South Dakota

Solar Legislator Score: *

With Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial, the Badlands, and the Black Hills, who wouldn’t want to be out in the sun in South Dakota. Oh yeah, it’s the home of the Sturgis Harley rally too. With people coming from all around the world to visit, South Dakota should use renewable energy to keep powered up while protecting its great natural environment. Here’s what the state legislature has done to promote clean solar energy so far…

STATE LEGISLATION
Ummm… well, they’re getting to it. Since 1975, the state has had a property tax exemption for renewable energy equipment, but that’s about as much as the state has done for solar power so far. That’s really pretty meager, so write, call, email, visit your legislators and remind them that it’s their job to pass some laws promoting clean solar power.

NET-METERING
Maybe the legislature will get something going soon, but for now, it’s up to your utility company to decide how to net-meter your new solar electricity system.

STATE INCENTIVE PROGRAMS, UTILITY REBATES, UTILITY LOANS, AND UTILITY INCENTIVES
Under the Renewable Energy Systems Exemption, the equipment you install to generate clean solar power is exempt from property tax. You can take a tax credit for the full cost of the system for each of the first 3 years, after that you get three more years in which you can take 75%, 50%, and 25% of the cost respectively.

EXAMPLE 3KW SYSTEM – HOME INSTALLATION COST
You’ve made the right choice to be the neighborhood leader and put in a 3kW solar electricity system at home. In Sioux Falls, your system will run about $54,000, so don’t forget to take the federal tax credit of $2,000. Since South Dakota has a Good solar rating, you’ll have plenty of sun to help your system pay for itself in about 30 years (with an average usage of 1,300kWh each month at a rate of $0.0748/kWh through the City of Sioux Falls Utility). If the price sounds steep to you, remember that you’ll be saving over $840 each year on your utility bills, and even more importantly, you’ll be keeping 160 tons of greenhouse gasses out of the atmosphere. Here are a few more key points to keep in mind about your system:
600 square feet of roof area required
$10,060 estimated property value increase – tax exempt!
$21,107 estimated savings on your utility bills over 25 years

CONSENSUS
There’s really not much going on here. I think it’s time to find some new legislators in South Dakota. Governor Rounds has not really even mentioned the words “solar power.” He’s jumped on the biofuel/ethanol bandwagon instead. South Dakota, it’s time to kick the habit, and detox with some nice clean solar energy.

http://www.solarpowerrocks.com/south-dakota/