that helped make this happen, right. CIJA doesn't exist without strong advocacy from the industry groups, right? That's not just ISEA. Right. There's success has many mothers and fathers. Right.

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But I see it has definitely played a key role in advancing public policies that benefit your business in Illinois. And I see has been there again, for 40 years, I got involved. 15 years ago, every step of the way, I see has been pushing for more kind of pro growth solar policies at the state level in Illinois. And by joining as a member, you'll be helping to support the next phases of that.

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Additionally, you'll also ensure that you understand the market.

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Illinois marketplace is really, really complex. It's not something that you know, every state has its own kind of riddle. From an energy policy standpoint, Illinois is a particularly complex riddle. And being a member of ICS can really help you as a company to expand your operations to build the network you need in Illinois to grow and just overall have a much better handle on the market so that you know how to strategically place your investments and understand how to really grow in the state.

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I'm completely biased because I work in the solar industry. I play a role as catalyst I help EPCs developers and OEMs go further faster. And exactly how I Do That depends on exactly where they are on their journey.

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But when you ask any storied or experienced energy professional, especially wind or solar about what are the top three things to consider if you want to grow a market, and they will tell you that getting involved with your state organization is one of those top three things I see is the de facto state organization for solar in Illinois. And we have great legislation we have a great program in Illinois shines otherwise known as the ABP the adjustable block program. Real I like it that they've just started to focus on Illinois shines as a solo brand. I think that's very smart. But utilities are known to attack these programs. And trust me, things are going to change over time.

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And and so while comed may have kind of been asleep at the wheel for a second and had less influence, because of the big comments scandal, they're going to come knocking, and they're going to try to ding net metering. First and foremost, we see what's going on in California, California, definitely is the future. And so we have to fight back, we have to constantly be on guard. And we need organizations like I see that support, for example, lobbying in Springfield, right.

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Among other things, there's also the joint solar party. So there's multiple organizations.

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There's votes, solar, there's the LPC, right. We have some very storied, regional, super regional and national organizations like the ones I just mentioned. But I see it is one of those members, member organizations, right and together, when you imagine, Kevin, you and 1000s of other companies in Illinois, standing shoulder to shoulder we are a force to reckon with with but only if we're on the same page.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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And I see as a key role in helping to keep everybody on the same page, right, the great role that I see it can play is being that local voice, right. And that's not to diminish the work that sia or CCSA, or Votto or others are doing. But I see it is that local voice. And by being a part of ISEA, you're able to participate in our lobby days in our grassroots grasstops activity that we're doing. We're running lobby days in Springfield, we'll be probably doing one spring date TBD, where you can come down and talk with your legislator. And we can show that the solar industry is a force. Because the utilities are doing this right, they can charter a bus and get, you know, 200 linemen to show up and say how great comed is, and that's fine. That's their role. We can't organize quite as easily, we need an association, to help and to get people down to Springfield, and show and demonstrate we're creating jobs, we're helping people save money.

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And we're addressing the climate crisis as well. And these are messages that work in Illinois, and But lawmakers need to hear it, they need to hear it over and over and over and over again. And you know, a good rule of advocacy is you have to say your message over and over so many times, until you're sick of saying it, and only then the people start to hear you. And I think that that's what I see I can do is we can help to continue that grassroots movement, and bring people down to Springfield, and continue to advocate for the policies that are gonna benefit us. And we do work in conjunction very closely with CCSA. And ISEA as well.

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Like I said, it's it's no one organization is responsible for all the success we've had. But plugging into ice is going to connect you very much to that grassroots support the national groups to really have an impact and to really get information, it just costs more their national organizations I see is much more approachable, much more affordable is there for especially the smaller company, right, the smaller player that maybe can't afford the six figure contributions of the national associations, that you can plug in at a high level NIC and help to get those connections in this important and growing market. The additional thing that you get with ISEA that that does not come from the other associations is the network. We are the only group that's really hosting frequent periodic networking events. In Illinois, we try to do our solar drinks, solar socials, whatever we call them, at least quarterly if not more frequently, as an IC a member you get invites to those you're able to help come make the connections and build the relationships that you need to we all know that business is about relationships and working through ICF as an ICF member, you can really help to build those relationships that you need. Perhaps you could sponsor some of the events to really get your brand and your company's name out there. And those are things that I see it can really provide that can be very beneficial for any business that's trying to grow whether they're local, or national.

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Very well said.

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Well, I want to encourage our listeners to check out Illinoissolar.org, Illinoissolar.org is the website for ISEA and reach out to me I would love to have dialogue with you about joining and getting active in the Illinois Solar and Storage Association. Kevin, I want to thank you for all that you have done for the solar industry, you are the president of the board of ISEA. And we appreciate your service. But more importantly, just your, your marathon that you're doing for the solar industry here in Illinois, we are so grateful. Is there any anything else that you'd like to say to our listeners regarding ISEA?

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Other than, you know, I encourage folks to come to an event to speak with you speak with Leslie you know, we are providing unique resources that can help people to grow in this market. CIJA created a pretty remarkable thing in Yeah and please check out all of our content at Illinois. You know, you mentioned earlier, some investors of Wisconsin company, we're actually no longer we're now an Illinois company, we relocated our corporate office, oh, cool. walkie to Chicago, specifically, because the only market was so important to us.

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And so, you know, there's a lot of opportunity here. And, you know, the companies that are connected and that have the information and that are learning from ICS resources, and webinars and other kinds of cleanpowerhour.com, give us a rating and review on Apple and things are really going to be the ones that thrive because they're connected, and they're here. And so I'd encourage people to really think about, if you really want to be a part of Illinois, you need to be supporting the local trade association, my company, when we get involved in a new market that's far away, one of the first things we do is join the local trade. Because really, you can't get a handle on a market unless you have joined the local trade association. And so you know, ISEA is one of the oldest trade associations in the solar industry. And you know, we're doing some great things. And I think that companies will definitely see that once they join and start to see the benefits of it.

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Spotify, check out our YouTube channel, reach out to me on LinkedIn, I love connecting with my listeners on LinkedIn. You can also contact me through the website, cleanpowerhour.com. How can everyone find you, Kevin?

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You can also find me on LinkedIn. I'm fairly active on LinkedIn as well. And yeah, you'll you'll definitely see me at just about every industry event that goes on in the state.

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I'm Tim Montague, let's grow solar and storage.

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Thanks, Kevin. Have a great day.

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Thanks, onward.

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Hey, listeners.

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This is Tim, I want to give a shout out to all of you. I do this for you twice a week. Thank you for being here. Thank you for giving us your time. I really appreciate you and what you're all about. You are part and parcel of the energy transition, whether you're an energy professional today, or an aspiring energy professional. So thank you, I want to let you know that the Clean Power Hour has launched a listener survey.

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And it would mean so much to me.

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Illinois Solar Energy Association with Kevin Borgia | EP181

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