The Munis Battle Solar. No surprise that utilities in Florida are preparing a plan to go after solar. The surprise is that the attack is coming from the munis from the muni group FMPA. FMPA was one of the first Florida entities to push for solar plants to get done under their all requirements project and helped several members do innovative things. Fighting solar actually ignore their history of supporting solar. The key is to watch FMEA, the group that moves policies around the State bureaucracies. One reason to not be shocked is that Jacksonville Electric (JEA) has been a big loser when it comes to creating solar opportunities for homeowners, very anti-competitive by them!
Tesla Podcast. A Vanity Fair article about Tesla/Elon Musk is getting the podcast treatment by Axios’ Dan Primack. At the risk of being called a defender or hater, it’s always one, I will let you listen and make up your own mind.
More PURPA, More SEIA. Without being on the board or in the room at SEIA, I know from those in the know that PURPA is one of the hottest topics in the room. With FERC commissioners doing coal roundtables, it’s hopeful that SEIA is trying to get the group to push for the equity that PURPA calls for by the regulators.
Harris Gets Climate Plan Ready. Senator Harris is readying her plan on climate with a major distinction. While the Senator was an earlier co-sponsor fo the Green New Deal resolution, she also did work fighting fossil fuel companies in California as AG. This shows that Harris may be differentiation herself from the other plans by highlighting the executive and legal avenues to actually create change through non-legislative avenues.
News
Opinions:
Have a great day!
Yann
Opinion
News
Opinions:
Have a great day!
Yann
Long Duration Dollars. The former head of energy storage at Tesla, Mateo Jaramillo, leads an energy startup focused on long-duration energy storage to create ‘caseload’ renewables. Form Energy nabbed a new $40million in venture funding in their series B to bring that technology closer to market. Investors include Capricorn, Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Macquarie. Joining the board is clean energy pro, Michael Skelly.
G7 No Show. Yesterday the G7 met to discuss climate change and one chair was notably (embarrassingly) empty. If you guessed that Trump was absent as the group talked about clean energy and a burning Amazon, you would be correct. I get that there is a political separation from the issue, but are we so far removed from this that our Country can’t represent its point of view on the topic at a global leadership event?
Yang Gang Goes Green. Andrew Yang has released his climate plan that is somewhere in the top 5 when measured by total cost, yes this is a rating right now. It is in 3rd place and exceeds Governor Inslee’s plan in terms of federal investment. This is directly related to the activism by voters and the leadership of the Inslee campaign.
Getting Paid. In case you were wondering or worried, solar power plants are getting paid for generation by PG&E. In a public release, Topaz Solar Farm announced that it had received monies for July’s generation in August. I would like to know if the amount due just prior to the bankruptcy is still held up in the process or if it has been released by the administrator.
News
Opinions:
Have a great day!
Yann
No Contract, No Term, Discovered. After my comments about a no FICO score community solar contract, I heard from many of you that Nexamp was doing just that so I spoke with several members of their executive team last week about their offering. As background, the company is both a developer and owner of community solar assets offering homeowners a contract that is a simple discount to the savings rate without having to run a FICO score. Homeowners are the target through mostly digital marketing and even though the contract has no term and easy cancellation, homeowners have a hard time differentiating between community solar and retail energy providers. After educating the customer, Nexamp has found success in attracting customers as well as financing projects. Financing is made easier since Mitsubishi backs the company for equity, sponsor and tax, but lenders are not charging extra for the lack of FICO. Absent of getting in a room with tax equity investors, I don’t know how scalable the approach is but it surely gives Nexamp a leg up for customer acquisition. Good to see others are playing outside of the sandbox.
More Fires. Amazon is out with a comment that they also had a fire on a SolarCity developed and owned project. I’m getting a bit annoyed about the fires being labelled as Tesla panels because it doesn’t appear to be that accurate. All indication from O&M pros is that this is related to poor wiring and wire management practices which makes me ask why this isn’t happening on other projects. Tesla isn’t the only operator of solar projects that had subpar installations but maybe they got away with less independent engineering oversight than those using all outside capital sources.
Matching Up To EEI. If you’re not criticizing or punching those bigger than you then you are a bully. That’s why I read with joy the critique of DTE Energy’s resource plan by SEIA. SEIA normally plays inside the lines, both Aisling their statements to achieve an outcome with a win-win understanding. This ain’t it and I want more of it.
Next Dem Administration. When the White House eventually gets a democrat resident, the solar industry needs to stage a takeover of the TVA board. I’m talking Abby Hopper, Anne Hoskins, David Crane, solar pro types. Experience in the sector but no doubt about the fact that no-one is writing a plan to add solar by 2038! I want to write a plan to put solar on every house and power every school with solar.
Sad Solar News. It was with great sadness that I heard yesterday that the founder and former CEO of SolarEdge passed away at the age of 54. SolarEdge is a great example of success in solar, from founding in 2006 to a market cap nearing $4billion with hundreds of millions in cash on the balance sheet. In a sea of rising boats, SolarEdge has shown capital markets that hardware in clean tech is possible and profitable. My thoughts are with Guy’s family and the SolarEdge team.
News
Opinions:
Have a great day!
Yann