Presented by ENGIE Storage. (formerly Green Charge) helps power the world more efficiently and sustainably. As the nation’s number one distributed energy storage company, we serve energy producers, distributors, and consumers, including utilities, network operators, and energy consumers in business and government.
Here is the Recap of SolarWakeup Live! happening today. This is the biggest agenda in the history of SolarWakeup Live! in the 6th edition in just 18 months. I will be interviewing 10 leaders in the solar and clean tech space in one-day, many of the conversations going up as podcasts. Starting the day with a conversation about SMART and how the implementation is going with some pushback from the utilities. I will also look to see what SMART 2.0 looks like. We also engage in a roundtable discussion about community solar and the role utilities and regulators play in the process. This will be a great day of discussion and networking here in Boston.
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Yann
Presented by CleanChoice Energy. The premier community solar and renewable retail energy service provider in the United States. CleanChoice’s marketing, sales, and operations teams offer the most comprehensive customer acquisition, retention and management service to community solar asset owners and developers in the market today. CleanChoice aspires to make renewable energy accessible to all, working with more than 40 partners in every community solar market. Our regulatory team is working to expand the community solar market and uses our relationships in state capitols to benefit our partners. The company is one of the fastest growing businesses in America, as ranked on the Inc. 500 and Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™. For more information, visit CleanChoiceEnergy.com
Keeping PG&E Deals Alive. Ever since PG&E filed for bankruptcy, I’ve been warning that it would be more expensive and possibly impossible to do deals where PG&E is the off taker. This became more of an issue when the courts said that FERC couldn’t make itself a 3rd party to the restructuring of contracts between generators and the utility. If the energy storage project developer is really worried about getting the deal done, I wonder if they are seeking a potential buyer. I would be a buyer of this type of project at the right price.
EV’s Create Alignment. The next decade is going to make electric vehicles the norm and for the first time in a long time, auto OEMs need to work together on standards and with suppliers to get the infrastructure right. Until the volume is high enough, OEMs will buy batteries from 3rd parties. Look at Tesla, they had to build their own battery plant to shore up their supply chain. You can also think about how this affects the solar industry and the build out of this infrastructure. You have relationships with home and building owners that are installing or already have installed solar. They may be interested to be part of the infrastructure that the transportation sector is looking for.
Portfolios Are Moving. Large owners of assets are moving them into new ownership, taking some of their cash gains off the table and raising new cash. I will be looking for the next iteration of asset purchases from one pension fund to another, this would signal a desire to create upside in something other than having cheaper cost of capital.
See You Tomorrow. Tomorrow is SolarWakeup Live! Boston. I look forward to seeing many of you there.
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Yann
Presented by Pfister Energy. Changing the way energy is generated and delivered. Pfister Energy is a leading turnkey design-build renewable energy solutions company. Servicing C&I, community and utility sectors for solar, storage and O&M. Visit pfisterenergy.com for more information
Weekend Reading. Thank you for the comments on the ITC, more to come on that soon, potentially in the form of follow up questions or a survey. Make sure to go back to yesterday’s New York Times column on the massive flooding in the midwest which is devastating rural communities and family farms. Reading the Canadian Solar results makes me realize just how fragile this market is, even after a great quarter and aggressive plan, investors still long for bigger margins and diversity.
See You Next Week. If you are coming to SolarWakeup Live! on Tuesday, make sure to send me your questions for the speakers. See you Tuesday!
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Yann
Presented by CleanChoice Energy. The premier community solar and renewable retail energy service provider in the United States. CleanChoice’s marketing, sales, and operations teams offer the most comprehensive customer acquisition, retention and management service to community solar asset owners and developers in the market today. CleanChoice aspires to make renewable energy accessible to all, working with more than 40 partners in every community solar market. Our regulatory team is working to expand the community solar market and uses our relationships in state capitols to benefit our partners. The company is one of the fastest growing businesses in America, as ranked on the Inc. 500 and Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™. For more information, visit CleanChoiceEnergy.com.
March Madness Last Chance. Head to ESPN Tournament Challenge, login and search for the SolarWakeup group. The password is Solar100 to get your entry. Of course, the winner gets to write the rundown for a day! Tournament kicks off around noon, so join now or forever regret missing this chance!
Maryland RPS. The increase in RPS passed the Senate and is going to the house where it has 74 co sponsors. According to one local advocacy expert, it has a decent chance to get through the house before it heads to the GOP Governor’s desk potentially. It still needs centrist democrats in a diverse State to make the bill a success and it’s not a done deal.
Infocast San Diego. As trillions of dollars and 250 gigawatts of pipeline gather in San Diego for the annual get together, I joined at the last minute for some meetings. For those of you that I saw, it was good to see you and sorry if I missed the rest of you. This event is an impressive gathering each year though I get to speak with most attendees through this platform every day, having a dialogue from time to time is helpful. I hope it was fruitful and you are discussing the importance of the ITC in your dealmaking.
ITC. Over 100 of you responded to the questions over the past few days. I will take the weekend to digest your feedback and speak with folks in the lobbying effort. If there is a lack of alignment, I will let you know and it will be up to the entire industry to push for what you’re looking for. Don’t forget, in 2014, the solar industry was NOT aligned on what to do with the ITC and it may not be aligned today either. At least not yet.
Front Lines Of Climate Change. “I’m looking at global warming — I don’t need to see the graphs,” said Hamburg’s mayor, Cathy Crain, referring to the role of climate change in increasing the frequency of extreme weather events. After two record-setting floods in a single decade, Ms. Crain said, “I’m living it and everybody else here is living it.”
Come To Live! Email me for the coupon code to make a last minute trip. The agenda is the best we’ve had and networking is shaping up to be top notch as well.
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Yann