More than 300 leading clean energy companies are calling on International Code Council (ICC) voters to reject a proposed FEMA code that will disrupt clean energy progress in the United States and instead approve a set of compromise solutions, says the Solar Energy Industries Association (ESIA).
FEMA’s proposed amendment to the 2024 International Building Code, S76-22, would require solar, storage and wind projects to meet the requirements of Risk Category 4, the strictest possible category.
“The stated goal of FEMA’s proposal is to increase grid reliability, but when you unnecessarily complicate building clean, resilient energy, the obvious effect is reduced reliability,” says Abigail Ross. Hopper, President and CEO of SEIA. “This overreach is done in an opaque process without input from experts on economic impacts, electrical reliability and climate change. The US solar and storage industry urges International Code Council voters to consider the real impact of this code and endorse SEIA’s compromise proposals.
FEMA officials themselves have confirmed that they support the proposals advanced by SEIA and supported by the Distributed Wind Energy Association (DWEA), according to September 15 oral testimony and a voter guide that FEMA released. sent to voters on October 13.
This trade-off framework (S79-22 and S81-22) includes an important exclusion for solar projects to be designated as Risk Category 2. It balances a significant increase in structural requirements for solar installations with enough leeway for the project construction moves forward.
In contrast, FEMA’s proposal will require clean energy projects, critical to combating climate change, to be built to withstand devastating natural disasters far beyond what is necessary. The result will be a dramatic spike in construction costs and tens of gigawatts of canceled clean energy projects, without improving the reliability of electricity.
“FEMA’s proposal is well-intentioned, but not well thought out,” said DWEA President Mike Bergey. “It’s like saying VIP cars have to be bulletproof and then requiring all cars to be bulletproof. On top of that, FEMA totally misses the point that the grid is the weakest link and requiring more steel and concrete on solar and wind installations will not strengthen the power grid.
The voting period for ICC members runs from October 17 to November 1.