When it comes too solar, Kansas has gleaming potential. With more than 225 sunny days a year, the state ranks fifth in the nation for potential. But potential only gets you so far. If Kansas is going to go the distance, it will need to make some significant policy changes that encourage more solar development. Unfortunately, Kansas is moonwalking away from a sunny solar future.

While the state had a healthy net metering policy, new legislation weakened it in 2014. People with systems installed prior to July 1, 2014 can’t be charged anymore for their grid connection than their neighbor who doesn’t have solar. Homeowners with newer systems, however, can be charged an extra connection fee. On top of that, homeowners with solar systems installed before July 1, 2014 will be credited at the retail rate for excess power they feed back onto the grid. For systems installed more recently, homeowners are only credited at the utility’s avoided cost rate.

Meanwhile, many of the incentives that once existed to encourage solar installations in the state have evaporated. Kansas is steadily regressing in terms of solar policy.

Net metering in Kansas started out strong. But new legislation passed in 2014 that rolls the program back. The size of the system Kansas residents can connect to the grid dropped dramatically. Where residential systems could be as large as 25 Kilowatts and commercial systems could be 200 kilowatts before April, 2014, system sizes are now limited to 15 kilowatts for homes, 100 kilowatts for businesses and 150 kilowatts for schools and government buildings.

On top of the limitation in system size, utilities may now charge solar customers a higher interconnection rate and only have to credit solar customers for their excess power at the avoided cost rate rather than the retail rate that was required before the legislation passed.