2022 Year in Review: Gregory Gordon, Harvest Power LLC

What emerging trends will drive investment and development in 2023?

In addition to the increase in some of the local rebates–the Federal Government has also increased the Invest Tax Credit for commercial solar projects from 26% to 30%–compounded by some of the local laws (Local Law 97) Under this groundbreaking law, most buildings over 25,000 s/f will be required to meet new energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions limits by 2024, with stricter limits coming into effect in 2030. The goal is to reduce the emissions produced by the city’s largest buildings 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2050. The law also established the Local Law 97 Advisory Board and Climate Working Groups to advise the city on how best to meet these aggressive sustainability goals. This legislation will undoubtedly have a positive impact on solar providers as buildings owners will need to use solar as well as other green energy solutions to reduce their overall carbon footprints. 

Solar still has its challenges as The Inflation Reduction Act has propelled interest- there are has been a chain supply bottleneck created by the enforcement of The Labor Protection Act which has resulted in the US custom department seizing over 1,000 shipments of panels until they can be documented that the companies transporting these shipments mostly from China, Malaysia, and Vietnam can prove that no labor laws were violated in the production of the panels.

What person, project, transaction or market trend had the greatest impact on your industry this year?

One of the biggest market trends that has had an effect on our business this year is the very significant increase to the NYSERDA Rebate in the Con Edison territories that make up all o the five boroughs. The rebate last year at this time was .20 cents per KwH and it has been increased to $1.20 making solar for commercial buildings in these territories extremely lucrative for building owners with paybacks that are under two years.