By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: Greentech Media reports that the commercial/industrial (C&I) sector now has $250 million in new money to purchase operational assets, thanks to the efforts of CleanCapital and CarVal Investors, the investment arm of industrial giant Cargill.

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: Greentech Media reports that the commercial/industrial (C&I) sector now has $250 million in new money to purchase operational assets, thanks to the efforts of CleanCapital and CarVal Investors, the investment arm of industrial giant Cargill.

• According to GTM, CleanCapital has purchased mroe than $100 million in distributed generation projects in the past several years. focusing entirely on the C&I sector.
• The money will also allow CleanCapital to increase its focus on segments such as energy efficiency, storage and new construction solar.

[caption id="attachment_9280" align="aligncenter" width="1143"] Daughters of the American Revolution Hall
Photo courtesy of Standard Solar[/caption] SolarWakeup’s View:  OK, I must admit I was mildly confused by Greentech Media's story on the joint-venture fund for the commercial segment, so indulge me a bit of insider baseball of the journalism sort. The headline says the funds will be used to finance "C&I Solar," but the body of the article doesn't mention C&I solar at all in the body of the piece, which left me scratching my head. What I think is going on here is that the writer assumed solar when it was not in evidence, and that the funds will actually be used for a broader set of projects than the article implies. Still, $250 million earmarked to fund energy efficiency, storage and new-build solar projects in the commercial segment is nothing to sneeze at, especially since (as the CEO of CleanCapital told GTM) the commercial segment has struggled to find money for such projects. "I see a bulk of our capital going towards our continued growth in acquiring operating assets, while continuing our innovation this year to get to C&I projects with unrated offtakers," President Jon Powers told SolarWakeup. Powers also told SolarWakeup that it's their vision to expand the C&I market beyond municipal and rated credits, something that can be challenging for traditional lending operations to understand. I understand that inancing commercial solar is complicated, given the relative youth of the segment and the perceived instability associated with it. But the wariness of traditional lenders means that I agree with Powers: There is an untapped market in C&I waiting to be exploited if the money was there. It's always a good thing to see money coming into the C&I sector, given that it is the one segment of the solar industry that hasn't had its boom yet. It's time for C&I solar to have its day in the sun. More: CleanCapital and CarVal Investors Team Up on $250 Million C&I Solar Fund

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: Sunrun has produced a consumer-friendly report called Affordable, Clean, Reliable Energy, which asks the ever important question: What would consumers choose for their own electrical production?

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: Sunrun has produced a consumer-friendly report called Affordable, Clean, Reliable Energy, which asks the ever important question: What would consumers choose for their own electrical production?

• In a delightfully readable format, Sunrun's CEO Lynn Jurich posits that given a choice between a distributed-generation, renewable-energy based electrical system and the traditional fossil-fuel based one, consumers would choose the former.
• She also forcefully lays out the case for solar as a job generator and calls for an end to the "war on solar" (now there's a woman who knows how to use catchy slogans).
• Lastly, Jurich argues in favor of removing the state-sponsored monopoly status from most utilities and letting the market decide what the best future for the U.S. electrical grid is. (You go, Lynn!)

SolarWakeup’s View:  More of this, please. Poll after poll after poll indicates that American consumers, by and large, prefer solar electricity. The most famous poll of all showed the number approaching 90%. So why have we failed so spectacularly to rally those throngs of solar-loving Americans behind policies that would help maintain and expand the industry beyond where it is now? I have a theory, and it has to do with the technical nature of our industry. It's easy to get excited about efficiency ratios, inverter harmonics and other deeply technical issues, and they are interesting to most people within the industry. But most American consumers are like me - the engineering aspects of solar, while interesting, wouldn't be enough to get me off my couch and to a pro-solar rally. That's why Sunrun CEO Lynn Jurich's new 32-page advocacy piece, Affordable, Clean, Reliable Energy is such a refreshing change from the typical pro-solar article. Jurich's clear, concise article hits on two of the most compelling arguments for why consumers should - and do - choose solar energy:

• Solar is a job generator.
• Solar allows consumers to seize control of their own electric future.

Jurich also issues a challenge to utilities who, in many cases, seem scared to compete against solar: Let the free market decide. Remove the state-sponsored monopoly status that most utilities enjoy across the country and give consumers the choice of what kind of electrical future they want. Would they want a decentralized/cleaner/cheaper electricity-generation system;; or rebuilt 19th century centralized/dirty/fossil based one. Jurich bets they would choose the former. It's a message that more solar companies must do a much better job of proclaiming every day - and I thank Jurich for at least giving it a good start. More: [pdf-embedder url="http://www.solarwakeup.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Sunrun-Consumer-Centered-Energy-April-2018-1.pdf" title="Sunrun - Consumer Centered Energy April 2018"]

Big Florida Solar News. We’ve got some original news for you that is staying under the radar and it’s big. Everyone around solar knows that Florida is not a fan of allowing third parties to participate in Florida when it comes to financing solar projects. Sunrun has decided that now is the time to move forward and figure out how strong this prohibition is. The company quietly filed for declaratory judgement on their lease product at the PSC, asking the commission to basically allow them to conduct business without being considered a utility. The hearing is in a few weeks and if it passes could open up the Florida market for large scale growth that isn’t solely held by the incumbent monopoly. The story here.

BNEF Summit, Loop. It seems that Rick Perry and Tom Fanning are staples the BNEF Summit in New York. It’s a safe place for them which is the give and take for conference organizers. (If you don’t question their talking points, they won’t come) Rick Perry made the interesting comment that we [America] doesn’t want a free market in the energy sector. Maybe he means that literally but its a far cry from the ERCOT system in Texas he is used to. Perry did say that he doesn’t think 202 emergency declaration makes sense for the First Energy case but that he wants those plants to continue operating.

Big C&I Money, BUT Credit. CleanCapital has raised $250million of capital for projects to build a $1billion portfolio from CarVal Investors. If this capital is going to scale in C&I, then they’ll have to figure out how to drive volume and driving volume means figuring out how to do repeat transactions with unrated credits. My friends at CleanFund are growing commercial PACE that may have a way of helping that scale and leverage come together, wonder if they’ve spoken because more C&I solar is great for everyone, more on that tomorrow.

Solar Pays For Nuclear. Southern’s CEO, Tom Fanning, was also at BNEF Summit in New York yesterday. He mentioned that the future of Southern is carbon free with renewables, clean gas and nuclear. Vogtle is a nuclear plant that is still being supported by the regulators and consumer’s money but Southern needs more money. How do they get that extra money? They are selling a third of their solar portfolio! Who knew that solar investments can be so flexible.

More Solar In Mass, Need Money? I’m excited about the MA market going forward. More solar is needed especially with the power plants on track to close near to Boston. SMART development is starting up but it’s costly. If you are looking for development capital, let me know, there are investors eager to partner with you and your projects. (And I need to send my kids to summer camp)

Opinion

News

 

Have a great day!
Yann

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened:The Rocky Mountain Institute reports Massachusetts might be on the verge of starting another American Revolution, at least when it comes to promoting transparency in its citizens' energy use.

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened:The Rocky Mountain Institute reports Massachusetts might be on the verge of starting another American Revolution, at least when it comes to promoting transparency in its citizens' energy use.

• Governor Charlie Baker has proposed An Act Relative to Consumer Access to Residential Energy Information, which would create energy-use certificates that would be used to record energy-use evaluations for the state's homes.
• It would give Massachusetts homeowners information that would allow them to do a serious evaluation of their home's energy use.
• And starting in 2021, people trying to sell their homes would be required to make that information available to potential buyers (great quotation on that later).

[caption id="attachment_9258" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Could this home of British sedition lead another American Revolution when it comes to getting more energy usage information about your home (or your future home)? That's a definite maybe.[/caption] SolarWakeup’s View:  Could Boston be ground zero for the American Energy Revolution? According to the Rocky Mountain Institute's Jacob Corvidae, it just might. In a post on the Institute's site, Corvidae discusses the potential importance of Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker's initiative, called An Act Relative to Consumer Access to Residential Energy Information, as a potential model for the rest of the country when it comes to helping citizens become more informed about their energy usage. First, it will allow homeowners to have a better understanding of what home improvements are the best investment. For example, if you have older windows or poor insulation, making that investment before, say, adding an outdoor pool or grill pit might bring the best ROI for your home. And after 2021, homeowners would be required to disclose their energy-use certificate to potential buyers. Here I'm going to quote Corvidae because, as I look out my Ohio-based office to watch snowflakes flutter to the ground - on April 9, mind you - his comment struck a particular chord:

For buyers comparing two similar homes—such as different three-bedroom, two-bath, 1,800-square-foot two-story homes—knowing which one is already cozy and inexpensive to heat and which one will take some investment to get there is important information to have. You don’t want to wait until you’re ready to sign the closing documents, or until your first winter in the house, to find out which one you got!

With the rapidly changing energy market in the United States, the information Baker wants homeowners to know and understand about their own dwellings could be the first step in creating an educated energy consumer - and that would be another revolution worth celebrating. More: Can Massachusetts Correct a Market Failure by Making Home Energy Use More Transparent?