By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Sometimes, the dumb is so breathtaking it's hard to put into words. Such was the America First Energy Conference, which Reuters reporter Collin Eaton dutifully reported on this week from New Orleans. If Reuters doesn't provide him some hazardous duty pay for locking himself in a room with these people for a day, then there is something seriously wrong with the system. I'll let Eaton's lede stand on its own because, whoa boy, it sorta sums it all up:

Pumping carbon dioxide into the air makes the planet greener; the United Nations puts out fake science about climate change to control the global energy market; and wind and solar energy are simply “dumb”.

Honestly, it's amazing the attendees at this conference can dress themselves, let alone navigate New Orleans. Based on Eaton's reporting - and I must admit I'm not sure I could do what he did - 40 speakers took to the podium to bash renewable energy, pimp for coal and expound on any number of insane theories about how climate change is fake and pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere will actually lead to a greener planet, all the while dismissing actual scientific consensus that climate change is not only real but is having a deletrious effect on the United States and its people. The worst part of the whole thing is that this gathering of cranks and crazies was attended by actual members of the Trump Administration, though they clammed up when asked by reporters whether they agreed with some of the nuttier theories at play. And then there were the jokes. So many with the jokes. Here's what one attendee had to say about wind and solar (and while I recognize this person is just testing out material for his second career as a stand-up comedian, I'm here to tell him, in true concern-troll fashion: Don't quit your day job.):

“The deep state is real,” said Congressman Clay Higgins, a Louisiana Republican, addressing the conference. “They’re certainly anti-fossil fuel.” Higgins joked about renewable energy sources, like wind and solar, saying there is probably a conference somewhere in the United States where people are talking about “how the future of the world’s engine will be provided by rainbow dust and unicorn milk.”

A member of the House of Representatives from your state, Louisiana. Seriously, what is wrong with you? Eaton does an excellent job in his reporting of contrasting all the climate-change denial with the fact the Louisiana - New Orelans in particular - is investing like crazy in technology to combat climate change because, well, you know, Hurricane Katrina proved that New Orleans is going to bear the brunt of increasingly violent storms engendered by climate change. It's certainly worth reading the whole thing, although I suggest hip waders and respirators, 'cause it gets deep in there. Fortunately, the rest of the country recognizes this cranks and kooks for what they are and are bravely ignoring their attempts to march us back to the 19th Century. The Clean Energy Revolution, with solar in the vanguard, is moving forward apace - and it will manage to keep this planet alive and well even for those who attended this conference. I'll leave you with one last killer quotation from someone Eaton spoke to outside of the conference, which brought a little reality into an otherwise unreal piece:

“It’s a nice world they live in,” said Steve Cochran, campaign director of Restore the Mississippi River Delta, an environmental consortium involved in coastal restoration programs, referring to the attendees of the America First Energy Conference. “It’s not the world we live in.”

More: At 'America First Energy Conference', solar power is dumb, climate change is fake

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What's happening in Nevada right now is frankly amazing. If you had told most observers that Nevada would ever hit net metering caps after its Public Utilities Commission ended the program without warning at the end of 2015, they would have told you that you were crazy. And yet, three years (and a lot of mea culpas later), here we are, with the state's installed and applied-for solar capacity hitting the cap for what's allowed by law at full retail net metering rates. What that means is that any rooftop solar installation will at this point be compensated at 88% of the retail rate in what is being referred to as Tier 2. There are currently four tiers in Nevada's net metering program. Nevada’s solar industry has been ping-ponging between support and opposition for the solar industry since December 2015, when the state’s Public Utilities Commission abruptly ended net metering, which compensates solar users for the excess electricity they export back to the grid. It caused several national solar installers to pull out of the state and set off a firestorm of criticism from the state’s rooftop solar industry, which cratered in response. Obviously, the ping-ponging has come to a stop, as rooftop solar has clearly taken off under the latest round of legislation. Solar Industry has the details on what's next:

Under A.B.405, NEM customers in the Tier II category will receive an excess energy credit of 88% of the retail rate for the net excess electricity sent back to the grid and beyond what was delivered to them by Nevada utility NV Energy over the monthly billing period (as opposed to 95% in Tier I). Customers in the Tier II category may have the opportunity to move into Tier I through attrition and until Tier I closes. Tiers III and IV have rates of 81% and 75%, respectively.

All this activity comes as a ballot initiative moves forward in the state to raise the state's renewable portfolio standard to 50% by 2030. If the latest numbers from the PUC are any indication, Nevada and its solar industry are healthy and growing - something that should excite solar advocates everywhere. More: Nevada Hits Milestone For Newly Revived Rooftop Solar Market

The Other Factors. It’s not all tariffs and duties when it comes to markets. CFIUS and other regulatory approvals can shape markets as well. This isn’t just a China topic, this is all foreign investment in renewables that could be impacted if CFIUS review takes too long. I don’t expect this to become n too big of a topic but keep your eyes on similar things that happen to your business and supply chain.
Tesla’s New Investor. Lost in the ‘funding secured’ tweet was the other story of Tesla’s day. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund has taken a significant position in Tesla, somewhere north of $2billion. Considering that the money was made on selling oil, you have to acknowledge the success that Tesla has had to show the world that electric cars have a future and oil exporters need to create a hedge by taking a stake in the market segment that will disrupt oil.
Making Local Decisions Count. When I asked Jon Carson how his solar development business was similar to the days when he activated local voters for Obama, he told a riveting story. In a classic way, he tells the story of the local ironworker sitting in an open house held regarding the solar farm. The solar project is the political candidate and getting local support means telling a local story. Thank you, everyone, for the feedback on this podcast, I am glad you enjoyed it thus far.
Opposition To Municipal Solar. This has probably happening in the past but it’s the first time I see it in writing. A utility lobbied a municipal government not to sign a solar contract that would save money. It’s the inside baseball that shows how local incumbent markets will get.
Bad Solar Exhibit A. Keep them coming! I got some great submissions yesterday on bad solar, have you seen bad installs and want to share? Send them my way and send a caption for this solar sail!

Have a great day!

News

 

Have a great day!
Yann

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

Corporate renewable energy procurement has hit a new record high in 2018, according to the Business Renewables Center, an arm of the Rocky Mountain Institute. Procurement levels reached 3.57 GW, beating the previous record of 3.12 GW in 2015 and increasing nearly three quarters of a gigawatt ahead of last year's number of 2.87 GW. Jon Creyts, managing director at Rocky Mountain Institute, said:

The Business Renewables Center applauds the acceleration of corporate renewable energy procurement and the dedication these companies are showing to turn commitment into action. We are bearing witness to unprecedented growth in this market, which is critical to achieving the goal of a clean, prosperous, and secure low-carbon economy.

Unsurprisingly, Facebook led the way, putting corporate procurement into record territory with the deal it announced last month to procure 437 megawatts (MW) of solar energy from Pacific Power for a data center in Oregon. The announcement also claimed:

[This] highlights the growth of corporate-backed renewable energy transactions, which have totaled 13.52 GW in the U.S. since 2008, according to data collected by RMI’s Business Renewables Center. To date, BRC member companies have been involved in 99% of all U.S.-based non-utility transactions for renewable energy, and the number of corporates contracting directly for clean energy has grown from just four companies in 2013 to nearly 60 companies today.

The year-over-year growth is not unexpected, particularly given the difficult circumstances the solar industry found itself in last year with the tariff discussions. Corporations were waiting to see how the tariff situation would play out before deciding to move forward with solar procurement. What is most interesting, however, is that not only have the circumstances not changed significantly - the 30% tariffs are still in place - but the situation has gotten worse (with new 25% tariffs being imposed on inverters and modules). And yet corporations are still investing in solar as their future - which is an indication that the Solar Revolution has moved beyond its strictly policy-driven past and into a future driven by pure economics. And that is something we can all agree is best for the solar industry in the long run.