I hope you all enjoyed your July 4^th holiday, played with sparklers and indulged in a parade. Now it’s back to work to kick off Q3 and get solar on some rooftops. If you are coming to Intersolar next week, please let me know. I always enjoy meeting you in person.
Growing Florida’s Solar Market. We can call it a double. From 2016 to 2017, the Florida market increased by 92% according to the just released net metering report issued by the PSC. This is very much felt on the ground here in the market but we are just scratching the surface. Florida will break 100,000 systems per year in 2019 and may do it in 2018 if companies are able to put the funding and labor plans in place to execute. I’ve spent 10 years working in solar while living in Florida and am now leaving just went the market picks up, but Walnut Creek is calling my name! See you next week at Intersolar!
Goldman Gets A New Solar Fund. South Jersey Industries, operating a solar portfolio under Marina Energy, went to market a few months ago. This wasn’t the first time it came to market but this time it transacted. Many investors participated in the process made complicated by the structure but the assets are largely desirable in a hot New Jersey market. Goldman Sachs ended up on top with their $350million bid for the ~200MW. This is a nice cornerstone for the fund that just recently put a great team together. Congrats the GS team.
The EV Infra Ratebase Is Going To Get Gotten. Utilities across America have asked themselves how to play in the EV space and owning charging infrastructure is the most obvious to me. I used to advocate to utility CEOs that shareholders should front the money to increase demand in the service area without putting the infrastructure into rate base. It seems that IOUs will get the best of both worlds, increase demand with EVs while also getting a return on the EV infrastructure. I expect that we will see a big rush to take advantage of this boon.
100% In California. The California Assembly will be starting their hearings on the 100% RPS bill, SB100, after passing it through committee. This came after receiving 38,000 letters from constituents to pass a clean bill on the issue. Last year, this came really close to getting done but politics in an election year probably got in the way. Now that De Leon is out of the general for the Senate, I can see him getting this work over the finish line. His leadership is remarkable, especially on this issue.
Presented by ENGIE. ENGIE (formerly SoCore Energy) is a market leader in commercial, industrial, and distributed solar and storage portfolio development with installations across some 25 states. ENGIE offers commercial and industrial companies, electric cooperatives, and communities solar and storage solutions that provide energy cost savings, increased resiliency and carbon reduction opportunities.

Have a great day!

News

 

Have a great day!
Yann

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

One. Step. Closer. Nearly a year after SB 100, the California bill that would mandate a 100% RPS by 2045, failed to make it out of committee, the bill is now on its way to a vote in the full Assembly after passing out of the Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee this afternoon. The measure had received 38,000 messages of support, delivered to lawmakers ahead of the vote by a broad coalition of solar, environmental and social justice activists. In what would be a historic decision, the California Assembly could pass SB 100 and create a clean-energy nirvana in state - and the Union of Concerned Scientists couldn't be happier. “We are excited California is one step further on the path of creating new jobs, cleaning our air and powering our homes, businesses and cars with clean, zero-carbon energy. Reducing carbon emissions and air pollution by transitioning away from fossil fuels is one of the most important actions our country and world must take to avoid the worst consequences of climate change,” said Laura Wisland, senior energy manager at the Union of Concerned Scientists.“We appreciate the leadership shown by California legislators to keep our clean energy momentum going strong.” The move to 100% is the inevitable conclusion of California's long march toward clean-energy independence under the leadership of Gov. Jerry Brown, who has slowly but surely moved the needle toward 100% during his tenure. By doing it gradually but relentlessly, Brown has overcome the objections of even his staunchest critics - of which there are more than a few - and has continued California's leadership of the U.S. clean energy revolution. Passage of SB 100 is, of course, not guaranteed, but making it out of committee is an enormous step forward after it failed to do so last year. At Intersolar North America, then CALSEIA leader Bernadette Del Chiaro led a rally in support of the bill, only to have it fall a few votes short. Now that it has made it out of committee, its supporters are feeling pretty confident about how this vote will occur in the full Assembly. “On this Fourth of July, as we sing about beautiful, spacious skies, let’s commend the Committee on its visionary decision to clear those skies and power California’s future with 100 percent clean electricity,” said Michelle Kinman, clean energy and transportation program director with Environment California. “We applaud Chair Chris Holden and the Committee for acting to create healthier communities today and better lives for our children.” “SB 100 will assure that California continues to be in the forefront of leadership in addressing climate change by both accelerating the procurement of solar and other renewable energy sources in the near future and assuring that all state agencies are taking a long-run view about the issues that need to be addressed to get to a 100% greenhouse gas free electric system by 2045 or earlier,” said Ed Smeloff, California policy and regulatory director at Vote Solar. "The climate change-induced fires that continue to ravage California have helped spark a deeper commitment to shifting to renewable energy," said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of the California Solar + Storage Association. "From setting 100% clean energy goals to talk about electrification and a renewed comittment to energy storage on par with the Million Solar Roofs Initiative, California continues to focus on solving problems while creating jobs and economic development."

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

It's not double, but it's close. The new net-metering statistics are out in Florida, and the number of PV installations increased 92% from 2016 to 2017, from 4,365 to 8,434. It's amazing what can happen when you rationalize your solar policy. Needless to say, the state's installers are thrilled with the news. "Florida’s solar growth has been explosive and it’s all due to the citizens who have been asking for solar for years," said Michael Vergona, president of UrbanSolar. "Everyone wants another option for producing their own power and harnessing our abundant sun." One installer tied it directly to the passage of one piece of legislation. "The passage of SB90 in 2017 told the world Florida was open for business, and we assumed it would finally breathe life into the solar industry in the Sunshine State," said Justin Hoysradt, CEO of Vinyasun. "This month's report is the verifiable evidence that those jobs are real, and they are coming, with the industry nearly doubling the solar installations occurring in 2017 versus 2016. "Now, of the 62 investor-owned, municipal, and cooperative utilities in Florida, all but 7, have active solar energy markets creating well-paying jobs that cannot be outsourced to China or automated by robots," Hoysradt added. "It is clear that the Florida legislature made the right decision supporting solar for Floridians and the economy." All we can say is that it's about time. For the past decade or so - ever since a Navigant Consulting report revealed the immense potential of the Florida market - everyone wondered when solar would actually become a significant part of Florida's electricity production. Two major obstacles to solar's development existed:

1) The overwhelming power of the utilities in the state, all of whom wanted to keep generation within their sole purview; and 2) The plethora of inexpensive electricity.

But starting in 2016, sentiment started to shift significantly, in part because of an ill-conceived (and ill-fated) attempt by the utilities to deceive Florida voters about their solar rights. And since the 2016 election, solar development in the state has moved forward with breakneck speed. Now, as the Florida Public Service Commission has ruled third-party ownership is not the equivalent of regulated utilities, the market seems to have reacted favorably - and perhaps the pent-up potential of the Florida solar market can finally be realized. This report certainly provides some signs that point in that direction.

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

You know how some people claim to have the gift of seeing the future? Well, I'm lucky enough to know someone who actually does see the future, and his name is Yann Brandt. OK, Yann won't be doing palm readings at the Quick Mount PV booth at Intersolar next week or anything like that (note to Yann: a side business, perhaps?), but he was prescient enough to foresee the largest solar + storage deal announced yesterday at Moss Landing in California two weeks before it happened. On June 19, Yann wrote:

What if, Vistra’s portfolio is replaced by storage? I don’t mean around the edges but MW for MW of capacity. I know this is a hypothetical but if you read the expectations from the Vistra investor’s day presentation, you see that they expect big storage in CA and NY in particular.

And low and behold, 14 days later, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) announces that it has contracted with Tesla and Vistra to build the two largest storage projects in the country. Yann had it down even to the company (Vistra). It's clear Yann has a knowledge of the market and can see things others can't, and he deserves his props for getting this one right. Of course, the bigger picture here is the doom it spells for natural gas peaker plants, which until recently had been the backup-power solution of choice for California and other utilities across the country. Then California's Public Utilities Commission started clamping down on peaker-plant applications and telling utilities to get on the storage bandwagon right quick. What the PG&E case tells everyone is that massive storage plants are possible and even preferable to natural gas - and that could spell the end of natural gas' reign as a "transition fuel." What is likely to happen now is that other utilities commissions are going to see what's going on in California and start demanding the same storage commitment from their utilities. And as storage prices continue to fall, look for that to happen quickly around the country. Now everyone email Yann and ask him what numbers you should choose for the lottery - the guy seems to have a knack for seeing into the future. More:

PG&E Proposes World’s Biggest Batteries to Replace South Bay Gas Plants