This is your SolarWakeup for April 6th, 2018
Here’s your rapid fire rundown of the top news. Enjoy your weekend!
SC Shifts To Solar. Great job to all fighting in South Carolina and getting a legislative victory. Had the sentiment of old school Arizona and Nevada. Look for coverage from Frank later today.
Consumer Choice In Solar. CleanChoice Energy isn’t the biggest retail energy provider but it gets solar better than most. Don’t underestimate this team. Here’s my interview with CEO, Tom Matzzie, from a few months ago.
LePage Needs To Go. Unable to overturn Governor’s veto once again, solar is stagnant in Maine. I guess we’ll need LePage to go away to fix this.
Really? It’s Not Necessary. Nuclear is a no emission source of energy but to think it’s still needed in the next phase of the energy transition is misguided. Time to plan a future without it, California is.
Go Forth Nevada. The legislature tried to increase the RPS last year but fell a bit short. We talked to Assemblyman Brooks about this, time to try again!
Offtaker Credit Issues. With First Energy’s bankruptcy filings, some of their off take agreements are also in jeopardy. This is unfortunate and stranded assets will have to be considered going forward in other off take arrangements.
Google Energy Update. Another improvement on the 100% renewable energy by the search giant. We talked to their energy director last year, Sam recently left Google and joined Lyft as the Head of Sustainability.
No More Tariffs! Please? The back and forth on trade way is continuing and it’s not good for anyone. Congress needs to step in and do something.
Unlimited Private Jets. We’ll see if Pruitt makes it to Monday but did you know that you can get unlimited jet flights for $100k per month? Who’s in on this with me?
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 5th, 2018
SEIA Responds. After our reporting from yesterday, SEIA responded to its Board of Directors. We felt that it was relevant for the solar industry to understand the reasoning SEIA states and are showing it to you verbatim. The key is that this topic is not finished, and the questions appears to remain on the table. While we see ourselves as more than just a copy and paste publication, we’d like to show what the solar industry thinks. If you have a view on this, please send us a comment that we could share.
Play It Out. Some of the biggest participants in the solar industry are solar groups within utilities and I heard from quite a few of you yesterday. I understand the dilemma and empathize, you are active in solar, benefit from policies like net metering and share similar frustrations as the rest of the industry. When utilities take too long to interconnect, it doesn’t benefit you and if you can’t net-meter, you can’t do the deal. But here is the problem with allowing an IOU into the fold. Take the ongoing debate in Michigan. What if DTE had a solar unit which was a member of SEIA and SEIA participated vigorously in the debate to do more solar and less rate based natural gas? What kind of pressure could DTE exert on SEIA to stay out of the proceedings and how would we ever know that it exerted this pressure? The simplest way forward for membership would be a non-voting segment for utilities but what if they are paying $100k a year to be a member? $200k?
What Do You Stand For? SEIA published goals earlier this year, albeit very modest and easily achievable. From our point of view it is time for SEIA to stand for something, much like our Solar Pledge did during the ITC extension (very effectively). The values should include all or some of the following ideals: advocating for full rate net metering without advantages given to incumbent participants, fair and equal interconnection access for solar, rate based solar should be given equal access for competitive solar proposals to ensure lowest cost. These are just some ideas but we should not be the source of those values. The SEIA membership base should set those values and use those as their advocacy constitution. More money in the revenue base should not be the only goal, and potentially blurring the lines on values is never worth the price of admission.
Trump Taxes Grow. The Trump trade war continues, this time sparing most of solar but the side effects will come into the space. Hopefully Congress will step in and stop a trade back and forth that doesn’t help American consumers.
Elections Matter. Especially at the local level if you have a utility coop board. SRP in Arizona had an election and added 2 more pro-solar members to the board, with 2 other solar supporters losing their seats. The more people run, the more support we will have at the regulatory level when possible.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 4th, 2018
Moves At SEIA Misguided. Earlier this year, SEIA approached members of their board, many of whom pay for the privilege, on the idea of inviting utilities to join SEIA as members. Many of the board members that were approached called in a non-starter but the idea went high enough at SEIA leadership that it was considered worth floating. The money has become more important to the association than the mission or its values in my opinion. I had to ponder what it meant to have the idea get enough support from leaders to discuss. In line with this new line of thought was the extension of the SEPA joint venture which produces SPI and in 2015 generated over $3.5million in profits to the owners. SEPA is focused on making utilities smarter with their energy systems, it’s not a solar association and in my opinion the values between the two entities no longer align enough to have the joint venture continue, alas it was renewed by the board. What’s next for SEIA in its search for what it stands for and what does that mean for you and its mission going forward? Here is Frank’s exclusive look inside. If you have an opinion on this, I’d love to hear it, please reply to this email and let us know what you think.
SC Solar Push. Hundreds of solar advocates took the fight in South Carolina to the Statehouse steps yesterday. Being this is South Carolina, this was not a partisan fight and focused on the jobs. You could have taken the signs from the protestors in Nevada and used them here which speaks to our message and focus. With the failed nuclear power plants plaguing the political discussion, solar could be the ideal outlet for economic development.
Solar In 2008. Do you remember solar in 2008? What information and advice do you wish you had then that you have today? Storage is like solar in 2008 is the trendiest buzzword in storage conversations but much of that is true. Financing products, innovation for consumers and lead gen are all topics. This article does a good job of going through some of the important issues.
Small Solar In Africa. Africa is such a great opportunity for solar and for the people to enjoy greater access to energy. Small solar upstarts have done a tremendous job growing their companies and deploying with great impact. The other side of that is large scale solar which displaces some of the most ingrained industries in the market and requires offtakers and regulators to work hand in hand, presenting new and different investment issues. I hope Africa does it all, small and large while also doing things like solar power street lights to improve the infrastructure.
SolarWakeup Live! Less than 1 week before we meet in San Francisco. There are some seats left for you to hear from some of the Bay area solar leaders. I hope you will join us for the afternoon. Reserve Your Seat.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 3rd, 2018
CCAs Go Solar Shopping. I am looking forward to interviewing Lindsay Saxby from Marin Clean Energy. Marin Clean Energy is one of the largest CCAs and they are currently looking for more solar as part of their RFP. They are also looking for energy storage. These are some of the topics I plan on getting information on. If you want to hear the answers to these things, you need to be at SolarWakeup Live! in person because the recording will not be posted until after the RFP is due. Use APRIL40 for 40% off your ticket to our exclusive event in San Francisco. There’s a single sponsor interview slot left if you are looking to reach the SolarWakeup audience with your message. As anyone that has come to our previous events will say, this isn’t the biggest crowd but its the most influential. Again, use APRIL40 to get 40% off your tickets.
SolarWakeup Bracket Challenge. Congrats to the winner of the SolarWakeup March Madness bracket. Nathan Arbitman of DSM Advanced Solar takes the victory with the correct Villanova prediction. In second place comes Tom Matzzie of CleanChoice Energy who was just a few points behind. Hats off to the Allie Detrio of Engie for a correct championship game but picked the wrong victor. Thank you to all for playing.
Jacksonville Stunts Solar. Jacksonville enjoys the double entendre, spending millions to bring Jinko’s factory to the City while at the same time killing its net metering policy. So the 50 jobs at the factory will be lost 6x in the market. The Jacksonville area has 347 solar jobs according to The Solar Foundation which will be at risk. It also shows that the regulatory uncertainty may have caused Jinko to lower its employment estimates. This whole situation is indicative of Florida’s solar market where allowing competition could create 10’s of thousands of jobs but instead the focus is on leaving solar to a monopoly.
What Consumers Want. A poll has hit the all-time low of consumers worrying about the cost of energy while wanting the best environmental benefits from their electricity at much higher rates. That means consumers are willing to pay more to get cleaner energy sources in a market where cheapest today often wins the race. I am surprised that in a head to head, republicans still split 51/49 on renewables versus fossil, likely in a poll shift based on what the respondent feels they should answer.
What Consumers Get. Now that we see what consumers want, it’s good to see that they are getting some of that. With the ramp up of clean energy, US carbon emissions are coming down. These are positive notes but we can do so much more, let’s keep pushing and accelerate!
DTE Fights Back. This could be an interesting start to the Vote Solar tactic of opposing the natural gas power plant. Now DTE is proposing a renewables plan likely in a way to win over the opposition. Keep watching to see how much farther it can go.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for April 2nd, 2018
No April Fools. Use APRIL40 for 40% off your ticket to our exclusive event in San Francisco. There’s a single sponsor interview slot left if you are looking to reach the SolarWakeup audience with your message. As anyone that has come to our previous events will say, this isn’t the biggest crowd but its the most influential. Again, use APRIL40 to get 40% off your tickets.
Cheap Solar, Now Value. The BNEF report pretty much confirms reality. The battle for price of energy output has been won by renewables. No fuel cost assumptions make certain of that fact. There is no longer the need to battle for cheaper now that we’re sub 3 cents in sunny areas. Now is the time to talk about system value, value of DG, value of storage and putting some of that value into the ecosystem. That means contractors investing in higher margins for higher quality. Buying better roof mounting that doesn’t leak. Most of all we all need to invest in margins.
Legacy Power, Legacy Tricks. First Energy has been pushing for coal and nuclear subsidies through all the avenues, FERC, DOE and the White House. On Friday, it asked for emergency bailouts for the power plants that are not providing value to the system and have the Trump administration guarantee profits to the ailing power plants. After no positive response on the request, First Energy went to bankruptcy court late on Saturday to file for chapter 11 and look to restructure debt. Within the last 12 months I still had conversations with private equity firms that were open to acquiring these types of power plants but I have to think that those days are quickly ending.
Subsidized Manufacturing From Jinko. I enjoy the irony of the solar manufacturing plant receiving subsidies from the Florida government in response to a global tariff against solar modules because the foreign manufacturers are…subsidized. Explain the nuance of a State that is anti-solar, anti-competition for solar projects that is making the headlines by putting together subsidies with guarantees from ratepayers. This isn’t Jinko’s fault, they are a bystander in this and I want them in Florida. But more importantly, I want solar to be allowed to compete here.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 30th, 2018
Happy Passover to all getting together for some family gathering, this is the thanksgiving for jewish families filled with plenty of loud cross talk. Happy Easter to all of you as well, enjoy those golden goose eggs. Have a great weekend.
Compete On Price. BNEF’s newest report should go on every State Legislator’s desk. I don’t know how many there are but assuming 7,500 legislators, printing and mailing costs, that would be a $75,000 expenditure that could yield some interesting feedback. Renewables are cheaper, the goal we were told would get solar into the game. In Florida, regulators now go with the more expensive version of solar but that’s an argument for another day.
The Market Trump Ignores. In all of this trade talk, when has the silicon manufacturing been mentioned? It was forgotten during 201 and it doesn’t come up now. These are billion dollar plants that are sitting idle because the product is being lost in the trade war. Time to get Hemlock and REC onto a pedestal and get them to scream a bit louder.
EPA Lunacy. First class flights, soundproof booths, forgetting the word climate change are all minor compared to the regs that have been pushed aside by Pruitt. Now that it has come out that Pruitt is renting an apartment from a lobbyist, I wonder if you can smell the swamp as well.
Let’s Meet. Couple of events planned. SolarWakeup Live! in San Francisco on April 10th, on the 13th I’ll be at the TomTom Festival in Charlottesville moderating a panel on solar financing and I’ll be interviewing Greg Ridderbusch CEO of Connexus Energy at the Midwest Solar Expo on May 2nd. I always enjoy meeting you in person, come on out.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 29th, 2018
Insanity. You know what they say about the definition of insanity. Now you can say the same about SolarWorld. Apparently the Qataris have lost their appetite for giving Asbeck money to run a solar company. The newly founded SolarWorld Industries Gmbh has filed for insolvency after less than a year since acquiring some of the SolarWorld AG assets. This does not affect the SolarWorld USA entity except for the brand value which is testing the limit to zero.
Zombie Lie, Take 72,431. Just when we get this amazing data from CAISO and how net metering helped reduce costs to the California ratepayers, a UC Berkeley professor comes out with some “why am I paying for solar” blog post. I don’t this for a fact but I am sure that some digging would reveal the foundation of the professor’s motive that caused this blog post to come out. Thanks to the reporters at the Mercury News for listening to my response and reviewing the CAISO data point for a follow up piece. Frank gives you his take on yesterday’s top story.
Did You Listen? An engaging interview guest makes any interview easy, sometimes trying to get 30 minutes of content is difficult but sometimes its hard to keep 30 minutes to under an hour. That was my conversation with Ryan Popple, the CEO of Proterra. Most cars drive less than 40 miles per day which means the energy impact from EVs is less than a third of a mass transit without accounting for the scale of the energy density. If every bus were electrified, we’d all be better off and Proterra would be a big winner. Listen to my conversation with Ryan, here.
Big Storage, Big Money. What if I put out a press release saying that I was investing $8billion into energy storage over the next 17 years, think Reuters would pick it up? No, because it’s not news. Solar did north of $20billion last year and there aren’t enough projects for real capital providers out there. EDF could do $8billion, likely will do $8billion but if they don’t someone else will.
Do You Geothermal? Sometimes your friends leave solar and that’s sad. But sometimes they go and do cool things like join a Google X spinout and change the geothermal world. Congrats to the team at Dandelion for a big capital raise. Maybe geothermal wakeup is next?
Using PACE? It’s never been easier and more accessible. With States jumping on the PACE bandwagon, check your area and get a CleanQuote to see the latest pricing for PACE right from solarwakeup.com, just click on the link below.
Close To Last Call. Only 20 seats left for SolarWakeup Live! SF. Come spend the afternoon hearing our podcast get taped live and get yourself onto the podcast by asking questions to the guests. We’ll be in Pier 17, in a wonderful intimate space. Tickets here, WAKEUP20 for 20% off.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 28th, 2018
Proterra Electric Buses, Podcast. Sometimes a 30 minute interview goes an hour, and it could go another 3 hours. That’s when you know you have the right conversation on track. This is what happened when I interviewed Ryan Popple, the former Kleiner Perkins partner and CEO of Proterra. Proterra makes electric buses, which if you think about it, has the potential of changing transportation. Buses are the most predictable vehicle in the Country, same routes every day. Engineer them to perfection and you have a golden ticket to removing idling diesel vehicles from this segment. Frank breaks down the conversation and I hope you enjoy this episode.
What’s New At Suniva? Filings are fun, sometimes tidbits are dropped about issues that impact our industry. SQN Capital gave a cryptic update that could give some hints as to what is next for the Suniva assets. Frank has the story and we’re keeping a close eye on for you.
Postcard From Down Under. When Audrey Zibelman left NYSERDA to head to Australia, I was hopeful that this day would come, and her point is spot on. She says it makes no sense that a grid built before the internet would have the right rules for the grid of tomorrow. In the 90’s it was okay to use a dial-up modem and have rolls of fax papers while using trunk mounted cell phones. Now is time to create rules that enable today’s technologies from using their full potential.
Come On AZ. If you ever think our industry is without really powerful adversaries, you are mistaken. Our adversaries are embedded all over the place, legislatures and Governor’s mansions. That’s why nuance matters and why legitimizing opposition is something I call out. When I see someone posting on LinkedIn that sitting on a panel with EEI’s Tom Kuhn is an honor since he’s an icon, I cringe. Especially when this person is supposed to look out for the best of the solar industry. It’s important to remember these aren’t peace times in policy, solar, storage and renewables are threatening an industry worth trillions of dollars and have been untouched for a century.
There Will Be Opposition. Why are EVs bad for unions? The Hyundai union head has some harsh words about the disaster they represent to the existing workforce. Labor that builds transmissions and engines are going to find themselves looking for new parts of the supply chain to work on. Good prospect is that we can see this coming and it won’t be abrupt from one year to another.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 27th, 2018
Corporate, Startup, Research Partners. Great coverage of a corporate incubator being run by Wells Fargo. Wells was one of the first and remains an active tax equity investor in the solar space. It’s a quiet group but they get their MW done year after year. This incubator has an interesting tweak. It provides a grant to startups, most of which is used to leverage the team at NREL to provide research to the startup. No equity exchanges hands and the side effect is revenue to NREL which is always suffering from potential budget cuts.
Net Metering Works?! During net metering fights, we present studies and engineering reports that show distributed generation helps lower costs to all ratepayers. Studies are one thing, reality is another. CAISO is canceling over $2.5billion in transmission based on efficiency and distributed resources like solar. This saves all consumers money and proves our point. This also shows by net metering is fought against because it stops utilities from investing more into the rate base.
States And Cities. You can make the case that even when the Federal government is on your side, the States make the markets. Within the States you can argue that the Cities decide how good the market can be. Whether the market is within an IOU or a City owned municipal power company. If the muni is pro-solar or decides to go the opposite route. That is why I always argue that solar needs to focus on legislators that go from County boards to State seats, or attempt to. If they get away with being anti-solar at the local level to make friends with corporate influencers, they’ll do it even bigger. I’ve mentioned reaching out to your legislator, this doesn’t have to be your Congressman. Go meet with your City council member or County Commissioner, they’re very accessible to you and love to learn about local businesses, your issues and how they can help.
Gas, A Hope Or Pattern? Sometimes I write based on personal thesis especially when the headlines match my macro themes. Taking a step back, when facts fall into place several times over a pattern emerges. Everything around natural gas is moving so quickly, California pushes back on replacing peakers, Arizona moratorium, and suits moving forward. This isn’t about making a prediction around timing but I’d be hard pressed to see a future where gas isn’t replaced by renewables. I hope the regulators pause and review the trends.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for March 26th, 2018
In a rude turn of events, I have taken the lead in the SolarWakeup March Madness challenge. GE’s Ian Manchester and kWh Analytics’ Jason Kaminsky had a tough break with Duke’s loss. I am trailed closely by DSM Advanced Solar’s Nathan Arbitman and we have differing national champion selections.
Capital And Projects. Now that the uncertainty has been lifted from our industry from 201 and tax reform, I’ve been getting a lot of questions from you about project deal flow and seeking capital. Putting projects and capital together is the main way that this platform is able to sustain itself. If you are in the market for projects, some completely papered, or have projects looking for capital, then send me an email so I can try to connect the right people together.
SolarWakeup Live. Having met with the speakers from SolarWakeup Live! San Francisco last week, I am excited for the conversation. Marin Clean Energy is seeking more solar energy as well as storage contracts. CalCEF continues to create markets for innovative startups and giving them access to capital. Of course, CalSSA is hard at work to drive solar and storage policy forward in California. This is going to be a intimate gathering with California solar leaders that you don’t want to miss. Use WAKEUP20 as a way to get your ticket for 20% off. Register Here.
Are You In Illinois? Frank covers some of the Illinois news from Friday and I have the follow up. What are you focused on in Illinois? Grabbing land and securing interconnects? Working on the regulations for community solar? Or something altogether different? Help us guide the discussion about the market by letting us know.
EV Future. Most of the EV news have been positive, endless growth and investments. BMW is delaying their output however, which is likely just a bit of honesty in the cutthroat world of auto. Stay tuned for more podcast talk this week about electric vehicles.
A Right To Store. Congrats to the policy folks in Colorado for what I can only call the net metering of storage. More breakdown from Frank in the rundown.
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Yann