This is your SolarWakeup for December 11th, 2018
Opening Salvo, Permanent ITCs. Senator Schumer is making an opening statement to the Trump administration and it is both interesting and relevant to our work. Schumer may be in the minority but in order to pass any legislation over the next two years, Trump will have to negotiate with Schumer and Pelosi to get it done. Schumer is calling for a massive infrastructure bill with a heavy emphasis on clean energy. One of the specific issues is to make the solar and wind ITCs permanent, which is exactly what I’ve been calling for on SolarWakeup for a decade. More importantly this drives a legislative process where solar tax writers should allow for the ITC to taken against active income, exactly like oil and gas credits. Don’t get excited, this isn’t a bill yet but it means that New York, which is trying to get off the ground with renewables is telling their senior Senator that the ITC is important to them. (Hello from Wall Street)
Looking At Exxon. This is an interesting write up on the solar and wind deal that Exxon executed for their Texan operations. It digs into the ability to get enough renewable on a constrained grid and the competition between gas and coal.
The Chevy Volt. In many ways, the Chevy Volt was the introduction of electric cars to the masses. I know this because it was my first electric car and I dreaded any day that I was driving more than 38 miles and would have to turn on the small engine. Last week, GM announced it was halting the production of the Volt as it is ending its entry level stance for electric vehicles. Yes, the Volt was the right car at the right time but now it’s time for GM to lean in and produce all electric vehicles and they should start with the Ford Explorer. Not all EVs need to be electric looking, let’s put a big skateboard of batteries under the existing chassis and give people what they want.
Dominion Must Try Again. Dominion has been told by Virginia regulators that they need to resubmit their IRP after producing a filing that overestimated load and didn’t consider the impacts of State legislation. As you will hear in a podcast recording this week with the NJ BPU President, regulators are no longer rubber stamping the filings by monopolies and making sure that the policies are well implemented.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for December 10th, 2018
2019. I’ve decided that you’re early Christmas present is a binging of the SolarWakeup Live Jersey City conversations which will drop at some point this week. All 7 conversations will be available on the SolarWakeup Live podcast this week. More importantly, in 2019 I will be mixing my day job and SolarWakeup a bit more by opening the studio for conversations at the Quick Mount offices. I’ve been spending the past 6 months inviting solar leaders to our manufacturing plant and many are coming in the new year. At the same time we plan on recording those conversations on site. This is an exciting combination of both of my passions and look forward to hearing about the good ideas you have to discuss. Come visit me in Walnut Creek, California!
You Are Not Welcome. The US joined Russia, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia not to join the UN climate report at COP24. This is a statement of the era we are in that is hoping to return to the 20th century as opposed to the reality that is required for the rest of the 21st Century.
No Clean Air For You. Newly situated EPA administrator, Andrew Wheeler, is doing the important work of lifting environmental regulations for coal plants. This is part of the Trump plan to bring coal back to life but in reality will do absolutely nothing to do such a thing given that the cost to operate coal plants is no longer viable. The EPA should ask this question to the VP’s staff with contacts in Indiana.
GM Blowback. Trump tweeted last week that GM should lose its EV tax credits for closing the manufacturing plants. Last night, Elon Musk told 60 Minutes that he may be interested in acquiring those plants. Elon also spoke some hard truth to the SEC in this clip.
PG&E Legislative Forecast. It is almost certain that PG&E will be in Sacramento this year asking for a bailout for the fires in Paradise/Chico which also caused my kids to visit the doctor. The more relevant question is what will the solar industry be asking for when PG&E advances their bailout bill. Our job isn’t to have a feeling for their ask but to put a price on the legislation for the solar industry. I have my price, would be interested to hear what you would ask for.
Labor In Solar. Minnesota (and other States) solar companies are restricted in growth by their ability to hire qualified labor. It is a great opportunity to open the solar industry to others that are training or can be trained to be helpful to the solar industry.
Facebook Not Building Community. Another sample of the corporate Facebook focus on their data center energy supply without growing the market where they are investing. More importantly, their employees aren’t increasing their ability to go solar while working at the local building either.
Huawei Situation. Don’t under appreciate the impact of the Huawei CFO situation as it pertains to the trade negotiations between the US and China. There are very real tariffs on the table that are increasing the cost of your racking, inverter and modules supply.
Diversify Now. Abby Hopper of SEIA is leaning in on diversity with good reason. While solar is doing a good job on diversity and veteran hiring, it could be doing so much better. More importantly, we are more open to being better than the status quo. I go back to the Vote Solar Equinox event in DC when a very non-diverse room welcomed speakers on the environmental justice topic. As the solar industry diversities it will also grow the market, both are undoubtedly linked.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for December 7th, 2018
Have a great weekend, no column today as I hosted a Hannukah party last night and Decoy won out! See you on Monday.
Make sure to check out the Q&A from Frank about the California solar home mandate and some of the top stories of the day!
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for December 6th, 2018
Home Solar Moves Forward. California has moved the home solar mandate forward as they plan for the implementation. The Building Standards Commission has taken the necessary step to allow the rule to start on January 1, 2020.
Carbon Free, Not Clean Energy. Looking at the Xcel Energy announcement, my first two thoughts. 100% carbon free doesn’t mean 100% clean energy, Vox should know better to distinguish this. Secondly, what is the plan to execute on this? Is the hope that Xcel will own all of the assets or create an environment for distributed generation to thrive?
Behind the Scenes. Frank goes behind the scenes on the SESA PR and SEIA coming together with a Q&A with PJ Wilson to discuss the news.
Solar In DC. SEIA is hosting a summit in DC and interviewing members of Congress including Senator Whitehouse (D-RI). Reports from inside the room speak to the support that solar has at the baseline level across demographics and party lines. Many of the quotes do appear to make this a bit of the echo chamber except for the talk that solar should push for the ITC to be expanded to storage. I see this as a potential starting block for the ITC to be extended once again. More on that to come.
Huawei Breaking News. The news broke late last night that the CFO of Huawei Technologies was detained in Canada, potentially at the request of the US. Reports have it that the US is considering Huawei as a national security risk and could create a sub plot to the tariff talks and newly found truce. This isn’t a solar direct story but has enough potential impact that is a regulatory risk for the solar market participants.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for December 5th, 2018
SEIA Adds Affiliate. SEIA has joined forces with SESA-PR, the solar and storage association chapter in Puerto Rico, as an official affiliate. This is largely different than many State chapter SEIAs that are not actually affiliated with the national group. Some however have taken strides to get closer to SEIA for various reasons. It makes me wonder if there is a purposeful move to join forces given there has been criticism of the relationship the national SEIA has had with some State chapters. Largely the relationships are fruitful and mutually beneficial but there are outlier cases where an affiliate status would allow some disagreements to be handled internally instead of in a public domain or filing.
Maersk Abandons Fossil Fuels. The shipping giant is out with a pledge to cut emissions to zero by 2050. This is a giant statement given they transport 20% (1 in 5) sea going containers. Hard to imaging how this will be executed but you could imagine electric ships of some sort cruising the world’s oceans. Maersk’s COO tells the Financial Times, “We will have to abandon fossil fuels. We will have to find a different type of fuel or a different way to power our assets. This is not just another cost-cutting exercise. It’s far from that. It’s an existential exercise, where we as a company need to set ourselves apart.”
Xcel Sets Own RPS. The midwest utility which is known for its major coverage in Colorado and Minnesota is looking to be 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050. Short on details but highlighting the goal is intriguing given the potential for solar growth in Colorado and the hopes that Minnesota continues to grow. Becky Stanfield and Jessica Scott of Vote Solar react, “Showing the region and the nation that 100% carbon free is possible and the right choice for health, jobs and leaving a better world for our children. We look forward to working with Xcel and state regulators to help meet those bold but achievable targets in a way that is affordable, reliable and puts people first."
New Home Solar Means More Solar. Policies like California’s new home solar mandate would triple the residential solar market by 2045. The key is the customer acquisition and scale of construction. A home being built doesn’t have the same hurdle to sell through especially if the home is built with solar before anyone owns it. With homebuilders choosing top quality products and buying at scale, this drives the price down and makes the installation more efficient. Lastly, when the cost is put into a mortgage the payments are significantly lower than when solar is installed at a later date.
Audi Joins EV Party. The company is investing $16billion to build out its electric and autonomous vehicle fleet. In other words, the company is ensuring survival by making cars that buyers/users will require from OEMs. I’m waiting for one of these firms to reach out of the auto market to invest in a solar type company, I think the day is coming.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for December 4th, 2018
Do You Vote Solar? Last evening some of the biggest solar supporters came together to celebrate Vote Solar and the entire team of passionate solar advocates. There are few teams that have done so much, so quietly to advance our market. We had some fun talking about past victories that are the foundation of solar markets across the Country. So I raise my glass for a toast for Vote Solar and all solar advocates that do the policy work that allows installers to sell solar to homeowners and creates the market that creates my job. Without the policies that enable our market, most of us would be doing other work.
Reality Of Nuclear. Every few months there seems to be a nuclear should make a comeback for the sake of fighting climate change. This storyline seems a bit tired given that it’s been used for years. It is ingrained in so many higher education institutions and think tanks studying the issue. I understand the argument but the political reality is that nobody looking to fight climate change is leaning in on nuclear. I will hear from some of you that the portfolio has to include nuclear but I am here to tell you that the market has moved on. One small pet peeve, calling renewables ‘buoyed by subsidies’ while arguing for nuclear is laughable. Without early cost recovery and government subsidized insurance, water and waste, nuclear would be non-existent.
Has COP Lost The Luster? COP24 has started and if I wasn’t following the Solar Impulse team on social media, I wouldn’t know. First, it’s in Poland which hasn’t exactly been the leader in climate policy. Second, without the US leading the marketing of it in the US media, it seems to be lacking any coverage at all. As an aside, various forms of renewables shouldn’t put other forms down in order to gain an edge, there are plenty of antagonists to focus on.
Green New Deal et al. New leaders in Congress have surprised me with the pedestal that the green new deal has been placed on as one of the signature areas of focus going into the new Congress. Ocasio-Cortez, who is humanizing the role of member of Congress in a great way, has been actively pushing for co-sponsors and ignoring the ‘freshmen members stay quiet’ status quo. I look forward to speaking with co-sponsors of the bill and understand how the pivot from macro, big idea like green new deal can leverage the political power that solar has within the voting public.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for December 3rd, 2018
41. “The United States is strongly committed to the IPCC process of international cooperation on global climate change. We consider it vital that the community of nations be drawn together in an orderly, disciplined, rational way to review the history of our global environment, to assess the potential for future climate change, and to develop effective programs. The state of the science, the social and economic impacts, and the appropriate strategies all are crucial components to a global resolution. The stakes here are very high; the consequences, very significant.” - President H.W. Bush on February 5th, 1990
Tariff Update. Trump had a trade talk dinner with China over the weekend and the two Countries have come out with a momentary pause to the trade war escalation, waiting to increase the tariffs from 10% to 25% while talks continue. For solar this would have larger impacted the raw material increases which could have trickled up to the end product costs that you pay every day for your projects.
Trickle Up. David Roberts from Vox uses comparison to economic theory to highlight the future potential of a grid centered around distributed generation instead of central power plants. This flows with the goals of the solar market and also plays into the future where electric vehicles are the default condition in the auto market. Good to see this in the mainstream media.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for November 30th, 2018
DC Goes 100%. This has been talked about for some time but now it’s becoming law and it makes DC the 3rd State to go 100% renewables. DC has some limitations on how to execute on this but being in the PJM market it does have the flexibility, much like the deal for the solar output by George Washington University. The rooftops are not widely available but we saw a community solar project announced yesterday as well. Local sources sound optimistic about the opportunities in Maryland as well with a legislative path to an increased RPS. Frank speaks to MDV-SEIA’s executive director about the victory in DC.
Empower Ratebase, Not Thoughts. I appreciate the sentiment from Rocky Mountain Institute in the 1st part of the 4 part serious about empower utilities to participate in the clean energy transition. The problem isn’t that they are against the clean energy transition, the problem is the lack of short term, quarterly profits within the current regulatory framework. Utility execs like other execs will tend to do what their compensation is aligned against. If utilities were to be told that they would make money to participate in the clean energy transition, execs would sing a different tune. The issue now is that the clean energy transition is trying to replace and eliminate utilities, not make them more money.
In-no-va-tion. I meant to write about this last week but this is an important topic within the political conversation on climate change. Climate change is not a bi-partisan topic which originally was a hoax. When hoax stopped working with the American people, skeptics went with the unsettled science and not being scientists. The public has largely stopped buying the unsettled science line and we have advanced to the latest political talking point. “Climate change is here, it doesn’t matter who causes it but whatever we do can’t impact the economy.” Then, to buy time, politicians will pivot to the need to drive innovation within the demographic of their audience. Innovation is such a broad topic that clean coal and 50% efficient solar modules could fall into the category. Additionally, everyone loves innovation which gets listeners of the talking points to nod in agreement that we need to find more solutions. I call BS though, we need more execution and less talk about innovation because innovation is driven by larger markets and the hopes by people to disrupt the market with new products, services and ideas.
Have a great weekend! Please send me a note when you travel to San Francisco, always great to meet you in person and stay tuned for great new podcasts dropping next week.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for November 29th, 2018
Quick rundown today as it’s been a long week after the holidays and everyone wants their racking and mounting before the holidays. Don’t forget to check out all the fun stuff Quick Mount has to offer for your stockings this holiday season.
More On SRA. Frank speaks with the Solar Rights Alliance’s Executive Director, Dave Rosenfeld. Check it out.
The Future Of The CA Grid. Sunrun’s Chief Policy Officer, Anne Hoskins, a former utility regulator posts a really smart op-ed about the role distributed solar plays in the future where fires are bigger and badder.
Big EV Infra Money. ChargePoint raises $240million and has now surpassed half a billion in funding. Some of the smartest names in solar are now at the competitor EvGo, some new interesting ones coming soon I think. I like watching this infrastructure race taking off.
Solar Powered Oil. Orsted has done a 12 year deal with Exxon. This is likely through an energy forward contract of some sort and shows that shorter term contracts in tradable markets is the way to get deals done. Exxon is using solar to increase profits on oil, the irony.
Slowing Militaries Resiliency. The military using solar, wind, energy storage and microgrids to make its facilities safer and less expensive to run is a good thing. Stopping that momentum is a bad thing.
I’m All In On 180kWh Beast. This week at the LA Auto Show, a formerly stealthy company, Rivian, rolled out its 180kWh pickup and SUV trucks. I’m not saying I miss my F-250 but I’m all in on big electric trucks and the load they add to the grid that can be met with giant solar farms.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for November 28th, 2018
NRA For Solar. Yesterday was giving Tuesday and one of the groups I’d like to point out to you is the Solar Rights Alliance. The intention of the group is to focus on activating solar homeowners much like the NRA does. In the initial roll out, the hypothesis worked. The Solar Rights Alliance was able to activate and engage solar homeowners to make calls and send emails to legislators. SRA is looking for more financial backing but it is also looking for access to grow the homeowner base, make sure to get acquainted and reach out to them to learn more.
Where Solar Installs. Part of the issue with the above exercise is the lack of data of homeowners that went solar. One startup is putting this data to work and help solar companies get more granular. I’ve personally used and paid for the data that comes from Ohm Analytics because I think that a solar community of like minded homeowners is one of the most valuable assets in solar.
Based On Alternative Facts. In yesterday’s White House Press Briefing, Sarah Sanders said that the National Climate Assessments wasn’t based on facts. See for yourself in the clip below.
SEIA Backs Storage ITC. Frank talks to Abby Hopper, CEO of SEIA, about SEIA’s letter asking for energy storage to be added as an eligible technology for the ITC.
PG&E Did What? A lawsuit has been filed by PG&E customers and a new report filed with the CPUC shows that PG&E was indeed worried that winds would require that the grid be shut down but decided it didn’t need for it to happen. This is going to work out in the legal system and undoubtedly find its way into the legislative process next summer once again.
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Yann