Boston. Get your tickets to SolarWakeup Live! Boston happening on March 26th. Great event and agenda being put together to make you more competitive.
What I’m Reading. I’m looking into the details of the Green New Deal resolution released yesterday, the Sunrun capacity auction win and a potential game changing report on utility business models by Rocky Mountain Institute. More in depth coverage on Monday on those topics.
Yann
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100% RE Legislation. Another bill has been filed for 100% renewables, this time in Illinois. This follows a recent trend to not only file legislation but actually pass it as California did last year. When it comes to debating ways to transition off 20th century generation, this may be the political vehicle to accomplish this. CleanChoice CEO and former political operative, Tom Matzzie, commented on twitter “100% might be the ONLY politically feasible solution to decarbonize.”
Nuclear Bailout PA Edition. Here we go again. We’ve seen this story in New Jersey and Illinois most recently where nuclear power plant operators required legislation after threatening the plant closures. The closure of more than 3 plants is threatened including three mile island. Legislators are likely to succumb to the pressures, as they have in every case before this, the question is what will come attached to bill. I’d say we should fight for market pricing signals as opposed to simple incentives. Who is running the renewable energy’s response to this?
Grid Operations. We’ve gone from the polar vortex and ridiculous temperatures to spring like weather this week in many parts of the Country. The new grid is more flexible and operators are getting to crawl before they run. It will be important that the market creates pricing signals to the generators and consumers that are faster and broader. It shouldn’t only be about turning a plant on for 4 hours in 30 minutes or turning home AC units off for an hour. The new grid is faster, more responsive and flexible.
Puerto Rico Future. Everything is a bit slower in Puerto Rico but it seems the energy task force was in Puerto Rico last week and new headlines are being made. I look forward to seeing more happening.
SOTU. I wasn’t very surprised that solar didn’t make a highlight in the 82 minute speech, but the paragraph on the oil export was without context and political truth. Oil exports are up because it was a trade for the solar and wind tax credit extensions. Without the legislative change to eliminate the oil embargo, exports would not exist for the most part. That is the power of the political trade, that’s why I highlight the PA nuclear bailout request and search for moments of leverage where solar can go and flex its advocacy muscles.
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Tickets March 26th Boston. solarwakeuplive.com to reserve your seat. Don’t forget to sponsor the event which also includes 4 weeks of newsletter sponsorship and listings in the writeup! Best advertising spend in the solar market by far.
The Corporates. We know corporations want more solar and wind energy to offset their consumption but it’s typically a pilot rooftop or too complicated if the energy is generated offsite. The solar industry doesn’t have the knowledge to really service this in a comprehensive fashion across different markets. I know that community solar is meant to make the access more democratic and simple but why should the solar industry wait to grow within market rules that restrict the growth to the speed that incumbent participants desire?
Making CT Solar Better. We are going to revisit solar rules, namely net metering replacement policies, in Connecticut during this legislative session. Bills sponsored by members of both parties highlight the fact that DEEP under the guidance of the Governor and potentially in a deal with some solar folks threw net metering and distributed generation under the proverbial bus. Let’s watch how this plays out.
Fight Over Energy Security. We are barely into 5G cellular service and the FCC is finding itself in a battle with telecom and utilities on the use and access to 6G. The past grid has been a closed system connecting a small number of large power plants. The future grid is going to have solar on every roof across the Country with electric cars charging to and from the grid with energy storage and central power plants. Access points will be plentiful so you can see why utilities may be concerned about he rules that are being created today.
A Big Market. My friends are Roth Capital see the solar market growing to well over 100GW this year and up again in 2020. This is an unprecedented opportunity to deploy capital and save money for consumers. The key for all market participants will be to be wise around margins and determine how everyone can make money to the tune of BP’s 5.7billion last quarter. We cannot be the industry of the future if the entire value chain isn’t running profitable businesses.
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Jobs, Jobs, Jobs. What do Florida, California, New Jersey, Hawaii, New Mexico Minnesota and Missouri have in common? The fastest growing job is solar installer! The median pay was $18.98 per hour and is project to grow over 100% by 2026. There is very little that these states agree on but every politician talks about jobs during their election. Your conversations with legislators needs to start with jobs and close with jobs. Here is the data that supports the hard work you have all been executing on.
Sign Up Here. The Green New Deal is getting the DC legislative treatment and early co-sponsors are being lined up. Do not overlook the fact that the Green New Deal is entirely marketed by Congresswoman Ocasio Cortez and she has made it a must support for primary candidates in the democratic presidential primary. This legislative feat shows that tenure in DC is being challenged by social media followers and influence. I guess you could say that getting likes online is more important than being liked in DC.
Big Solar Saas Money. Aurora Solar has raised $20million in their series A, a round led by Energize VC. This is one of the largest solar meets tech venture investments which shows the investment community is adopting our view on the longevity and scale of the solar market. Aurora sites 60,000 proposals generated on their platform. Other startups in this field include SolarGraf and Sighten which have also brought in venture investments while non-layout startup Energy Toolbase has bootstrapped itself to date.
What Happens Next. The IREC Vision Summit will convene a broad group of prominent national and state clean energy influencers, industry, advocates and educators for a visionary explanation of the pillar policies, practices and workforce training necessary to enable millions more Americans to benefit from clean energy, while supporting broad climate and equity goals. The outcome of the event – March 6, 2019 in Washington, DC – is a Vision Summit guide to a shared clean energy vision for the future.
Yann
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