My two cents. In a new format for our podcast, Frank and I got to digest the elections a bit. Of course we talked about the Federal implications but mostly we talked about the State initiatives in FL, NV and AZ. Florida in particular has an interesting twist. We should never have been there. The ballot question was defensive in the beginning because a group wanted to put a solar amendment on the ballot. Unless you have $20million in the bank, do me a favor and stop talking about a ballot amendment. Part 2 of the podcast out later today.
The new freedom fries? Nicolas Sarkozy, who is making another run for President in France, said that if the USA were to leave the Paris Agreement, Europe should tax US imports to make up for the carbon cost. Until this moment, there was little economic repercussion obvious for leaving the climate deal but here you go. Follow the money, always.
Coal was just a tool. Don’t take it from me, listen to the Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell. Admitting that the vibrant coal sector was lost due to private sector activity, McConnell says we must now focus on helping the communities rebuild in a post-coal economy.
A sunny 2030 goal. Sunshot crushed their 2020 goals well in advance and now it is stepping up to the next level. In line with the manufacturing goals, Sunshot is seeking a 60% drop in utility-scale solar LCOE down to $0.03/kWh. Don’t expect much DOE money to get added to the budget going forward, time for a private Sunshot fund to come out. They’ve done quite well and it’s time it gets replicated.
Environmental consequences. When you get scared about the environmental regulations for the future, drive right past the White House and head to Capitol Hill. The rules that make up the Clean Air and Water Acts, PURPA, ITC and more, it gets done at the Hill. Hope for the best and plan for the worst.
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Yann
The marathon Presidential election is over and Donald Trump is the next President. Join the podcast as Yann Brandt and Frank Andorka try to make some sense of what the election means to solar and how the industry did on the State level votes. Coverage includes what Trump's moves could be on energy and votes in Arizona, Nevada and Florida. This is part 1 of 2.
The marathon Presidential election is over and Donald Trump is the next President. Join the podcast as Yann Brandt and Frank Andorka try to make some sense of what the election means to solar and how the industry did on the State level votes. Coverage includes what Trump's moves could be on energy and votes in Arizona, Nevada and Florida. This is part 1 of 2.
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/292735388" params="color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=false&show_comments=true&show_playcount=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]A cabinet pick to get behind? The New York Times put together the inside favorites on President Trump’s cabinet picks. In the transition team you have a climate denier in Myron Ebell for the E.P.A. and Mike McKenna for Energy. For Secretary of the DOE you have a familiar name in James Connaughton, the Chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality for President Bush from 01-09. Connaughton has also spoken favorably about some form of Cap and Trade. He is definitely not Governor Jennifer Granholm but he has policies that we can work with.
Speculation is the new sport. What will happen under the next administration? What will the government focus on with one party in power in each chamber? Plenty of material to work with but keeping investors comfortable is starting to happen, just look at the comments from Array Technologies.
Jobs, veterans, and jobs for veterans. In 2020 there will be more veterans in the solar industry than in the entire coal sector, it doesn’t matter what the agencies and President do to change that. As we paused for Veteran’s Day on Friday, let’s recall the great work solar is doing to bring great paying jobs for great Americans. Saving the planet is just another employee benefit.
Both sides of the table. Half of a gigawatt was commissioned by NextEra last week sitting on 6 square miles of public lands. As the project was being built, NextEra was also fighting distributed solar in Florida. The point is that motivation is money. Follow the money, always.
Your solar duty! I am reiterating my request for your company to fill out the survey. We can only win political battles if we have the jobs to prove it. Make sure your CEO and HR managers get this done, Today. CLICK HERE FOR THE SURVEY
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Yann
These are the top 10 most read solar articles by your peers this week!
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The Top 10 is ranked by the number of SolarWakeup.com readers that clicked on the news article during the previous week. It is the poll of the most relevant solar news of the week as judged by your colleagues and competitors.
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Yann