Opt-Out Community Choice Solar For Upstate New York
Several communities in upstate New York are now part of an opt-out community choice program that will allow their residents to enjoy clean, emissions-free energy and lower utility bills. What does opt-out mean? It means everyone who lives in those communities is automatically enrolled but those who do not wish to have lower energy bills can choose to exit the program at any time.
The program is run by Joule Community Power, the first renewable energy aggregator licensed by the state of New York. On its website, Joule explains, “Approximately 50% of all homes are unable to host solar panels. Community solar brings the benefits of solar — including guaranteed electricity bill savings — to homeowners, renters, and small businesses who don’t have their own solar panels. In exchange for supporting energy generation from local solar farms, community solar subscribers receive guaranteed electricity bill savings in the form of solar bill credits derived from NY State incentives for renewable generation.”
Credit: Google Maps
The Finger Lakes Community Choice program includes the town of Geneva and the villages of Brockport, Honeoye Falls, and Lima. Brockport and Lima officially activated their participation this week, making the program available to more than 3,800 households and small businesses. It includes a guaranteed reduction in their electricity bills by up to 10% for the next 25 years.
Those villages have partnered with six local community solar farms that are expected to generate a total of 134.4 million kilowatt-hours of emissions-free electricity annually. As each farm begins to generate power, residents subscribed to that farm will start receiving savings. The solar farms are expected to begin operation in October 2021, with all residents covered by the spring of next year. All eligible residents are automatically enrolled in the program without having to sign a contract, undergo a credit screen, or have solar panels installed on their homes. Should a resident wish to opt out of the program, they are free to do so at any time with no penalty.
This structure enables municipal leaders to expand access to community solar benefits to all their constituents, including the low- to moderate-income residents who have historically been unable to benefit from traditional opt-in community solar or community choice electric supply programs due to state regulation and socioeconomic barriers. Of the 3,800 customers in the Finger Lakes Community Choice opt-out solar program, more than 200 are low-income households and approximately 300 are moderate-income.
In addition to the opt-out community choice solar program, Finger Lakes Community Choice also launched a community choice electric supply program, which will provide residents and businesses in Brockport and Lima with 100% renewable energy for the next two years, powered by New York State run-of-river hydropower. As with community solar, customers can opt out or leave the electricity supply program at any time with no penalty.
“Our mission always has been and continues to rest on empowering municipalities to have a say in the origin of their energy supply. This groundbreaking program will benefit nearly every resident in Brockport and Lima,” says Jessica Stromback, CEO at Joule Assets. “Unfortunately, a pending regulatory proposal, ‘Expanded Solar for All,’ puts the future of similar projects in jeopardy. If passed in the fall, the proposal would grant National Grid a de facto monopoly over the community solar market, effectively diminishing the power of local municipalities to drive renewable energy growth from the ground up.”
“Community choice aggregation has long been our goal, and through this partnership with Joule, we finally have a program that will benefit our residents with guaranteed savings and help New York reach its clean energy goals,” says Lima Deputy Mayor John Wadach. “The fact that our residents will be able to reap both financial and environmental benefits without having to take any action makes our efforts worthwhile. We hope that other municipalities will also have their voices heard and can offer similar programs to benefit their residents.”
“Our constituents have experienced first-hand the financial benefits that come with community choice aggregation, and we’ve eagerly awaited the opportunity to participate in an opt-out community choice solar program that would benefit a large portion of our residents,” adds Brockport mayor Margaret Blackman. “Community solar is the future of clean energy and it’s critical that municipalities be heavily involved in the process of serving their residents to make community solar possible.”
Opt-In Versus Opt-Out
The Expanded Solar For All program sounds a lot like the Community Choice program, but there is one important difference. It requires people to sign up, whereas the Community Choice program includes everyone right from the start. The difference may seem unimportant, but it comes down to who controls the electricity market.
Joule explains, “By participating in community solar, you are instructing your utility company to purchase solar energy from a local solar farm. In effect, you are requiring they add to the power grid an amount of solar energy that is equivalent to what they deliver for your consumption on an annual basis. In exchange for supporting clean generation, you receive a solar bill credit (typically up to 10%) that reduces your electricity bill. Participation in community solar has no impact on your electricity supply, it only affects from where the utility purchases electricity.”
The utility industry is desperate to control the supply of electricity. It’s all a result of policy decisions made a century ago when electricity was still new technology. Communities didn’t want competition, which would have meant multiple generating facilities and a welter of poles and wires, and so the decision was made to grant utilities a monopoly. They would not be allowed to compete with one another, but in exchange they would be guaranteed a certain rate of return on their investments.
The upshot of that policy is that utility companies want to hang onto their monopolies at all costs. The idea of having to accommodate the output of local solar farms threatens that model and sends them into a panic, so they bombard local and state governments with lobbyists to create roadblocks. Some would say the Expanded Solar For All sounds like a good thing, but it may be just an appealing label for a scheme designed to solidify National Grid’s control in a changing marketplace.
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Rad Power Bikes has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, marking a dramatic turn for one of the most recognizable names in the US electric bike industry. The Seattle-based company entered bankruptcy court this week as part of a plan to sell the business within the next 45–60 days, while continuing to operate during the process.
Court filings show Rad listing roughly $32.1 million in assets against $72.8 million in liabilities. A significant portion of that debt includes more than $8.3 million owed to US Customs and Border Protection for unpaid import tariffs, along with millions more owed to overseas manufacturing partners in China and Thailand. The company’s remaining inventory of e-bikes, spare parts, and accessories is valued at just over $14 million. Founder Mike Radenbaugh remains the largest equity holder, with just over 41% ownership.
The bankruptcy filing comes less than a month after the US Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a rare public warning urging consumers to immediately stop using certain older Rad lithium-ion batteries, citing fire risks, particularly when certain batteries are exposed to water and debris. Rad pushed back on the agency’s characterization, stating that its batteries were tested by third-party labs and deemed compliant with industry safety standards, and touting its SafeShield batteries – another, more recent version of Rad’s battery introduced last year that is likely one of the safest e-bike batteries in the industry.
Financial pressure had been building steadily on the company. In early November, Rad Power Bikes issued a WARN notice to Washington state officials, indicating that up to 64 employees could be laid off in January, and warning that the company could shut down entirely if additional funding was not secured. That notice now reads as an early signal of the restructuring that has followed.
Chapter 11 bankruptcy is not the end of a company, and in this case, it allows Rad to continue operating while restructuring its debts under court supervision, pausing most litigation and collection efforts through an automatic stay. The company says it plans to keep selling bikes and supporting customers during the process as it works toward a sale.
The filing caps an unfortunate fall from grace for a brand that raised hundreds of millions of dollars in several funding rounds during the pandemic years. After years as a dominant force in the direct-to-consumer e-bike market, Rad now faces an uncertain future shaped by tightening margins, regulatory scrutiny, and unresolved legal and financial challenges.
via Bicycle Retailer
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As Texas braces for tighter power margins and record demand on the ERCOT grid, Sunrun and NRG Energy are transforming home batteries into a giant virtual power plant. The two companies are integrating more home battery storage into the grid and tapping those batteries when the state needs power the most.
The solar + storage provider and energy company announced a new multi-year partnership aimed at accelerating the adoption of distributed energy in Texas, with a focus on solar-plus-storage systems that can be aggregated and dispatched during periods of high demand. The idea is simple: use home batteries as a flexible, on‑demand power source to help meet Texas’s rapidly growing electricity needs.
Under the deal, Texas homeowners will be offered a bundled home energy setup that pairs Sunrun’s solar and battery systems with retail electricity plans from NRG’s Texas provider, Reliant. Customers will also get smart battery programming designed to optimize when their batteries charge and discharge. As new and existing Sunrun customers enroll with Reliant, their combined battery capacity will be made available to support the ERCOT grid during times of stress.
“This partnership is a major step in achieving our goal of creating a 1 GW virtual power plant by 2035,” said Brad Bentley, President of NRG Consumer. “By teaming up with Sunrun, we’re unlocking a new source of dispatchable, flexible energy while giving customers the opportunity to unlock value from their homes and contribute to a more resilient grid.”
Sunrun, which has one of the largest fleets of residential batteries in the US, will be paid for aggregating the capacity, and participating Reliant customers will be compensated by Sunrun for sharing their stored solar energy.
The arrangement gives Texas households a way to earn money from their batteries while also improving grid reliability in a state that continues to see rapid population growth, extreme weather, and rising electricity demand.
Read more: The US’s first residential V2G power plant is running on Ford F-150 Lightning trucks
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Volkswagen is gearing up to launch a new family of affordable EVs, starting with the ID.Polo. Can it fill the shoes of the popular low-cost hatch?
Volkswagen announces ID.Polo EV range and more
The ID.Polo will be the first of four new entry-level electric vehicles that Volkswagen plans to launch, starting in Spring 2026.
The electric Polo “marks the beginning of a new generation of Volkswagen,” the brand’s CEO, Thomas Schäfer, said. The Polo is one of the best-selling VW models of all time, and its electric successor promises to build upon its legacy.
It will be the first “ID” model to bear an established Volkswagen name. Although it’s about the same size as its predecessor at 4,053 mm long, 1,816 mm wide, and 1,530 mm tall, with a wheelbase of 2,600 mm, the Polo EV offers more interior space.
Thanks to its compact drive modules, the electric Polo offers an extra 19 mm of interior length, which is “particularly noticeable in the rear.”
The luggage compartment is 24% larger than the classic Polo, with 435 L, up from 351 L. Folding the rear seats opens up 1,243 L of load volume, up from 1,125 L.
According to Volkswagen, the electric ID.Polo is “more versatile than any of its predecessors,” making it the perfect EV for getting around the city or as an everyday driver.
The Volkswagen ID.Polo will initially be available with three power outputs: 85 kW (114 hp), 99 kW (133 hp), and 155 kW (208 hp), while a sporty GTI variant will follow later in 2026 with 166 kW (223 hp).
The 85 kW and 99 kW versions will be equipped with a 37 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery, while the 155 kW and 166 kW versions will be powered by a 52 kWh nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) battery, which Volkswagen said will deliver up to 450 km (280 miles) WLTP driving range. It will also support DC charging speeds up to 130 kW.
Based on a new MEB+ platform, Volkswagen promises that the new, highly efficient electric drive will reduce costs and energy consumption.
The new PowerCo unified cell uses cell-to-pack technology, combining cells directly into the battery pack. Volkswagen said the new design reduces costs, saves space, and unlocks more range while increasing energy density by about 10%.
VW’s MEB+ platform will also introduce new advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) features, including a drastically improved Travel Assist. The ID.Polo will also be the first VW model to offer traffic light and stop sign recognition.
Can it live up to the task?
According to Autocar, which got the chance to test a prototype, the ID.Polo “feels remarkably like the current Polo. Switch from the petrol Polo into this and, a lack of engine noise aside, you would barely notice the difference.”
The reviewer, James Attwood, said the electric Polo delivered a “genuinely impressive ride for a car of this size,” adding it “drives and feels like you’d expect a Volkswagen to.”
With an affordable price tag, “the ID.Polo should be a strong all-rounder among the pack of small EVs suddenly battling for attention,” Attwood explained.
“It has a classically Volkswagen feel, poise and maturity, and blends a pleasingly mature driving experience with decent practicality and a reassuringly solid feel,” he said, adding, “A Volkswagen that feels like a Volkswagen, then. For that alone, it should be a winner.”
Others who got an early taste of the ID.Polo reported similar thoughts, including Auto Express, which said it “shows VW at its best.”
“Solid, well connected, comfortable and even quite engaging to drive, the ability to build all of this into a well-priced package is something we all hoped for; the surprising bit is how much of VW’s innate ‘character’ has come through,” Jordan Katsianis said after testing the pre-production prototype.
The ID.Polo will launch in Europe in Spring 2026 with prices starting from 25,000 euros ($29,500). It will be the first of four new affordable Volkswagen EVs, followed by the ID.Cross SUV and the smaller ID.1 electric car.
Although Volkswagen has yet confirm it, the ID.Polo is (sadly) not expected to launch in the US. It’s an affordable electric car aimed at Europe’s growing entry-level EV segment. Given the recent policy changes under the Trump administration and America’s love for big trucks and SUVs, don’t expect to see the electric Polo successor in the US anytime soon.
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