All About Scaling. Groups like REBA are working to make the corporate procurement deals repeatable and less scary. This effort would drastically expand the customer base and speed up the development process for renewables.
The LCOE Report. The annual LCOE report from Lazard is out. It is reaching levels of importance within even Lazard that makes headlines. The report is always informative and shows the progress of renewables based on the basic tenet of cost per kWh. This year it also resulted in an op-ed in Bloomberg written by former head of CBO and OMB, Peter Orszag.
Election Consequences. As you’ve seen, the State of Virginia has shifted to democrat control by a slim margin, something that happened for the first time in a long while. This means that the legislature will be choosing the members of the corporation commission. Dominion may desire to build 1.5GW and the legislature may want to review that choice.
Big Congrats. Congrats to Vote Solar for their new partnership with Bloomberg’s Beyond Fossil Fuel campaign. Maybe their first stop will be Virginia? Also, congratulations to the SEIA board members that won last week’s election. A passionate and diverse group of solar professionals that will do a great job moving the solar industry forward.
National RFP. This is a message for the plethora of utility scale developers and investors that read this newsletter. An informal poll if you will. Let’s assume a 100MW project anywhere in the continental US with the output sold to a creditworthy entity, like the State’s university. Which State would have the highest price and what variable is the most impactful? What would you think is the highest rate that such a project would need?
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Yann
Back For More. More column coming tomorrow.
Let’s Do Something. Really frightening data coming out about rising oceans already being locked in.
Earnings. What’s it going to take to get a public solar company to be valued the same way as Uber?
Chapter 11 Impacts. PG&E being in bankruptcy is a problem for lots of businesses, including SPVs that own solar projects that sell energy to PG&E.
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Yann
Storage Day. Lots of storage news today, an RFP from Bay Area CCAs, large IPPs getting involved and a review of the blackouts from NPR. How much cheaper does residential storage need to get before it becomes an automatic addition? Is there a tariff arbitrage range where the time of use pays for it?
A Muni Plan. Municipalities are talking about taking over PG&E which seems like the go to argument from those frustrated with the utility. I am not sure that this is the best path, SMUD isn’t very solar friendly, Jacksonville is selling theirs and munis are typically higher cost without better products. This could work but I would suspect that it’s solving the wrong issue. A different type of oversight and the right management with the proper incentive structure seems more rational to me. This is a complex problem with a complex solution.
A Settlement. Tesla and Walmart have settled the fire lawsuit. Not many details but Tesla appears to be bringing in a third party to inspect the facilities and likely make the fixes. Which one of you has been contracted?
Solar Focus. Make sure to attend MDV-SEIA’s Solar Focus Conference on Nov 20-21. Get your tickets here.
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Yann
Utility Reform Megathread. Much has been written about the issues that caused the PG&E blackouts, a culmination of decades of issues surrounding the utility, the regulations and environment. While some of us are inside the bubble that hopes for solar to be the savior in this story, and we will be, David Roberts goes on a Twitter megathread to give you insights on how he came to his conclusions. While David is a writer on the topic, he doesn’t work in the sector and would have come to the end of the story without bias regardless of where it led. So as you try and frame your argument to legislators and outsiders, here’s a good glimpse with deep dives into how we could go about solving this problem that was created by barely regulated monopolies.
Midwest Goes Solar. Alliant Energy in Wisconsin wants to add 1GW of solar in the next few years. Let’s hold our breath for consumer choice to do the same. What do you think about rate based solar? Is all solar good solar and we should applaud it or does utility owned solar at the cost of a solar market make it less good solar?
Stifling DG Solar. Speaking of solar markets lacking DG capacity, what is going on in Georgia? Some insiders make their case in their article.
Au Revoir Paris. A few years after declaring that he would, Trump is officially starting the process to leave the Paris climate accords. It’s a charade and would kill the economy, republicans are having a hard time finding their argument.
Bonjour Pattern. CPPIB is acquiring Pattern Energy for several billion dollars. This reminds me that when it comes to doing big deals in renewables, large investors are having a hard time finding the scale needed to invest big dollars. This deal also makes me think what could have been, what should have been…
Do As I say. Amy Harder of Axios writes an honest overview of her personal climate footprint. I’m no saint when it comes to living green either so it’s a good time to reflect on the one or two things we could all do to improve.
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Yann