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Saudi Energy Story. Most speakers at the upcoming Saudi Future Investment Initiative conference have pulled out due to the disappearance of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Two speakers have notably not pulled out and they both have an energy connection including solar. EDF CEO, Jean-Bernard Levy, and Siemens CEO, Joe Kaeser, have not withdrawn from the event according to Axios/CNN. EDF has significant presence in the US solar market and while this is far upstream from the local business unit, this could pose questions for the local teams that they will have no good way of answering.
Who Stopped Coal. No question that coal has declined over the past few years and the war on coal waged by Obama is the political talking point. At the same time, Trump appears to be taking credit for the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions while also looking to bring back coal. The reality is neither Obama or Trump had anything to do with coal. Solar may also not have had much to do with it. Fracked natural gas dropped the price of the commodity 10 years ago and the replacement of coal plants expanded the gas portfolio in a massive way.
Lessons Learned, No Comparison. JEA, the Jacksonville utility that is often rumored to be considering an acquisition by NextEra, is signing new solar agreements. Part of the reporting appears to show a learning lesson from the utility operator that it will not put itself at risk as it did with the Vogtle nuclear plant. First, I doubt that JEA is coming out of pocket for the solar farms. Second, I am sure that the utility is only obligated to purchase the energy produced by the plant. I.e. it looks like every other PPA signed in the US by a utility. This is just a PR stunt to put solar on the same playing field with the ratepayer waste that is Vogtle.
DTE Playing Old School. DTE Energy filed a change to the net metering to remove the retail rate credit and exchange it for the wholesale rate. That’s the 2012 net metering fight and I’m surprised that DTE is playing that game 3 weeks before a Gubernatorial election that is pretty close. I hope that the folks at DTE realize the error in their strategy and come to the conclusion that net metering is not a threat and it helps defray millions in costs saving consumers plenty of rate increases.
DC. Vote Solar. Tonight. See you there! Raising a glass for a great cause.
- SolarWakeup: Trump Takes Credit For Utility Steadfastness On Closing Coal Plants
- Biz Journals: JEA shows lessons learned from Vogtle in new solar agreements
- SolarWakeup: Could DTE Proposal Kill Rooftop Solar In Michigan? Advocates Say Yes
- Greentech Media: What a New Order Means for Community Solar and Storage in Massachusetts
- Forbes: Three Of Taiwan’s Top Solar Companies Merge To Rally Against Competition From China
- PV-Tech: Grid parity promise makes European solar a ‘sleeping giant’
Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann