201 Recap. Last week we learned about the 201 tariffs from Trump and SolarWakeup quickly held a conference call for our readers. That call is now available online for you to review. This week, I head to New York for our third SolarWakeup Live. We will hear about community solar, blockchain, energy storage, REV and investments in New York. I also have an unannounced guest that was inside the room during 201 tariff discussions fighting for the solar industry every step of the way. If you are in the area, don’t miss the event the solar industry is calling the most important gathering in America.
Congrats. Oliver Crane has made it to Antigua. Catch the livestream on the ‘Atlantic Campaigns’ facebook page. It was pretty cool so it gets the double mention. A big thanks from all of you that donated and shared his donation page.
SunPower Hits Back. The stop and go portion of the 201 tariff has already caused job losses in solar, we’ve been saying that since the start. Since the announcement of the tariff, it has been more of the same with the press release, proclamation and annexes all coming separately. Then we waited for the exemption process and hinting at a path to global settlements. SunPower was adamant about their differentiation during the USITC hearings and filings. Their position was that the IBC technology is just as different as First Solar’s CdTe solution which was exempted. SunPower is now stopping a $20million investment and hiring plan until they find out if their exemption request comes out. The interesting subplot is that if Suniva had been run properly from the start, taking on SunPower’s dealer network would have worked. Instead they were greedy and focused on the SolarCity/Sunruns of the market and promptly screwed up customer service when they changed their supply chain software solution. I hope for the sake of SunPower, their employees and dealers that they get the exemption.
South Korea Files With WTO. This is unlikely to be the first WTO filing by a country affected by the tariff. The political ramifications elude me unless the politics are better at putting issues into silos than I thought. It may also provide an inside look on if the tariffs hold up at the WTO.
Red State Pushback. Tom Matzzie highlights the interesting ‘policy by press release’ result of the 201 tariffs. The jobs that will be lost, in large part, come in the form of lost jobs in the future; i.e. growth of market that will not occur. Many of those projects are in the Trump States that wanted better paying blue collar jobs. The political challenge now is to use this issue as a way to show the tangible economic opportunity presented by solar and win an election fighting for solar to grow. The 201 tariff is both anti-growth and wage suppressing while costing taxpayers half a billion dollars.
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- SolarWakeup: Conference Call On 201 Tariff Decision, Market Impacts and Pricing Forecast
- Newsweek: Trump Hurting Solar Growth? SunPower Puts Job Expansion On Hold After Tariff
- PV-Tech: South Korea files WTO complaint over US solar tariffs
- The Hill: What India’s Solar Tariff Exemption Could Mean for the US Market
- Greentech Media: What India’s Solar Tariff Exemption Could Mean for the US
- Grist: Emmanuel Macron is breaking up with coal sooner than expected
- GreenBiz: Utilities may suffer ‘significant losses’ from carbon taxes
- Reuters: California looks to ramp up electric vehicle sales
Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann