Next week I will be in Los Angeles to continue the Energy Storage Road Show. This week, the focus is on large scale operating solar farms. If you are involved in megawatt scale solar in California and are located somewhere in the LA area, let me know.
Give Me More. Exelon is asking for more. Not directly, yet, but the same strategy that went into play in Illinois is back. This time, Exelon is saying that 3 Mile Island will close in 2019 after failing to clear the PJM pricing auction. What better way to determine the value of an asset than in an auction in an competitive market? If the market doesn’t value the energy and capacity from 3 Mile Island, why should ratepayers and taxpayers? I know what some will say, solar gets so much in subsidy, how can you argue that nuclear shouldn’t? I’ll take the day that we have a national grid with no energy subsidies or monopolies because I know solar with storage will be a big winner.
Bipartisan Energy Ignorance. Suniva is now lobbying for stupid protectionism that would be of great harm to the solar industry. The GOP Congressman from Georgia and Democrat from Michigan are citing the talking points about cheap Chinese solar panels. I hope that SEIA has already reached out to those Congressman and educated them about what side effects this would have on the national economy.
Are you caught up on the EnergyWakeup podcast? More great episodes coming soon.
Goldman versus Kochs. Trump met with Scott Pruitt yesterday to talk about the Paris agreement. Cohn and Mnuchin are on the other side of the argument alongside Jared and Ivanka to argue staying in. Exxon is also lobbying that the USA should stay in the agreement which pins quite a bit of the cabinet against the so-called base of the President’s support.
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Yann
Step 1 In Proving Me Wrong. Ever since Tesla announced the solar roof, I’ve been skeptical. A hurdle that I thought would take time to clean was getting the class A roof assembly rating. When you permit roofing, you have to show the entire roof assembly’s fire classification that has been tested with UL. Tesla got their approval for the system designated SRxx for the PV tiles, SRNFxx for the non-PV tiles and SRFxx for the flashing parts. Main cost difference from standard tile or shingle roofs is the addition of the ¼” DensDeck made by Georgia Pacific. This is a fire barrier that is not a standard part of your typical shingle or tile roofs. I would have preferred to see a Securock since it is a monolithic board without a facer.
Is this the week? After a week abroad, it seems like the President may use the Paris Agreement to make a point to the globalists. Interestingly, Gary Cohn, said this week that no coal plant would get built because it doesn’t make much sense anymore. Even Senator Manchin scolded Gary Cohn’s comments.
The Energy Storage Road Show is going great. See you in Los Angeles next week!
Down Goes Pierce. The former Arizona Corporation Commission Chairman has been indicted for bribery amongst other things. Nothing solar related but for some reason I don’t think this will be the last we hear about shady business related to the ACC.
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Yann
The US Manufacturer Money Grab. As I predicted, there is no surprise that SolarWorld is joining the 201 petition. Now that the ITC has decided to hear the case, there is a rush to be part of the subsidies that could be created for robots in US factories. If you think I am overreaching my robot comment, go to a module assembly plant in China built in the past year. It’s all robots, we are beyond the stage of people putting modules together. I see a settlement happening with some capital out of the tariff pool being distributed to keep US plants running. But how that capital actually creates sustainable jobs in the US is lost on me, I don’t see it working. One thing that will come out over the next few months are the names behind this petition that hurt the solar industry. Some you know and some you will be surprised about but never underestimate someone’s desire to make money on the backs of others.
Going to the next level. This week I visited the new O&M operations center that Swinerton has built. The subsidiary that handles O&M is SOLV and the facility is first class. With NERC level security and data processes, I had the takeaway that solar is at a level of impact to the grid that warrants more than an excel file. Asset owners have to be accessible and responsible to grid operators with their large interconnects. This seems like only the beginning but it was great to see solar assets being managed in this way. If you wonder what it looked like, think Homer Simpson meets the Jetsons in the power plant control room.
The Energy Storage Road Show is moving forward now scheduling the week of June 5th in Los Angeles!
Market Reforms Need to Happen. I’ve talked about this in the past and agree with the PSEG CEO on the needed market reforms. Deregulation went from monopolies to having three parties, generators, transmission and retailers. Next step of market participation takes the number to well over a dozen. Energy efficiency, frequency operators, etc will make ISOs think hard about how to create a consumer centric market with the right pricing signals.
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Yann
I see what you did there. The President met with Pope Francis yesterday and had the customary opportunity to exchange gifts. Pope Francis is apparently not only a good person but not afraid to speak with subtlety. Pontifex gifted a copy of the ‘Laudato Si’ to the President, the encyclical on climate change. Maybe a good gift to pass around to the Catholic staff in the White House upon his return since Laudato Si lacks graphs and maps containing mostly words outlining human’s impacts on the planet we live on.
Nevada wants to make a comeback. A series of clean energy bills, mostly on storage, have passed the legislature and are heading to the Governor for signature. Yet to come are the net metering and RPS bills that should move towards the Governor relatively soon.
The Energy Storage Road Show is moving forward now scheduling the week of June 5th in Los Angeles!
States will lead. New York Times is highlighting the importance that States will play in the energy space. This is nothing new, as States have shown for many years in solar. Look at New Jersey, Massachusetts and North Carolina in addition to California on how to drive a market adoption of better and cleaner energy.
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Yann