We’re In The Game. With the release of a Discussion Draft, Chairman Neal of the House Ways and Means Committee put the solar ITC on the track to get a 5 year extension. This is not a bill, nothing has been voted on and nothing has been decided except this was the political step to get the ITC moving forward. The pathway remains the same as before, a massive spending bill at the end of the year that gets the House and Senate to put political barriers aside to keep the government operating. What solar needs to do now is show the politicians that solar has jobs, opportunity and political power so that when the final deal gets negotiated, solar isn’t left out.
Don’t Stop The Pressure. Click Here and fill out the call to action. Send your letter to your member of Congress and if you have a twitter account make sure to blast it as well. The entire process takes 60 seconds. Now that we are in the game, we have to make sure we cross the finish line. Democracy is a full contact sport and we have to push our message. Jake Marshall from CED Greentech San Diego showed me a picture of a computer they put out for customers to use to sign the call the action, I urge you all to steal the idea and do the same. Anywhere you come in contact with solar supporters, put out the webpage.
Make A Call. Take another 5 minutes and call your member of the House, particularly those of you in AZ, CO, CA, NV and NY. Not all of your employees and colleagues read this newsletter, please forward this email to them and encourage them to fill it out as well. Let’s get more letters sent out today and everyday, click here now! Post one of these two paragraphs on LinkedIn and tag me and SolarWakeup to get the post re-shared. Let’s see how many folks we can get involved in the political process.
Why This Matters. US Energy related carbon emissions went up 2.7% last year, a trend in the wrong direction tied to the economic growth that the US continues to experience. At this time in history, the ITC would allow the energy sector to decarbonize and adding storage to the credit would help replace even more fossil based generation.
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Yann
ITC Call To Action. Click Here and fill out the call to action. Send your letter to your member of Congress and if you have a twitter account make sure to blast it as well. The entire process takes 60 seconds. Why? Congress is going to release tax extenders very soon and we have to be in the bill. We’re alive until we’re not and I guarantee you that this is the most important 60 seconds of your career this year. Take another 5 minutes and call your member of the House, particularly those of you in AZ, CO, CA, NV and NY. Not all of your employees and colleagues read this newsletter, please forward this email to them and encourage them to fill it out as well. Let’s get 10,000 letters sent out today, click here now!
The Courts Opine. I’ve been lightly following the various court cases making their way through the system. The one with the most sober headline is against Exxon about what they knew about climate change in the 70s. I don’t expect this to be a case similar to the tobacco companies but money in a settlement seems like the most obvious win for the plaintiffs. Similar to the VW settlements, some of these dollars could drive new markets or R&D spending to counter the effects.
More Blackout Notices. Moments ago I received another PSPS blackout notice from my new friends at PG&E. We’re seeing each other so often that people may start rumors about our friendship. Regardless of a blackout actually happening every notice creates a new sense of panic in consumers’ minds. This means that every notice of a power outage reignites those solar leads we wrote about last month and with storage adoption reaching 15% of solar installs, you’re starting to see real traction in this space.
Personnel Moves. In a move that shows maturity in a market, storage/DER/microgrid pioneer AMS has moved their former VP of Product to CEO. Susan Kennedy is moving to board chair and the CEO role goes to Seyed Madaeni. Madaeni build their algorithmic trading platform that launched in Australia and looks to go live in California as well.
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Yann
Nothing To See Here. A few weeks ago it was announced that regulators in MA were opening an investigation into the interconnection practices. Going as far back to my last SolarWakeup Live! in Boston, solar was being stifled by delayed and expensive interconnections. As soon as the investigation is announced, National Grid finds an extra 300MW that can connect without any cost. That’s great but what would be better is a transparent, speedy process so that development can continue past stops and starts.
A New Era. Ford unveiled their first real electric car, a crossover named Mustang. I’m going to judge it by the cover and headline numbers as a winner. Pricing comes in at mid 40s with a standard 230 mile range and an option to get to 300 miles. In 2021, expect two versions of the Mustang GT to come out as well. The looks of the car are great as well, like a Mustang version of a BMW X6. We shall see how it does, but it’s the first electric car not from Tesla that I find compelling. Why is this important to solar? Homes with electric cars are much more likely to put solar on their home and think about it for their office. Plus the additional load makes the need for new generation more likely.
The Norm Going Forward. The smaller Arizona utility is adding a 250MW solar plant that also includes storage. The battery will be a 250MW/1GWh version that will allow the plant to shape its peak and move production to higher value. Aside from grid services, I would expect that the plant release energy sometime mid day and recharge to have a full load for the morning peak. If SRP releases an operating plan, I will make sure to pass that along.
Lots of Chatter. The farmer goes solar chatter is increasing in strength and frequency. This story is important to the future of solar in America and hopefully our industry learns ways to tell more of it.
Congrats. Christian Roselund is leaving his post at PV-Magazine to become the editorial director at Rocky Mountain Institute. A great addition at RMI, congratulations to Christian on the new gig.
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New Home Solar Lives. On Wednesday, the CEC pushed a decision that could have hurt the solar on new home requirement requested by the utilities. This will come back and hopefully with local community solar for multi family units only.
Ratings and Advance Rates. More securitization are being done in solar. Once a novel concept, almost every quarterly filing highlights another securitization, some of which are now rated A and offer mortgage level rates.
Compete and Improve. It’s true, renewables have to compete on price without the backstop of a guaranteed return and pay for the infrastructure improvement. Many of these improvements are priced to hurt the renewable generation which caused the MA regulators to open an investigation into the local utility.
The Transition. Earlier this week Tesla received a prestigious German auto award and then announced a new factory in Berlin. While Tesla is littered in online polarization, there is no doubt that companies like VW and Mercedes have advanced their timelines by a decade because of their success. Elon was on stage with the VW CEO this week, an interesting dynamic.
Census and Local Shows. Make sure your company fills out the Solar Jobs Census and if you are in the Maryland/DC area, attend the MDV SEIA conference Solar Focus.
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Yann