NHCSL, SEIA Share Solar Consumer Protection Commitment

The National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislature (NHCSL) this month passed a resolution addressing the rapid expansion of solar power in this country as part of the National Council of State Legislatures annual meeting in Chicago.

The resolution was aimed at ensuring that consumers can invest in solar energy as a way to save money and reduce pollution.

These are primary values driving SEIA and our member companies, and we want to recognize the work that NHCSL is doing on solar. The solar industry helps save consumers’ money, creates hundreds of thousands of jobs, reduces harmful emissions from fossil fuels and drives investment into communities.

It is critical that entities like NHCSL are looking out for their constituents to ensure protections are in place against potentially bad actors. That’s why we have developed and circulated easy-to-understand information about going solar and tools consumers can use before making that decision.

We are eager to work with representatives from NHCSL and any other caucuses to educate leaders and their constituents on industry practices and hear feedback on the existing materials that we have created to help consumers.

We as an industry attribute our rapid growth to our attentiveness to consumers. People go solar in part because they talk to their neighbors who also have gone solar, and they act based on word of mouth. We want to make sure the decision to invest in solar goes smoothly and that SEIA member companies are guiding customers through the transaction the right way.

To that end, we proactively created a suite of consumer protection materials, working with states, consulting with the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission, and earning the accolades of the Better Business Bureau.

The goal is to make sure consumers are fully informed in their decision to go solar. We also built and released disclosure forms – similar to HUD-1 statements for home purchases – to give consumers a snapshot of the key terms in a contract, as well as free standard lease and power purchase agreement templates to boost transparency.

While our industry will continue grow and improve best practices, we have made tremendous progress and are having a positive impact on the country as a whole. In 2015, solar employment grew nearly 12 times faster than the national employment growth rate of 1.7 percent during the same period. The industry now employs more than 209,000 people, of which about 12 percent are Latino.

Recent polls sponsored by Earthjustice and Green Latinos show 64 percent of California Latinos believe that stronger environmental laws will have a positive impact on economic growth and create new jobs.

SEIA looks forward to continuing to work with NHCSL, as well as other legislative leaders, to protect consumers and ensure that access to solar continues to expand to a diverse array of families in communities throughout America.