Corporate Leadership. There are now several groups that advocate for climate policy from a corporate perspective. The carbon tax has been rebranded a carbon dividend to get voters to understand that the money flows back into the economy. This is similar to the process in California where I just received a credit on my electric bill. The famous Luntz polling group is also out with public messaging warning to the republicans. They can no longer message away from climate change as the support for a dividend grows amongst voters. SEIA has been on top of this through corporate purchasing programs and nationwide advocacy for policies like community solar and the ITC extension.
More Refined Focus. Let’s be like Sunrun, wasn’t something most people were expecting to hear from SunPower 3-5 years ago but I agree that this is the right move. Making one of the most desirable and well known modules puts the company on a different starting block and it also has one of the most prominent dealer networks in solar. As the company focuses on a service business, aided by commercialization of new technologies, you’ll likely see partnerships with retail companies that want to aid SunPower in owning the energy bill.
Leadership Through Hiring. Missouri solar installer, Sun Solar, is doing what the industry talks a lot about. While the industry is openly highlighting some issues on diversity, solar is leading on hiring veterans. Big kudos to the Sun Solar leadership for doing what we always talk about.
Same Concept, Different Fuel. Chevron is partnering with EVgo to add charging stations to some of their gas stations. This is interesting given that fuel providers are looking at a future with less consumption of their product. Many of them also have robust commodity trading desks which could make them stand on par with traditional electric utilities and even provide fleet products on pricing on their systems. Also, while we’re all looking at solar, the EVgo team is absolutely crushing it. The team has a long solar pedigree and gets the financial proposition needed for infrastructure and their business model is being rewarded by the market. I can’t wait to see how they execute when you can charge your car in 10 minutes.
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8 Million Jobs. 10 Years. Read the full Inslee plan to create 8 million clean energy jobs in 10 years.
Goldman Finds Their Solar Groove. Big deals are falling to Goldman Sachs. DG portfolio with SunPower, structured deal with South Jersey Industries and now the super sized CCA deal in CA.
A Note Worth Reading. Solar’s Tor Valenza is out with an open letter to fossil fuel workers. I like the idea of speaking to the worker instead of about them.
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Fire Liability Established. Cal Fire has made the expected, official. PG&E equipment caused the deadly and tragic Camp Fires last year. The bankruptcy filing and much of the regulatory and legislative chess that brings us to today. PG&E shareholders need the indemnification and ratepayers need a monopoly that has access to a credit rating to contract for 20 plus years. You can not expect to build the utility of the future without the ability to backstop the most risky contracts. Legislators will have their hands full this summer. Again, what is the ask in the legislative process for the solar industry?
Fighting For Energy Demand. Engie, which not too long ago was a traditional coal owning IPP, now owns no fossil power plant and has quietly built one of the largest behind the meter energy savings companies. In a podcast you will hear next week, I talk with Engie Storage CCO about their work to monetize capacity. Yesterday, Engie NA acquired Genbright to match up with the Engie Storage business and get into DER monetization. Interesting moves for the French giant.
Looking for Potential Ratebase? Nevada passed a pilot bill that will allow schools to move to electric buses by letting the utility pay up to 75% of the cost. This subsidy is coming from existing charges and will not yield additional rate base. It would be interesting to see if utilities pursue this avenue for rate base. I can foresee quite the gold mine in this channel.
Sounds Good, False Premise. I’ll be blunt. The Bloomberg headline is crap. First of all, the ITC was extended in a deal to lift the oil embargo and Paul Ryan approved it in the House. Democrats never wanted to let the ITC die and definitely not with the bulk of the years focused on trade wars and a ridiculous 201 case that lost almost two years of momentum. We also didn’t have the IPCC report warning us that we need to get to 100% renewable energy ASAP. Bloomberg knows this and should report that facts. Oil and gas get the best subsidy of all, tax credits that can be invested in with active income. And those credits don’t expire.
If You Look At It Closely. David Roberts from Vox gives you his secret for passing climate legislation. You have to scroll all the way down to get to it.
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