On June 9, 2011, on behalf of its 1,100 members, representatives from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) met with Mary Simpkins, Dave Sanchez, John McWilliams, Daniel Gien, and Yue Ding from the Division of Trading and Markets to discuss the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC or Commission) proposed rule on the registration of municipal advisors as it applies to solar energy companies.

This rule will generally not apply to municipal solar installations, which are often small or rely on power purchase agreements, and thus do not require municipalities to sell securities or bonds to pay for the solar projects.  However, for those instances in which municipalities must sell securities and bonds to pay for the solar installations, SEIA respectfully requests that solar energy companies be included in the final rule’s engineering exemption, as intended by Congress.