Interview with SEIA’s Abby Hopper. Tomorrow I host a Q&A with SEIA’s CEO Abby Hopper. You can participate by submitting your questions, the interview will be recorded and published here on Thursday. The time for politics is now and we all have to be on the same page with our talking points.
The Right Messaging. This is the line that the Biden administration should use. We’re not proposing radical solutions, in fact BP is right along with us. Of course the hope is to go much farther but the market has already decided that coal has transitioned to gas and gas is being dumped by industry. The same way that Trump couldn’t save coal, Biden can only accelerate what is already happening. And if he can make everyone believe that oil companies are on board, let’s go!
Holy MISO. The buzz around the SolarWakeup trading desk was that the interconnection queue for MISO is growing and 57GW is now the total active pipeline. Much like the studies announced in the Southwest Power Pool, where transmission studies just announced an $8.5billion price tag for infrastructure upgrades for the interconnection of 14GW of renewables. In reality we likely need as much of the 57GW as we can build and DC should think about how to leverage infrastructure week to make the smart grid work.
Would Disclosures Work? The UN Climate Envoy is backing a plan to make shareholders participate, review and/or vote on corporate climate plans during annual shareholder meetings. In an open market you would think that this is unnecessary as we’ve seen fund managers and investors argue for corporate ESG. If they are not content with the corporate goals and disclosures will they sell their investments? The envoy is arguing that regulated disclosure is required to ensure compliance with stated goals since they are filing to their truth not just opining on hopes on a call.
How To Charge It Up. GM announced hiring of 3,000 new employees to accelerate their EV rollout. We’ve already covered VW, Daimler and others doing similar things in order to catch up with Tesla. California set the benchmark of 100% new cars as EVs by 2035 already but didn’t talk at all about how to charge this additional load given it’s all going to charge in a distributed network. This could be Biden’s secret plan to supercharge solar, in a way to electrify the automotive sector of the coming decade.
I’m Excited. The most exciting part of the new administration for me is how many of you will be working in it. While we may not have enough grey hair in our readership to make one of your the climate czar (maybe) but we have all the intelligence and experience to staff up the climate office, office of legislative affairs and agencies around DC to make sure that solar, storage and DERs are well represented.
Opinion
News
Opinions:
Have a great day!
Yann
President-Elect Biden. Saturday morning’s crepe making was interrupted by a call by the networks that former Senator and Vice-President had earned the title of President-elect. It also means that California’s Senator Harris was now Vice President-elect Harris, the first woman elevated to the office. Congratulations to them, and many of you, for this achievement. Also a word to those of you that didn’t pick the Biden Harris ticket, some of you have explained to me your reasons, I hope that you will find this administration more receptive to your input than the Trump administration did before and you will give them a chance. As a father of three, including a 8 year old daughter, I was moved throughout the day as my daughters, who didn’t care much about Joe Biden becoming President, but repeatedly said Madam Vice President.
An Ambitious Agenda. As President-elect Biden laid out in his speech on Saturday night and throughout the campaign, climate change and renewable energy are at the top of the to-do list. Over the coming weeks, we will separate the issues and where they need to go in order for change to occur. Some will be able to be handled via executive order, some via agencies, administrations, or commissions while others require congressional action. Trade organizations, including SEIA, came out to congratulate the new administration. SEIA also included a robust 100 day plan that was ready to go, you can see that here. SolarWakeup will host a live Q&A with SEIA’s Abby Hopper to discuss the ideas and ways things could go.
Clean Energy’s Campaign Impact. In May, a group of clean energy professionals took to organizing Clean Energy 4 Biden. CE4B grew to over 11,000 grassroots activists and raised OVER $3.2million dollars and that doesn’t count the many additional money raised for congressional races. Never before, has the solar industry had a noticeable impact and built relationships with members as well as the administration to this extent. Biden’s senior advisors know who we are and what we did. Solar also held events with Senator-elect Mark Kelly and Senator Heinrich and a local event with congressman Crist.
But The McConnell Senate. This has been the headline that every doubter is using to say that the climate agenda is DOA. First, we won’t know the Senate makeup until early January when two Senate races in Georgia are decided. But let’s assume that McConnell keeps the gavel. Do not, I repeat do not, underestimate the value of Biden’s time in the Senate. But Obama you will say, McConnell will block everything. Obama was a junior Senator that used the seat to catapult himself to the White House, the first Senator to get elected to President since Nixon. Biden spent 39 years as a Senator, not only does he know (really know) the sitting Senators he also knows the staffers and lobbyists that make the system move. President-elect IS institutional memory and I’m not going to underestimate it. McConnell doesn’t have a mandate, at best we will see a 52-48 split, which is one better than currently since the tie goes to the Vice-President. Two things to remember to make you think with optimism, every solar victory started as an idea that most said is impossible and can’t be done (ask anyone that has been advocating in Arizona and Virginia) and McConnell brought a spending bill with ITC extension to Trump who rejected it.
Situational Awareness. McConnell has said that he is planning a COVID stimulus package for when the Senate returns to DC and there is an omnibus spending bill deadline of December 11th. It may end up as a continuing resolution but spending bills have been a great vehicle for solar. There are rumors of ITC negotiations occurring as we speak, more to come on that.
Duke Won’t Settle. Duke isn’t interested in settling with environmental groups for the coal ash disaster they caused. Let’s see if they find the Biden-Harris Department of Justice and EPA more appealing parties to negotiate with. Biden has said a climate czar is coming and with the EPA’s power to regulate emissions, as well as Harris’s history in fighting unjust pollution, I believe the enforcement actions of this administration to have the biggest, fastest impact on fighting climate change.
Other Tidbits. FERC’s chair lost his position as chair because he was ‘too friendly’ to renewables including supporting DERs. Europe’s reaction to the Biden win largely included climate change in the opening paragraph. South Florida is currently underwater with Hurricane Eta dumping rain for several days. Over the past few years rising oceans have made drainage slow dramatically which cause streets and homes to flood. I’ll post some pictures on my Twitter tomorrow.
Opinion
News
Opinions:
Have a great day!
Yann
No Call, But It’s Coming. Having stayed awake until the early morning hours, waiting for a call on some set of States to put Biden of 270, it looks like we’ll wait another day. That’s all it seems though, most likely both NV and PA will be called for Biden at some point today. Georgia and Arizona will go through some post election confirmations but America will most likely talk about what’s next. SolarWakeup will be part of that conversation and I welcome your thoughts. Next week we will talk about ITC, stimulus bills, Senate confirmations and more, but it will wait because I’d rather be late and right than a pundit that’s early and wrong.
Silicon Deals. Silicon supply chain could be an easy win for America if we restart domestic production. Looks like that could be happening earlier than I thought.
Every Utility Is Pivotal. Duke wants to get credit for playing a pivotal role in clean energy, though they should play a supportive role. Being involved as the monopoly is natural, being the antagonist is natural for being an IOU.
Energy Transition Dealings. This could be a strange prediction but I think as electric utilities take market share from oil companies with the electrification of transportation, I anticipate oil companies to push their legislative engines towards competitive power markets and deregulate the utilities.
Or Acquire Them. Iberdrola is buying PNM in New Mexico, why that couldn’t be a strategy for oil majors?
Resi Installers Grow Profits. Installers that are members of the SolarWakeup Buyer’s Group are saving over $1,000 per project through our novel method of leveraging higher volume to drive down prices for the installers. We’d love to talk to you and show you what you can save. SolarWakeup Buyer’s Group is a monthly membership program (like Costco) that gives you better pricing on the products you are using already.
News
Opinions:
Have a great day!
Yann
Another Day. With the election yet to be determined and likely not fully in view for a day or more, I’ll refrain from my thoughts on what results do or don’t mean. More to come when we know more.
Something To Watch. McConnell is saying more stimulus is needed when the Senate returns, a funding bill is also needed by early December. Both of those will be lame duck bills that will need Trump’s signature regardless of election results.
Poor Energy Punditry. Because people want to be first to the story, most solar/cleantech/climate change stories are focused on the likely outcome that the Senate will remain under republican control. Without going too deep, let me make one comment. Under a scenario where democrats controlled all chambers and the White House, climate and energy policies were very likely to be pushed out of top position for other issues that are very partisan. Climate on the other hand has supporters on both sides of the aisle in addition to 80%+ of voters from both parties. It is very likely to consider climate/energy/infrastructure as the most progressive issue that can be negotiated in a split government. More to come on this that will prove my point very soon. (Note: You can see the counterpoint from almost half the stories in today’s rundown but I’m confident in my opinion on this, McConnell included a solar ITC extension during the first Trump term).
Resi Installers Grow Profits. Installers that are members of the SolarWakeup Buyer’s Group are saving over $1,000 per project through our novel method of leveraging higher volume to drive down prices for the installers. We’d love to talk to you and show you what you can save. SolarWakeup Buyer’s Group is a monthly membership program (like Costco) that gives you better pricing on the products you are using already.
Opinion
News
Opinions:
Have a great day!
Yann