Finishing The Stimulus. DC is back to some standard back and forth. Dems offered a $1.9trillion stimulus and a gan of 10 Senators from the GOP countered with $600billion. If old DC is back, we’ll get a $1.2Trillion stimulus by next week. It does help that the very conservative GOP governor from West Virginia is calling for peak stimulus. One way to know that things are back to some norms, those ten GOP senators met with Biden yesterday and nobody called anyone any names, you probably didn’t even hear about it.
What To Do With TVA. The TVA continues to be the least responsive utility to the energy transition, operating more like a local municipal utility. Instead of seeing what large IOUs are doing, it keeps pushing anti-solar agendas even though it has access to the lowest cost solar in America. With Biden in the White House, I renew my call to nominate solar professionals to the board and I’ll be the first in line. The CEO of the TVA is the highest paid employee of the Federal Government, should be a job well suited for many in the industry.
The Dam Shoals Broke. Shoals going public last week was great for the industry because more than anything it said that you will be rewarded for sustainable revenues that are backed by defensible IP and a record of execution. The company is valued at over $6billion today and that’s because investors are all in on the market, not just the earnings of today. We’ll talk more about SPACs in the coming weeks but if your business is looking for more growth going into the upcoming decade, there’s more room to maneuver than ever before.
How To Invest. When markets have exits, the funnel goes wider. Solar and clean tech is going to enter a venture and angel investment boom to build these amazing companies. How we, as an industry, invest is going to make or break some of these companies. I’ve started to think about the role SolarWakeup can play in this, hosting demo days, scouting or even a syndicate of some sort. Your thoughts and feedback are welcome, especially if you’re a startup
- Politico: ‘We can’t wait’: Dems brace for relief bill battle
- Energy And Policy: TVA green-lights new potential fees on distributed solar by local utilities
- PV-Magazine: Solar company Shoals Technologies raises billions in IPO
- PV-Tech: Macquarie’s Green Investment Group reveals 8GW-strong solar development arm Cero Generation
- Greentech Media: The Rules for Early-Stage Cleantech Venture Capital Investment in 2021
- Utility Dive: Boston kicks off community choice electricity program, aiming to surpass state’s renewables requirement
- Axios: The intense glare on Exxon
- E&E News: Biden wants solar jobs. People may not want them
Opinion
Best, Yann