This is your SolarWakeup for June 26th, 2017

I am in Sacramento for the PAC-12 Sustainability Conference. At 11:45 this morning, Bill Walton and I will be speaking about the role of solar on college campuses. What would you want to hear as a college leader about the solar industry?

CalSEIA Leading State Advocacy. It is no secret that CalSEIA is the leading State chapter to advocate for the solar industry. In the latest episode of EnergyWakeup, I speak with Bernadette del Chiaro, the executive director at CalSEIA. She understands how Sacramento works and alongside strong members, the group drives California to continued leadership. Part of her success is that legislators know that CalSEIA represents the solar industry and the industry backs CalSEIA. That is not a given and is oftentimes trickier than you would imagine. SEIA also has a presence in California with multiple staffers, most of the time the groups agree on policy but sometimes they don’t. Many times the groups do not coordinate closely and lobby separately.  It eludes me why that would be the case. California is so far ahead, why would SEIA spend any money in the State when it could be spending it in a State with no local presence. What if, hypothetically, SEIA supported States that have budgets over some amount with capital as opposed to redundant resources? Do we need State chapters and SEIA intervening on the same docket? Make sure to listen to this episode, lots of great stuff in there including the most pressing legislative priority for CalSEIA this session.

Must Be Nice. I would be surprised if 10 years from now, electric monopolies weren’t on the way out. If Texas and Connecticut can agree on the deregulation of electric markets, there must be something to the idea. The notion of fuel in power supply introduces a volatility in the equation and it is not fair to consumers to be the only backstop to this financial risk.

Solar Isn’t a Partisan Issue. Clean Air, Clean Water and Clean Energy. Those are issues that Americans agree on. Cheaper Energy? We definitely agree on that. Taking the issue of renewable energy to partisan fights is a bad idea politically and consultants should start reframing the conversation to focus on competition, cost and consumer choice. Sprinkle a bit of resource conservation and property rights on top and you have yourself a libertarian/green party overlap.

Opinion

Have a great day!

Yann