This is your SolarWakeup for August 26th, 2020

Solar Market Survey. The August survey is now available and I hope you participate in responding. This is an important Q3 checkin and outlines the Q4 opportunities ahead.

Roth Capital Market Update. Next Tuesday at 10am Easter, join me and others on the Roth Capital solar market update. You can register (free) here.

Farewell Exxon. A few years ago Exxon was the most valuable company by market cap in the world and the CEO was en route to being the Secretary of State. Now Exxon has lost over half of its market cap and removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average where it has been for 92 years. That leaves Chevron as the sole remaining oil company in the average. I’m not on a strategic committee at the oil companies but the fact that none of them have bought a utility or entered electric generation or EV infrastructure in a meaningful way is dumbfounding.

PURPA Fights In Big Sky. Solar developers have won a ruling at the Montana Supreme Court regarding their complaint that regulators didn’t follow PURPA rules when they cut the contract value and terms for qualifying facilities. I like it when solar fights go to unusual places and win.

All Eyes On Senate. The Senate released a report titled “The Case For Climate Action: Building a Clean Economy for the American People.” Obvious problem with the report is that it only comes from the Democrats in the Senate not the full body, an unfortunate sign of the times. Senator Schatz (Hawaii-D) sat down with Vox’s David Roberts to go through the report. One note to watch post November, will Senator Manchin keep his chairmanship of the Energy committee or will he be upgraded to something else. The democrats will maneuver this sensitive area because they can’t go Joshua Lyman on Senator Manchin and risk a party switch. On the other hand, Manchin is the most conservative member of the caucus and could hold up critical work on climate change if the democrats have the majority.

A Southeastern RTO. An interesting idea but with the most powerful monopolies in the Country operating in the Southeast, consider this a pipe dream (for now). 

Puerto Rico’s Opportunity. Puerto Rico is adopting a renewables based plan instead of gas generation, which makes sense given the complexities in keeping the transmission stable on the island during hurricanes. I know many on the mainland are keen to work with Puerto Rico and executing on the strategy.

Buyer’s Group Price Challenge. Installers across the Country are saving money with the Buyer’s Group, like modules under $0.40/watt. Take the price challenge today and discover your savings.

Opinion

Best, Yann