By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: People, I know he's darn purty, but seriously, if you care about the future of energy in this country DO NOT think Jeff Flake is a 2020 savior, no matter what Sean Penn tells you. He doesn't even understand the basics of energy baseload.

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: People, I know he's darn purty, but seriously, if you care about the future of energy in this country DO NOT think Jeff Flake is a 2020 savior, no matter what Sean Penn tells you. He doesn't even understand the basics of energy baseload.

• In a recent speech at St. Anselm College's New Hampshire Institute of Politics, in what was widely reported as the first speech of the 2020 Presidential campaign, Arizona (Short-Time) Senator Jeff Flake said that maybe, just MAYBE, the Republican Party should consider accepting climate change science and consider doing something about it.
• But before you give him a standing ovation, in literally the next breath - the next breath - Flake insisted, all evidence to the contrary, that the country needs more nuclear power as "baseload" power if we're going to have more renewables added to the grid.
• (*Ring, ring* Senator Flake? It's Germany. They'd like to explain how they were able to add wind and solar and still commit to shutting down all their nuclear plants by 2022.)
• (On the plus side, he pronounced nuclear right.)

SolarWakeup’s View:  So Senator Jeff Flake, who is leaving the Senate in November because of the "divisiveness" of Washington politics in the age of President Donald J. Trump, went up to New Hampshire's St. Anselm College last Friday to discuss said divisiveness and, as mentioned above, reportedly launch a 2020 Presidential campaign. That would have been largely unremarkable, even for a political junkie like me. But then a woman, in the last question of the session, asked this: "Do you see a path forward on climate change?" And at that moment, Flake would have done well to heed Mark Twain and kept his mouth shut. But he just had to weigh in. He started off OK, talking about how great solar has been in Arizona and how increased energy storage (particularly utility-scale storage) is offering market-based opportunities that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. He added that it might also be a nice change for the Republican Party to accept that climate change is real and maybe try to do something about it. And if he'd just stopped there.....but, well, he just couldn't. Democrats, he says, need to accept that the United States needs a carbon-free baseload power source and - wait for it - nuclear power is the answer. Oh, Jeff - you were this close. See, here's the thing: Not only is "baseload" an increasingly irrelevant term in a world of electricity storage - something you had just praised seconds ago - but even if that were a true thing, nuclear is definitively not the answer (at least not new nuclear power plants). I live in Ohio, and I am still paying for the Perry and the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plants built around 30 years ago through my electricity rates - and that's after Davis-Besse's containment cap started to rust away, forcing the plant to shut down for a year to get it fixed. They are expensive, they take a long time to build and they are dangerous. (Ask me sometime about the story I once wrote about Davis-Besse's advice to its neighbors in case of a meltdown - advice that included long sleeves, sunglasses and a hat). And sometimes, even when you throw billions of dollars at these plants, they still don't get built (South Carolina anyone?). Look, I know Jeff Flake looks the part, but if he thinks nuclear power is the answer to bringing more renewables like solar on to the grid, then I'm sorry - he won't get my vote. He shouldn't get yours either. More: Jeff Flake: The Key To Solar Power Is More Nuclear Power (Sam Seder Podcast) Jeff Flake delivers 'Politics and Eggs' speech (full video of speech; question comes at 45:26) (WMUR 9, Manchester, New Hampshire) South Carolina Spent $9 Billion on Nuclear Reactors That Will Never Run. Now What? (Governing) Germany's nuclear phase-out explained (Deutsche Welle)

Happy Passover to all getting together for some family gathering, this is the thanksgiving for jewish families filled with plenty of loud cross talk. Happy Easter to all of you as well, enjoy those golden goose eggs. Have a great weekend.

Compete On Price. BNEF’s newest report should go on every State Legislator’s desk. I don’t know how many there are but assuming 7,500 legislators, printing and mailing costs, that would be a $75,000 expenditure that could yield some interesting feedback. Renewables are cheaper, the goal we were told would get solar into the game. In Florida, regulators now go with the more expensive version of solar but that’s an argument for another day.

The Market Trump Ignores. In all of this trade talk, when has the silicon manufacturing been mentioned? It was forgotten during 201 and it doesn’t come up now. These are billion dollar plants that are sitting idle because the product is being lost in the trade war. Time to get Hemlock and REC onto a pedestal and get them to scream a bit louder.

EPA Lunacy. First class flights, soundproof booths, forgetting the word climate change are all minor compared to the regs that have been pushed aside by Pruitt. Now that it has come out that Pruitt is renting an apartment from a lobbyist, I wonder if you can smell the swamp as well.

Let’s Meet. Couple of events planned. SolarWakeup Live! in San Francisco on April 10th, on the 13th I’ll be at the TomTom Festival in Charlottesville moderating a panel on solar financing and I’ll be interviewing Greg Ridderbusch CEO of Connexus Energy at the Midwest Solar Expo on May 2nd. I always enjoy meeting you in person, come on out.

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Have a great day!
Yann

Insanity. You know what they say about the definition of insanity. Now you can say the same about SolarWorld. Apparently the Qataris have lost their appetite for giving Asbeck money to run a solar company. The newly founded SolarWorld Industries Gmbh has filed for insolvency after less than a year since acquiring some of the SolarWorld AG assets. This does not affect the SolarWorld USA entity except for the brand value which is testing the limit to zero.
Zombie Lie, Take 72,431. Just when we get this amazing data from CAISO and how net metering helped reduce costs to the California ratepayers, a UC Berkeley professor comes out with some “why am I paying for solar” blog post. I don’t this for a fact but I am sure that some digging would reveal the foundation of the professor’s motive that caused this blog post to come out. Thanks to the reporters at the Mercury News for listening to my response and reviewing the CAISO data point for a follow up piece. Frank gives you his take on yesterday’s top story.
Did You Listen? An engaging interview guest makes any interview easy, sometimes trying to get 30 minutes of content is difficult but sometimes its hard to keep 30 minutes to under an hour. That was my conversation with Ryan Popple, the CEO of Proterra. Most cars drive less than 40 miles per day which means the energy impact from EVs is less than a third of a mass transit without accounting for the scale of the energy density. If every bus were electrified, we’d all be better off and Proterra would be a big winner. Listen to my conversation with Ryan, here.
Big Storage, Big Money. What if I put out a press release saying that I was investing $8billion into energy storage over the next 17 years, think Reuters would pick it up? No, because it’s not news. Solar did north of $20billion last year and there aren’t enough projects for real capital providers out there. EDF could do $8billion, likely will do $8billion but if they don’t someone else will.
Do You Geothermal? Sometimes your friends leave solar and that’s sad. But sometimes they go and do cool things like join a Google X spinout and change the geothermal world. Congrats to the team at Dandelion for a big capital raise. Maybe geothermal wakeup is next?
Using PACE? It’s never been easier and more accessible. With States jumping on the PACE bandwagon, check your area and get a CleanQuote to see the latest pricing for PACE right from solarwakeup.com, just click on the link below.
Close To Last Call. Only 20 seats left for SolarWakeup Live! SF. Come spend the afternoon hearing our podcast get taped live and get yourself onto the podcast by asking questions to the guests. We’ll be in Pier 17, in a wonderful intimate space. Tickets here, WAKEUP20 for 20% off.

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Have a great day!
Yann

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: This fella right here - Lucas Davis,an Associate Professor of Economic Analysis and Policy at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley - trotted out the zombie lie about the solar-customer cost shift again on something called "The Energy Institute at Haas" blog.

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: This fella right here - Lucas Davis,an Associate Professor of Economic Analysis and Policy at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley - trotted out the zombie lie about the solar-customer cost shift again on something called "The Energy Institute at Haas" blog.

• If he would have picked up the phone and called down to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, they could have cautioned him against spreading this garbage.
• How many times to we have to debunk this before reputable people stop trafficking in this idiocy?
• I haven't been able to figure out yet who funds the Haas School, but whoever it is needs to get a better handle on what its people are putting out (unless the goal is to misinform the public on a host of public policy issues - more on that in a second).

SolarWakeup’s View:  (Me, to Yann): "Didn't I just write this story?" [Yann to me]: "No." [Me to Yann]: "Are you sure? This feels so familiar." [Yann to me]: "Look, it's a zombie lie story, so yeah, you've written it before. But this is a different person telling the zombie lie - and it's not even a utility? He's an associate professor and everything." [Me to Yann]: (Look of quiet desperation) OK. I'll write it. This is going to be what's engraved on my tombstone, isn't it? 'Frank Andorka, Killed By The Zombie Lie' [Yann to me]: (Grin) Sadly, this is an article I could probably write in my sleep. Another pinhead - this time Lucas Davis, an associate professor of economic analysis and policy at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley - took to The Energy Blog At Hass to peddle the notion that when solar customers join the electricity-production mix, they shift costs to non-solar users. In his example, California non-solar ratepayers are paying $65 more per year to "subsidize" solar rate payers, who are compensated for their extra electricity by the utilities. It's the zombie lie concerning "cost-shifting" again, which, as I have shouted into the abyss so many times I can't even count them all, is complete nonsense. I should have this explanation as a macro so I don't have to type it every time. As it is, I'm just going to cut and paste it from my story on Kentucky 12 days ago. If you're bored reading it, maybe tell Davis and his ilk to stop arguing lies. Let's review: The argument goes like this: Retail-rate net metering, a program under which solar customers are reimbursed for the excess electricity they produce, pushes extra costs on to non-solar customers because solar customers aren’t paying for grid upkeep. What the utilities don’t want you to notice, of course, is that solar customers also relieve congestion on the grid during peak production times, which saves strain on the transmission and distribution lines. So while they may not be paying for upkeep directly, solar production saves wear and tear, which ultimately saves the utility money in the form of repair costs. You’re welcome. I should note here that while there is a minor cost-shift, a study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory indicates the shift only happens when a state passes the 10% mark for solar-electricity generation. And I should also note that even at more than 10%, the shift is so small you'd need the Berkeley Lab's $27 million electron microscope to see it. I can't tell for sure, but from this post and the rest of the posts on Haas School's blog on energy, it seems like they have an agenda, namely to turn back the clock to the 19th century when all electricity was produced from fossil fuels. I'm getting so tired of fighting this zombie lie - does anyone have a suggestion about how I can kill it for good? I thank you, and my dog thanks you. More: Why Am I Paying $65/year for Your Solar Panels? (The Energy Institute Blog at Haas) [Me, at my computer screen while I'm typing this]: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, YOU'RE NOT, YOU LYING LIAR! (breathes deeply) Zombie Lie Informs Kentucky’s Attempt To Kill Its Solar Industry South Carolina Solar Soul Under Attack [Me]: I'm beginning to feel like MY soul is under attack. Bonus: Feast your eyes on this electron microscope. It's amazing what $27 million will buy. https://youtu.be/sCYX_XQgnSA