Sending SolarWakeup’s best to our friends in Texas that are affected by the storm and floods from Hurricane Harvey. If you can help, please find a charity doing work you support.
What’s Next For Nuclear Power? The End? Duke Energy is canceling the Lee Nuclear Plant citing the Westinghouse bankruptcy. This may be partly true but I would assume that solar and battery costs play a part in this decision. Hard to think an executive make this public but I can’t think how engineers wouldn’t have this discussion. It seems to me that once FP&L announces that they are abandoning Turkey Point expansion from the end of nuclear power construction in America. At the same time Duke is asking for a rate increase in the 15% range which could bode well for the PURPA tail that make solar projects work in North Carolina.
Speaking Out Against Tariffs. Right after the Suniva 201 petition filing I said that utilities should come out against the filing. Duke Energy has done just that in a letter to the Trade Commission. The logic is interesting given that the deregulated side of the business wants cheap solar to continue their investments. Remember that Duke bought REC Solar (commercial side) and has many ventures into large scale solar. I’d like to see NextEra, Berkshire, Dominion and Southern come out in the same way. On the other hand, Duke would see a reduction in PURPA projects in North Carolina which the company has been more openly hostile to in the last year.
Speaking In Favor Of Tariffs. Late yesterday, Axios got an inside look at an Oval Office meeting about tariffs. This was the first such meeting where newly installed Chief of Staff John Kelly was in the meeting. It included the trade representatives that oversee the USA’s policy on trade and tariffs. Trump’s comments were eerie and could bode poorly for the solar industry, “"So, John, I want you to know, this is my view. I want tariffs. And I want someone to bring me some tariffs." Only positive for solar could be that steel is also in the conversation and a bigger hit than solar. Bad idea all around.
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Yann
Enjoy your weekend ahead. Don’t forget to vote for your favorite location for the first SolarWakeup Live!, today is the last day to vote.
The Grid Study Is Here. After months and a leaked draft report, the DOE’s study on the value of baseload power is here. I have gone through the first few chapters and read a lot about the need for resilience and that price cannot be viewed in a silo without valuing resilience. Basically the report talks a lot about the need for baseload power which I read that solar is cheaper but without resilience it’s worthless. I’ll be studying this in greater detail and plan on having some experts on next week’s podcast.
A Few Comments On Editing. I know Secretary Perry isn’t a nuclear physicist nor a nobel prize winner but the letter from any Secretary of Energy should have a bare minimum of professionalism. First, don’t copy and paste the Department’s logo without a transparent background and make sure to crops the borders of the logo with a bit of symmetry. Lastly, the first thing my kids are taught in kindergarten is how to write their name. Capital letters first and lower case following, I don’t understand what Rick PeRRy is thinking. Will one of our SunShot friends please email the Secretary’s office a digital letterhead. Please.
California Goes To Rush Hour. The solar trade groups simultaneously slammed the CPUC decision to move the peak times to 4pm to 9pm with an early grandfather deadline. I admit that I am not used to things in California going against the solar agenda. More to come on this, I am sure.
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Yann
Dear Trade Commissioners. Yesterday I mentioned the 27 manufacturing companies that are trying to preserve existing solar manufacturing jobs in the US. Read their entire letter to the trade commission to understand where they are coming from and what they are fighting for. This is an important step for our industry, where competitors get together and fight for the common good.
Why Community Solar Matters. For me, I always saw Colorado as the birthplace for community solar but it seems like conception may have been in CO but the birthplace is in Minnesota. The local market in MN has been working to get a market going for a long time and has really found a win-win for everyone in the way that community solar is structured. Looking at large deposits, minimum number of customers, sufficient value in credits and enough size without making the sites massive. The best policies are those that are copied and the MN community solar policy is good for solar, consumers and even fair to utilities. Disintermediation of site and offtaker solves the greatest issue of all, credit.
Deregulating Monopolies, Customers Like It! When European governments started opening up choice in retail energy providers, customers started shopping for value and customer service. There is no doubt that energy in the 21st century has entered an era where the problems that the monopoly was meant to solve no longer exist.
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Yann