This is your SolarWakeup for May 30th, 2019
Solar Jobs. Launching a new feature in SolarWakeup you will find below. I’ll be looking at job boards to bring you some interesting opportunities in the sector. Connecting job seekers and hiring companies has been one of the best parts of this newsletter and I want to grow that further. If you have interesting jobs, send me the link. This will be a free feature for now but will transition to premium as we gain traction and show how valuable this network is for everyone.
The Solar Race, Visualized. Wood Mackenzie is out with a visualization of the cumulative capacity installed by Country. You can check it out for yourself here and let’s check back in a few years to see how the forecast came to life.
Win, Win, Win? Xcel is going all in on transitioning to 100% clean energy including the shutting of operating coal plants, years ahead of schedule. From a climate and PR perspective this is exactly what Americans are asking for. A win for clean air. At the same time the utility gets to add early retirement costs to the rate base while also increasing it for new generation. A win for the shareholders. The consumers may see a win over time as the transition continues if the regulators mix the renewables added through 3rd party and internal investments. With lower volatility on the renewable mix, I see it as a win as well, one that should be emulated across the Country.
Looking At Cities. Michael Bloomberg and Rocky Mountain Institute are partnering to show cities on how to act for a clean energy future. This is going to cross assumed political spectrums where the cities range from Florida, Idaho to Ohio. At the same time you can look at Santa Monica announcing a major commitment alongside Austin, cities in two States that could not be farther apart on the spectrum.
The British Are Landing. The US business unit of Lightsource BP has signed a 100MW PPA with the Alabama Municipal Electric Authority. Lightsource BP is now led by Kevin Smith, the former CEO of SolarReserve, whose talking points once included why PV can’t compete with concentrating solar. Welcome to PV, Alabama!
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for May 29th, 2019
Focus On The Short Term. There is much talk about the 2020 election and how climate policy could possibly pass through congress. All of this is presuming certain results and solar has short term goals. Congressional action should be focused on two short term issues, ITC and tariffs. This all comes ahead of Joe Biden’s climate plan unveiling which many believe will focus on restarting the Obama policies with some likely progressive additions.
Banking, Financing and Retirements. Interesting things are happening in otherwise uninteresting areas. A major French bank is backing out of lucrative business lines because of their climate impact. While BNP is using climate as a reason to pull financing for a coal dependent utility, they are also saying that it is potentially bad business to invest in long term. In Colorado, a small retailer has offered to buy 3 coal plants, close them and provide the cooperative with mostly renewable energy under a PPA. Consider it an innovative way to lock in a contract. They were rejected however. In other States, utilities are offering securitizations of rate base revenues to finance the retirement of coal plants.
Policy Through Other Means. An Iowa solar developer won a PPA with a municipality in Wisconsin and was denied the interconnection by We Energies. Going back to the often used, if you own a 3rd party solar contract you are a regulated utility playbook, We stopped the City from getting what it wanted. Now it will go to the courts after the developer sued the PSC commissioners and the utility to try and get a different interpretation of the rules.
No Coal In UK. It has been 11 days that the UK has been running coal free, not bad for an island utility. Also, big congratulations to a friend of solar, Jonathan Silver, for having joined the board of National Grid.
Making Software Free. Sungevity co-founder, Andrew Birch, whom you recall from my conversation on the start of the solarAPP start last summer is out with his new venture. OpenSolar, which is a free end to end software for solar installers. Check it out at opensolar.com
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for May 28th, 2019
Change Demand, Not Supply. A new report is out that shows that homes with electric vehicles increase the value of their rooftop solar. This shift in consumer behavior and locking more load with generation means that we are going to want and need every home and business to put solar on their roofs. This also goes to the new focus on electrification of everything in the home with a way for consumers to shape their demand for electricity. Cars can already charge based on a utility schedule but next will be the washer and dryer amongst other home appliances.
Transportation Market Not Decided. China is definitely in the lead with electric cars and buses, their regulatory environment allows the massive scale to happen overnight. The US is lagging with deployment but I don’t think that’s been lost. More importantly while consumers have little problem using solar panels made in China, I don’t think that the same will be true for planes, trains or buses. BYD is trying to be the exception to that and is setting up shop in the US but Proterra is still moving into the growth direction.
Don’t Land On Park Place. A monopoly is hard to beat and break up. Boulder is proof that just because voters and the city council want their own utility, it doesn’t mean that it shall become reality. A reset means that the voters will have to decide if they try again in the future and in the meantime this is a signal to any other municipality that thinks about following down the same path.
Corporate Climate Dialogue. The CEO Climate Dialogue is a group of Fortune 500 CEOs that are advocating for market principled climate policies. Their call to action includes several key metrics for policies that include equity amongst others. The next step would be to get the Chamber of Commerce to make a statement of support before the Senate plan for innovation (which would focus on nuclear and carbon capture) plan takes the climate policy dialogue in the wrong direction. Another player in the climate policy arena is a good complement to the others elevating the topic.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for May 23rd, 2019
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for May 22nd, 2019
Busy week at Quick Mount HQ so quick tidbits today.
South Carolina. Governor McMaster signed the compromise bill years in the making. Great to see some solar friends standing front and center. Congrats to the few that did the work for the many! (Pay your trade association dues folks!)
Tax Credits In Play. The Senate, seeing the light coming from that strong House letter, is putting the start of tax credit reform on the table including a longer glide path (read extension) on the table. There was some quick and strong work done in the background and trade groups did a great job responding forcefully to the House letter backing the legislators with the industry support they needed. The folks at SEIA deserve special praise for their leadership here from staff, executives and the board!
Innovation. Too late to be the primary driver. Even innovation requires commercialization and derisking that takes too long.
A Job With Reward. Join Vote Solar as the Interior West Senior Director. If you are good at your job, no doubt you will be, you will be able to say to your grandkids, friends and/or family that you did an amazing job fighting climate change. Apply today, full job description here.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for May 21st, 2019
Corporate Leadership. There are now several groups that advocate for climate policy from a corporate perspective. The carbon tax has been rebranded a carbon dividend to get voters to understand that the money flows back into the economy. This is similar to the process in California where I just received a credit on my electric bill. The famous Luntz polling group is also out with public messaging warning to the republicans. They can no longer message away from climate change as the support for a dividend grows amongst voters. SEIA has been on top of this through corporate purchasing programs and nationwide advocacy for policies like community solar and the ITC extension.
More Refined Focus. Let’s be like Sunrun, wasn’t something most people were expecting to hear from SunPower 3-5 years ago but I agree that this is the right move. Making one of the most desirable and well known modules puts the company on a different starting block and it also has one of the most prominent dealer networks in solar. As the company focuses on a service business, aided by commercialization of new technologies, you’ll likely see partnerships with retail companies that want to aid SunPower in owning the energy bill.
Leadership Through Hiring. Missouri solar installer, Sun Solar, is doing what the industry talks a lot about. While the industry is openly highlighting some issues on diversity, solar is leading on hiring veterans. Big kudos to the Sun Solar leadership for doing what we always talk about.
Same Concept, Different Fuel. Chevron is partnering with EVgo to add charging stations to some of their gas stations. This is interesting given that fuel providers are looking at a future with less consumption of their product. Many of them also have robust commodity trading desks which could make them stand on par with traditional electric utilities and even provide fleet products on pricing on their systems. Also, while we’re all looking at solar, the EVgo team is absolutely crushing it. The team has a long solar pedigree and gets the financial proposition needed for infrastructure and their business model is being rewarded by the market. I can’t wait to see how they execute when you can charge your car in 10 minutes.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for May 20th, 2019
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for May 17th, 2019
Weekend! Enjoy your weekend. If this email was forwarded to you please subscribe.
8 Million Jobs. 10 Years. Read the full Inslee plan to create 8 million clean energy jobs in 10 years.
Goldman Finds Their Solar Groove. Big deals are falling to Goldman Sachs. DG portfolio with SunPower, structured deal with South Jersey Industries and now the super sized CCA deal in CA.
A Note Worth Reading. Solar’s Tor Valenza is out with an open letter to fossil fuel workers. I like the idea of speaking to the worker instead of about them.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for May 16th, 2019
Fire Liability Established. Cal Fire has made the expected, official. PG&E equipment caused the deadly and tragic Camp Fires last year. The bankruptcy filing and much of the regulatory and legislative chess that brings us to today. PG&E shareholders need the indemnification and ratepayers need a monopoly that has access to a credit rating to contract for 20 plus years. You can not expect to build the utility of the future without the ability to backstop the most risky contracts. Legislators will have their hands full this summer. Again, what is the ask in the legislative process for the solar industry?
Fighting For Energy Demand. Engie, which not too long ago was a traditional coal owning IPP, now owns no fossil power plant and has quietly built one of the largest behind the meter energy savings companies. In a podcast you will hear next week, I talk with Engie Storage CCO about their work to monetize capacity. Yesterday, Engie NA acquired Genbright to match up with the Engie Storage business and get into DER monetization. Interesting moves for the French giant.
Looking for Potential Ratebase? Nevada passed a pilot bill that will allow schools to move to electric buses by letting the utility pay up to 75% of the cost. This subsidy is coming from existing charges and will not yield additional rate base. It would be interesting to see if utilities pursue this avenue for rate base. I can foresee quite the gold mine in this channel.
Sounds Good, False Premise. I’ll be blunt. The Bloomberg headline is crap. First of all, the ITC was extended in a deal to lift the oil embargo and Paul Ryan approved it in the House. Democrats never wanted to let the ITC die and definitely not with the bulk of the years focused on trade wars and a ridiculous 201 case that lost almost two years of momentum. We also didn’t have the IPCC report warning us that we need to get to 100% renewable energy ASAP. Bloomberg knows this and should report that facts. Oil and gas get the best subsidy of all, tax credits that can be invested in with active income. And those credits don’t expire.
If You Look At It Closely. David Roberts from Vox gives you his secret for passing climate legislation. You have to scroll all the way down to get to it.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for May 15th, 2019
The ITC Talking Points. While the Solar Summit is going on in Arizona, the talk about the future of solar is coming back to the ITC. Across the board the response is that the ITC should be extended but we will survive if the ITC declines by the 4%. The industry is coming together on the need for the extension, which is a positive step in the right direction. More on this to come soon but I do want you to be more optimistic than 10-15% for the ITC extension.
Ignoring Solar and Storage. Virginia utility Dominion has ignored solar and storage for their planning process. This has spectators including large energy customers up in arms about the short sightedness for the solar purpose of trying to build more natural gas power. But if they were watching Indiana, even there the regulators have said no to new gas power.
Race In Oil Majors. The headline says it all. While Shell has been quite busy, as have the European IPPs, some shareholders are BP are wondering what the leadership is thinking. Part of the strategy is unknown to those of us outside of the boardroom but surely some analysis is going to the displacement of fuel based transportation and how to make up the customer erosion from those that go to electric vehicles. BP is likely to make some plays including the generation of the fuel that will fuel their customers’ future transportation. They’ve got the cash and have been here before.
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Yann