Liberty Utilities Wants To Own Your Behind-The-Meter Battery System (And Why That’s A Bad Idea)
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Liberty Utilities, New Hampshire’s largest utility currently has a docket before the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission that sounds like a good idea. At issue is the state’s largest pilot program in history that would allow New Hampshire solar users to install batteries at no cost to them. Sounds good, right? And although the intent of the program – to see how batteries will affect grid resiliency and performance – is pretty benign, solar advocates in the state have concerns about the size of the program and what it could mean for the long-term future … Read More
sPower and CleanPowerSF Sign Long-Term PPA for 100 MW of Solar
sPower, the largest private owner of operating solar assets in the United States, has signed a 22-year, 100 MW solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with CleanPowerSF, a California Community Choice Aggregator (CCA) managed by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) that serves the City and County of San Francisco. The energy will be sold from sPower’s San Pablo Raceway Solar Project located in Lancaster, California. San Pablo Raceway is expected to be commercially operational in 2019 and generate enough renewable energy to power over 87,000 average San Francisco households. The project will create approximately 500 positions during its construction and 10 full time positions during operation. “We are thrilled to partner with sPower and deliver on our promise to invest in renewable energy projects and ensure clean, safe and reliable energy for our customers for years to come,” said Barbara Hale, SFPUC Assistant General Manager for Power. “We are excited to partner with CleanPowerSF to provide clean renewable solar energy for San Francisco,” said Hans Isern, SVP of Power Marketing at sPower. The San Pablo Raceway Project will be part of sPower’s large solar portfolio in the Antelope Valley, which totals over 600 MW. This is the fourth PPA sPower has signed with CCAs in California.sPower, the largest private owner of operating solar assets in the United States, has signed a 22-year, 100 MW solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with CleanPowerSF, a California Community Choice Aggregator (CCA) managed by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) that serves the City and County of San Francisco. The energy will be sold from sPower’s San Pablo Raceway Solar Project located in Lancaster, California. San Pablo Raceway is expected to be commercially operational in 2019 and generate enough renewable energy to power over 87,000 average San Francisco households. The project will create approximately 500 positions during its construction … Read More
Despite True Believers, EXPERTS Say Trump Nuke Bailout Could Cost $17 Billion Per Year In Overly High Electric Bills
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent No matter how many utility executives say, “We don’t have enough information to decide whether the President Trump nuke bailout is a good idea yet,” the people who know stuff – you know, experts – have weighed in, and the news is not good. At the same time Exelon’s CEO was telling a crowd at the Edison Electric Institute’s annual meeting that no one had any idea whether Trump’s plan to mandate that grid operators buy electricity from failing nuclear and coal plants was a good one yet, the Nuclear Information & Resource Service (NIRS) … Read More
This is your SolarWakeup for June 7th, 2018
How Big Will Florida Be? Big! Here’s a couple of things to consider when you think about Florida. First, it’s a really, really big State. It takes 8 hours to drive from Miami to Tallahassee which justifies the 3rd highest usage of electricity in the Country. Second, the building codes here are as tough as they come because of a long history of hurricanes destroying homes. As such, the building officials care about the installation methods and products used, so I expect a quick stop to any subpar installation methods. Third, and most important, ‘everyone’ in Florida wants solar on their home. This is based on being in the Sunshine State and the fact that Floridians have a unique view on consumerism, more on that soon.
Consumers Come First For IPPs. NRG is shedding its power plants, the fossil ones this time. Earlier, NRG had announced it was selling its solar business to a private equity invest at the pressure of an activist investment firm. Getting rid of fossil fuel power plants is the trillion dollar game of hot potato for IPPs and that was foreseeable years ago. Much of the David Crane strategy centered around de-carbonization of the fleet but was also rooted on the fact that coal was finished. This time Wall Street is buying into the strategy, given that that customers are as well. Next step is getting back into EVs so that NRG comes full circle and gives Crane a board seat for his vision.
A Story About Tesla. It’s not all race cars and rocket ships at Tesla. At the shareholder meeting, Tesla announced it has reached a cumulative energy storage capacity of 1GWh. Given the average size of the systems, that is quite impressive and adds a level or storage scale to the company trying to lower the cost of batteries for car buyers. Look back at today as a funny milestone, because it’s so small, compared to what’s coming up.
What’s Next For Trump’s Coal Bailout. The immediate next step is likely a hearing or directive from FERC to the ISOs that will be subject to the coal bailout. It’s also indicative of the absurdity that Exelon came out with a statement against the policy. Good coverage from GTM on the legal aspects of the case.
The Jobs Of The Future. Not too many Wells Fargo carriage coachmen around anymore. That’s what happened when Ford came out with the Model T and the innovation that followed. Solar and wind plus batteries will replace much of the central power plant portfolio. Each time the innovation changes a fundamental sector, jobs have to adapt. The blacksmith became a toolsmith and so on. The same is true for internal combustion motor manufacturing sector, it is going to go away as EVs take the segment over. That is a reality of the future of work, but it isn’t going to happen overnight and economies must plan for it.
Sponsor SolarWakeup Live! Chicago. Join a great crowd of sponsors and attendees for the Chicago event on June 21st. We have a few more sponsorship slots left, email me for more info. Tickets at solarwakeuplive.com
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Yann
The City of Pratt, Kansas will be powering 10,000 homes with solar power
Inovateus Solar, Kenyon Energy and the City of Pratt, Kansas announced today the upcoming solar farm project (6MW) located on the North East Corner of town. Half mile North of 54 highway on NW 20th Ave. The awarded project will produce 12.6 MWh annually, enough to power 10,000 homes and offsetting over 23 million tons of CO2 emissions. "The City of Pratt is a highly diverse community moving in a progressive direction, supporting extensive growth and business opportunities. For these reasons, we are very pleased to announce our partnership with Inovateus Solar to lead in our region with the utilization of clean energy sources," said Doug Meyer, Mayor of Pratt. The construction of the solar project will start in June and is expected to begin commercial operation in January, 2019. The project is contracted under a 15-year power purchase agreement, with Pratt's utility power plant for 100% of the array's output. Construction will be managed by Inovateus. "Kenyon Energy is very pleased to partner with Inovateus Solar and the City of Pratt on this exciting solar energy project," said Clay Biddinger, Chairman & CEO of Kenyon Energy. "This project is creating tangible economic and environmental benefits for Pratt's citizens and local businesses. We continue to develop solar energy projects similar to this throughout Kansas and encourage other cities and municipalities across Kansas to reach out if they are interested in benefiting from solar energy." Another benefit from this project is to provide Pratt Community College with assistance in the development of a solar program. "We are impressed by the enthusiasm expressed by city officials as well as Pratt Community College in the creation of a solar program. This aligns really well with our core values to continue educating and promoting the use of solar technologies," said Jordan Richardson, Business Development Manager at Inovateus Solar.Inovateus Solar, Kenyon Energy and the City of Pratt, Kansas announced today the upcoming solar farm project (6MW) located on the North East Corner of town. Half mile North of 54 highway on NW 20th Ave. The awarded project will produce 12.6 MWh annually, enough to power 10,000 homes and offsetting over 23 million tons of CO2 emissions. “The City of Pratt is a highly diverse community moving in a progressive direction, supporting extensive growth and business opportunities. For these reasons, we are very pleased to announce our partnership with Inovateus Solar to lead in our region with the utilization … Read More
Was David Crane Right? (Yes. Yes. He Was.): NRG Energy Sheds Power Plants In Favor Of Consumer Focus
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent NRG Energy shed David Crane in 2015, blaming the company’s financial struggles on the former CEO’s decision to dive head-first into renewable energy and focusing on how consumers wanted to get their electricity instead of focusing on propping up the old centralized utility model. Turns out, maybe Crane had a point. Reuters reports the company is now eliminating more than half its power plants to focus more on the retail side of the business. As new CEO Mauricio Gutierrez told the wire service: NRG started as a generation company that moved into retail and some … Read More
The Florida Market Hypergrowth – Sunrun Formally Announces Its Florida Leasing Plans
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Sunrun officially announced its Florida leasing package only two months after getting its declaratory statement from the Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC) that would allow it to lease solar systems without penalty. When the FPSC in April formally allowed Sunrun leasing customers to avoid becoming regulated utilities, the company formally announced that Florida residents can start receiving Sunrun leasing’s solar-as-a-service and Brightbox home battery beginning tomorrow. As hurricane season approaches, the battery backup systems should be attractive to Florida customers. “Freedom is a value Americans hold dear,” said Lynn Jurich, CEO and co-founder of Sunrun. … Read More
This is your SolarWakeup for June 6th, 2018
Are You Registered? Our Chicago event is coming up soon and you will not want to miss this because the who’s who of solar is flying in for the full day event. Get your tickets at solarwakeuplive.com and do it quickly because only about half of the tickets are left. This will definitely sell out before event day.
What Can A Major Do For You? My operating assumption is that the solar and storage ecosystem is going to be surrounded by ‘majors’ from oil, auto and energy. Look at the cap tables for energy storage companies that haven’t been acquired yet, it’s the who’s who of anyone that things the future of energy is based on intermittent generation. Look at the solar companies that have regional or segmented platforms and they are being acquired to be turned into a bigger platform to achieve goals like deploying capital or tax liabilities. What would your company look like if a major corporation invested or bought it, what would it allow or deny your team to accomplish?
Can Puerto Rico Attract Investment. I worry about Puerto Rico, even a year after Hurricane Maria destroyed much of the infrastructure. The problem isn’t about what can be done or what should be done. My concern is how it can be deployed financially. Puerto Rico isn’t in a financial position to spend the billions it takes to rebuild with renewable microgrids and it hasn’t fixed the underlying credit problem that would allow outside investors to be comfortable with the risk.
China Slows, What’s Next? This is the question I asked myself all day yesterday. If China’s market slows and there is an oversupply of modules what does that mean for the US market. This could spell a 2018 where prices reduce dramatically in the US from the oversupply but it could also mean issues around supply chain that can be bad for quality. Stay tuned…
A Greener Hawaii. Forget 100% renewable energy, Hawaii is looking to go carbon neutral in the next 20 years. Lots of work ahead but definitely achievable for this island paradise.
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Yann
Something About Babies And Bath Water: Big Oil Could Help The Renewable Transition If We Let Them (So Says The Fool)
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent According to Maxx Chatsko at The Motley Fool, it may not pay for renewable energy advocates to fit Big Oil for the Snidely Whiplash top hat and cape. It seems they are investing billions of dollars into renewable energy research that could help make a 100% renewable future possible – but only if they’re allowed to continue their work. The argument is all about scale. While solar is spreading like wildfire of its own accord, building an infrastructure like the one Big Oil already has in place would take decades (if not centuries). Plus, solar … Read More
EV Charging Earns Nearly $1 Billion In Investments In California, New York
By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent There just might be something to this electric vehicle (EV) revolution after all – at least New York and California seem to think so. Greenbiz is reporting that between the two states, nearly $1 billion will be spent adding EV-charging stations to the nation’s infrastructure. In California, more than $750 million of public money is being invested in three of the state’s largest utilities, while in New York $250 million is being allocated to the New York Power Authority (NYPA). As the invaluable Katie Fehrenbacher notes in her article, the decision to invest with utilities … Read More