This is your SolarWakeup for September 22nd

New Boots on the Ground is live. Abby and I recorded Monday morning, covering diesel costs and the political battles shaping this week. Catch it now at solarwakeup.com/boots

PPA flexibility isn’t real, and it matters. If your project pipeline assumes offtake prices can absorb 232, FEOC, or diesel cost increases, that assumption may not hold. Is your pipeline actually built on flexible pricing, or just hoping it is?

Texas just made data center development more accessible. The PUC dropped its proposed $50,000/MW non-refundable study fee in favor of a flat $100,000 fee regardless of load size. Who does this open the door for that couldn’t compete before?

The politics-versus-policy gap on data centers, in one poll. 58% net disapproval, but less than 1% say it’ll decide their vote. So what happens the day after the midterms?

Solar developers have an edge data center companies don’t. Twenty-plus years of community engagement — ranchers, farmers, school boards. Could that become the real asset in AI-era land deals?

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Opinion

Best, Yann