Dive Brief:

• A last-ditch attempt by the Missouri solar industry to resurrect a popular rooftop solar installation rebate program failed to make it past the state Senate on Tuesday. In a bipartisan vote, the senate voted 18-11 against renewing the rebate. 
• The program, originally started in 2008, provided up to $50,000 of rebates at $2-per-watt to utility customers who installed rooftop solar. The rebate program was put to bed in 2013 when Ameren asked state regulators to end the program because it couldn't keep up with the cost of rebates without raising rates. The program was originally due to end in 2015.
• The move, said solar industry figures, is widely expected to hamper the growth of solar installations and ultimately result in job losses in the state solar industry. 

Dive Insight:

Ameren pledged $92 million in solar rebates and has paid nearly half that, according to VP Warren Wood. "There was enormous demand for the rebates," he said. "We saw applications skyrocket."

State law mandates investor-owned utilities get 5% of generation from renewable sources in 2014, but they are capped at raising customer rates by 1%. The solar industry's proposed amendment would have brought back rebates on a first-come, first-serve basis until state regulators determined which costs caused utilities to raise rates.

If the rebate isn't brought back, the consequences could reverberate beyond solar penetration in the state, according to the Missouri Solar Energy Industries Association, who called for the revival of the rebate. "In the midst of a recession, solar was one of the best and most exciting economic drivers in the state," President Rick Hunter said. "Now these jobs and growth are on the brink of being lost."