By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
What Happened: One of my favorite TV shows, CBS' Madam Secretary, used an entire episode about an energy summit they are attending to spout pro-nuclear talking points.
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
What Happened: One of my favorite TV shows, CBS' Madam Secretary, used an entire episode about an energy summit they are attending to spout pro-nuclear talking points.
Ironically, the discussion starts because one character is arguing strongly that natural gas needs to be included in a "Future of Energy" pavilion and that nuclear has too big a space.
Meanwhile, solar and wind - the two sources that actually are the future of energy - are shunted off into an "annex."
Seriously, my jaw dropped as I watched the episode. The show's writers are usually so careful to portray the state of the world accurately - how could they get the energy state of play so spectacularly wrong?
SolarWakeup’s View: If you know anything about me, know this: I grew up wanting to be a member of the State Department. I wanted desperately to be a diplomat. I did Model United Nations for seven years in high school and college. I wanted to be a diplomat.
Alas and alack, it wasn't to be (so now you're stuck reading me here at SolarWakeup). But it does explain why I love the CBS'
Madam Secretary so much - and why I'm so hurt and dismayed when I discovered the latest episode might as well have been written by nuclear energy lobbyists.
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The plot isn't so much about energy as it is about climate change, but one of the important subplots is an energy trade show the State Department will be attending to sell other countries on purchasing their renewable energy equipment from the United States. An initial look at the model pavilion is appalling enough - nuclear has by far the largest section of the display, and solar and wind are, I kid you not, shunted off into what they call an "annex."
An annex, for Pete's sake. An annex for an industry that employs more people than the coal and oil industries
combined.
But that's not even the worst of it. Then a character for whom I have the greatest respect argues that nuclear is clean, produces no more waste than the size of a football field and that nuclear power has never killed anyone when it's melted down (see Three Mile Island and Davis Besse). These argument are repeated throughout the show without a hint of doubt about nuclear as an energy alternative.
Here are just three arguments I would have made had I been in the room with the Secretary, and these are just off the top of my head:
It may be "clean," but nuclear plants are incredibly expensive to build and maintain. By the time new plants are built, who knows what revolutionary breakthroughs we'll have made in truly clean energies like solar and wind? Do we really want to invest in technologies that will be obsolete by the time the plants are built?
It may be a small amount of waste, but it's RADIOACTIVE. Raise your hand if you want to live next to a nuclear energy waste disposal unit? Mind if we put one next to your tony Georgetown duplex, Madam Secretary? Yeah, I didn't think so. Plus, if you're building more plants, that means more waste. It won't stay football-field sized for long.
"It hasn't killed anyone yet" should never be an argument to invest in a potentially dangerous energy source. After all, there's always a first time, isn't there?
You know, what I'm realizing is that while it's easy to dismiss these dangerous arguments as inside baseball that no one cares about, it's
also really easy for them to get into the mainstream, unevaluated and unchallenged. So when shows like
Madam Secretary take on complex issues like this and get it wrong, it's on us to push back.
More:
Madam Secretary (CBS)
Madam Secretary (Wikipedia)
I hope you have a great weekend. Stay tuned for info about SolarWakeup Live! Chicago, the event you will not want to miss. A full day conversation about the hottest market in solar development..
New Podcast, Live! From Midwest Solar Expo. I speak with Greg Ridderbusch, the CEO of Connexus Energy, one of the largest utility cooperatives in the Country. If you want to learn more about the value proposition coops are looking for, listen to this conversation..
South Carolina Turn Around. Looks like SC is going to get a NEM cap increase. Great that it is happening and shows the legislative skills of the solar folks on the ground there. Hopefully it makes it through the State Senate. May the fourth be with us!.
Connecticut NEM Drama. There is very little outrage about this CT NEM attack from the solar industry. The policy is part of the Governor’s plan so if you are hoping for a veto, that is unlikely to occur..
Tariffs Suck. There seems to be a shift in messaging about the tariffs coming from the national trade association. During a panel with SEIA CEO, Abby Hopper, in San Diego this week, a panelist went unchallenged about the tariff impacts. A panelist said the tariffs have caused no disruption to the business but was not asked what could have happened if we were able to buy modules at the global pricing levels. A facebook post by SEIA yesterday did show some pushback about the tariffs and the issues they cause to the industry.
Opinion
News
1 SolarWakeup Live!:
SolarWakeup Live! - CEO Of Connexus Energy, A Co-Op That’s Saving Money With Solar And Storage
2 SolarWakeup:
South Carolina Tries, Tries Again To Reach Solar Compromise
3 SolarWakeup:
Connecticut Catastrophe, Part 2 - Solar Consumers Are NOT Utilities
4 New York Times:
Trump’s Solar Tariffs Cause a Scramble in the Industry
5 Utility Dive:
Solar at the crossroads - Is utility-scale, distributed or both the way to go?
6 Greentech Media:
California Energy Regulators Delve Into Threats and Opportunities of ‘Customer Choice’
7 Motley Fool:
4 Things First Solar's Management Wants You to Know
8 San Diego Union Tribune:
CPUC judge rejects SDG&E pipeline project between Rainbow and Miramar
Opinions:
9 San Francisco Chronicle:
California’s power grid is changing fast, and ‘we don’t have a plan’
Have a great day!
Yann
By Yann Brandt, Managing Editor
What Happened: In this episode of SolarWakeup Live!, taped live at the Midwest Solar Expo, I speak with the CEO of Connexus Energy, Greg Ridderbusch. Connexus Energy is one of the largest utility cooperatives in the Country and serves over 150,000 members in Minnesota.
By Yann Brandt, Managing Editor
What Happened: In this episode of SolarWakeup Live!, taped live at the Midwest Solar Expo, I speak with the CEO of Connexus Energy, Greg Ridderbusch. Connexus Energy is one of the largest utility cooperatives in the Country and serves over 150,000 members in Minnesota.
Connexus is building a 10MW solar farm which will be integrated with an AC coupled energy storage system. This project was done under a PPA and energy storage agreement which work to save money to the members.
The conversations shows the power of solar for utilities around the country and we end the conversation talking about beer brewed with solar honey.
Join us on June 21st in Chicago for SolarWakeup Live! to talk about all things happening in Illinois. Stay tuned for tickets and more info.
More:
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
What Happened: After utilities snuck in the back door and stabbed a bill that would have eliminated a nonsensical net metering cap to death, solar advocates are trying one last Hail Mary in an attempt to save solar jobs in the Palmetto State.
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
What Happened: After utilities snuck in the back door and stabbed a bill that would have eliminated a nonsensical net metering cap to death, solar advocates are trying one last Hail Mary in an attempt to save solar jobs in the Palmetto State.
As you know (if you read SolarWakeup, anyway), South Carolina's House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favor a bill that would have eliminated the state's insanely low 2% net metering cap.
Then the utilities did the aforementioned stabbing, lobbying for (and getting) the bill to be changed into a "tax increase," which would have required a two-thirds supermajority vote in the Senate. It did not get the votes, and it seemed like net metering - and to a large extent, the solar industry - in the state was dead.
But on Wednesday night, Amendment 9 was attached to the House Budget bill and passed. Amendment 9 wouldn't eliminate the cap, but would raise it from 2% to 4%.
SolarWakeup’s View: There is one last South Carolina solar compromise working its way through the state's House of Representatives. It's a final chance to save the solar industry in this session.
If you're a regular reader of SolarWakeup (and if you're not, you should be), you know the chicanery surrounding the state's attempts to eliminate its insanely low 2% cap on net metering. The bill overwhelmingly passed the House but was scuttled in the Senate, thanks to the last-minute machinations of the state's powerful utilities.
But if at first you don't succeed, sneak a South Carolina solar compromise into the budget bill and hope it survives the House-Senate conference committee (at least I think that's how that goes).
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That's the strategy the House is currently trying, putting something called Amendment 9 into the budget bill that is now going to conference committee. It's not as good as the bill last month - it won't eliminate the net metering cap entirely - but it will
double the cap from 2% to 4%, keeping the state's burgeoning solar industry alive for at least another year.
“Last night's vote is an important and welcome step forward for energy freedom in South Carolinam" said Thad Culley, Regional Director at Vote Solar. "Recent months revealed both the enormous support from residents, businesses, and organizations across the political spectrum for clean energy options, lower utility bills and 3,000 solar jobs in South Carolina, and the lengths that utility monopolies will go to undermine all three.
"We thank House leaders and Rep. Ballentine for working across the aisle to pass a commonsense measure to keep solar shining in South Carolina," he added. "We now look to lawmakers in the budget conference committee to take all solar measures across the finish line and ensure that solar can remain a bright spot in South Carolina’s economy.”
It's not perfect, but at least it's something. Now get on the phones and let legislators know you want the South Carolina solar compromise kept in the final bill.
More:
Net Metering Gets a Lifeline in South Carolina
Utility Monopolies Screw SC Solar After Sneaky Shift On Bill
South Carolina Sends Solar Soaring With Cap Removal
