Your Daily Dose of Climate Hope: February 16, 2026
Plug-in solar bills in TWENTY-FOUR STATES!!!
TWENTY-FOUR U.S. states have now introduced new legislation in 2026 to empower their people with plug-in solar! It’s already passed the Vermont Senate and Virginia House. WOW!
Tell your state leaders to cosponsor and pass a bill deregulating plug-in solar!
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Reasons For Hope
After months of hard work, a nationwide wave is building to make 2026 the year when plug-in solar becomes accessible in states across America! Bright Saver and the New York Times report that TWENTY-FOUR U.S. states (and counting!) have now introduced new bills in the 2026 state legislative session to make backyard “balcony” solar accessible for all. Utah-style plug-in solar bills have already passed the Vermont Senate and Virginia House with near-unanimous support. Many more states are sure to swiftly follow.
As the NYT notes, this is an extraordinary blazingly-fast ramp-up for a broad-based legislative campaign. 2026 is on track to become a truly transformative moment for decentralized American clean power!
This is YOUR voices at work — Bright Saver tells me that some upcoming state announcements are directly due to messages received from previous CAN actions!
The state of Utah voted to deregulate plug-in solar in 2025, with unanimous bipartisan support. Solar provides abundant low-cost power, but many Americans can’t access rooftop solar due to cost, renter status, or other reasons. Plug-in solar, aka “balcony” or “backyard” solar, allows anyone to get their own source of cheap clean power. Utah’s first-in-the-nation plug-in solar law in 2025 just the start of a nationwide trend!
It is technically legally possible to install plug-in solar in much of the U.S., but it’s prohibitively difficult in practice because it requires the homeowner to submit the same kind of complex, technical diagram-heavy grid interconnection request that you’d need for a full-scale solar farm. The Utah plug-in solar bill simply created a new interconnection request-exempt legal category for small-scale solar systems.
This was an incredibly simple piece of legislation — just one page, with zero fiscal implications. Bright Saver already has model legislation text up on their website. It’s a bill that gives families the freedom to generate their own clean energy at home without maddening bureaucratic barriers. And now, people are trying to make it happen across America.
The potential of plug-in solar technology is truly incredible. In Germany, more than 500,000 plug-in solar systems have been installed so far, and major retailer IKEA is now selling integrated kits including both plug-in “balcony” solar arrays and a home battery — a fully independent household clean power plant being sold for 1,229 euros!
Deregulating plug-in solar is a no-brainer for every state in America!
State leaders have a historic opportunity here to bring forward a future where all Americans can generate their own clean, abundant, affordable electricity. Any state policymaker who takes the initiative to cosponsor and pass a Utah-style plug-in solar deregulation bill will be demonstrating true leadership.
Tell your state leaders to cosponsor and pass a bill deregulating plug-in solar!
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