U.S. Unveils Measures to Encourage Solar Power Use

The Obama administration on Monday announced a slew of small measures designed to encourage the use of solar power hours before President Obama was scheduled to fly to Nevada to speak at the National Clean Energy Summit there.

The measures included making an additional $1 billion in loan guarantee authority available in an existing federal program for innovative versions of the kind of residential rooftop solar projects that have become popular in places like California. But none of the announced measures would provide the impact on the solar industry of the Clean Power Plan, which was announced this month and requires states to cut carbon emissions by an average of 32 percent. That plan provides strong incentives for much of those reductions to come from the development of renewable energy resources — exactly what executives at the conference in Nevada are looking to sell.

By GARDINER HARRIS

Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/25/us/obama-solar-power-renewable-energy.html?hpw&rref=politics&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well