Yesterday the Vice President addressed a packed room at SPI in Anaheim. He came with a preface to the sure fire refutes that would come hours later at the GOP debates. His best comments came when he directly spoke about the tax credits and how crazy it is that an industry like oil and gas still relies on tax credits but a thriving job creating industry like solar is asked to do without. In comparison, my US Senator Marco Rubio, is educating us all on how the United States is not a planet. Imagine if we were talking about another issue, Senator Rubio would be saying how the U.S. Is failing to be a global leader. Time to step up Senator!
Yann
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Yann
A cloudy first day of SPI 2015 today and I am not just talking about the weather. SEIA, through Rhone Resch, is rightfully pressing the panic button in its communication to the solar industry. There are some 200k solar professionals working in the space and if we had been proactive and actually calling our Senators, solar ITC could be much farther along. If you are a small contractor selling cash deals to residential and small commercial customers, solar without the ITC is painful for your business. Run a financial model without the ITC and tell me what it says, in the meantime you can pick up the phone and ask your Senators to help.
Yann
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Yann
Money talks! That’s what you are getting across the Country as the companies interested in making sure solar doesn’t disrupt energy markets, especially their long time monopolies. Those money interests are right here in the solar industry and you are most likely helping fund anti-solar ITC efforts by attending SPI. A year ago, I asked if SPI will have to split up. The reason? The event is put on by SEIA and SEPA, and those interests are no longer aligned in growth of solar. SEPA’s members are mostly utilities and they have spurned SEIA’s request to push for an ITC extension. Don’t buy Julia Hamm’s response about tax status, it is very bad PR on her end. Let’s see how it plays out this year, but there is a rift and SEPA needs to step up and push for an ITC extension or pull out of SPI 2016 and perhaps choose to sponsor EEI’s annual conference.
Yann
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Yann
Planes across the Country are full of solar people flying to Anaheim for SPI (me included). On Friday, California showed again why the majority of total and annual solar growth is in their State. The legislature passed a 50% renewable energy by 2030 bill, clearly putting them into a leadership position on a macro level. Don’t let the details be missed, utilities want to gut the policies that will make solar a portion of the 50% which would put California behind South Carolina in comparison. So as you see the headlines, stay aware of what the other (incumbent and monopolistic) market participants want to do to solar.
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Yann