FERC Order Tips Scales Towards Fossil Fuels (Shocked, Not Shocked)

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) passed a rule by a vote of 2-3 (no, we’re not sure how that’s a thing either) that Tries to usurp the rights of states to set their own clean-energy goals. Privileges fossil fuels over renewable electricity sources by not accounting for the full value of energies like wind and solar. SolarWakeup’s View:  For the moment, let’s set aside the issue of the Republicans’ mythical support of “states’ rights,” which they largely ignore when inconvenient on a multitude of issues, to which you can now add electricity generation. … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for March 14th, 2018

COSEIA. Join me tomorrow in Denver as I interview the team behind the Clean Energy Federal Credit Union, a project years in the making. What questions do you want to hear answers to? How can the lending community help your business?

Taxes and Tariffs. We will be talking a lot more about tariffs this week but it’s clear that tax reform and tariffs had a huge effect on the year solar had in 2017. Now that those things are figured out, people are back to putting their heads down and getting stuff done. Question for you, what is it going to take for C&I to get into the multi-MW scale?

Semis and Buses. I am intrigued by the business opportunities that electric vehicles present in our energy future. Made more interesting by the deployment of electric semis and buses in fleets of the future. First, electric vehicles are simply better. Second, we have a lot of work to do to enable the fleets to not be affected by long duration charging. My guess is we are a few years from energy demand growing in the US.

He Is Back. Arnold, man of many accomplishments, has a major task ahead of him. He is suing the oil companies for their failure to disclose the health risks of climate change. Comparing it to the tobacco companies, he wants to use civil litigation to drive some change. I wonder if he’s been approached to help the solar space.

San Francisco. We will have some big news including another speaker for Wakeup Live SF this week, mark April 10th on your calendar to join your colleagues.

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Have a great day!
Yann

5 GW of Solar And Wind In Virginia? Yes, Please.

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed a sweeping electricity bill yesterday that had been championed by the state’s largest utility, Dominion Energy. The bill declares 5 GW of solar and wind development as being in the public interest. It also discusses how adding renewable resources will also modernize the grid. SolarWakeup’s View:  This bill shouldn’t surprise anyone. Shortly before he left office, former Governor Terry McAuliffe signed a raft of legislation to offer support for the solar industry across every segment, designed to encourage solar development in the state. From yesterday’s signing of Senate Bill … Read More →

Is DG Solar Cost Competitive With Utility-Scale Solar? One Analysis Says Yes

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: The Minnesota-based Institute for Local Self-Reliance, who employs one of the best DG analysts in the industry in John Farrell, have released a study that Proves that distributed generation is now cost competitive with utility-scale solar. The sweet-spot for project size is between 10 MW and 20 MW. SolarWakeup’s View:  The common narrative in the solar industry is that DG solar is still more expensive utility-scale. But an analysis by the Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR) says that a full analysis shows that narrative is simply wrong. Farrell’s analysis is worth reading for … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for March 13th, 2018

Old Grid, New Energy. Some of today’s best stories are on Twitter when an expert gives his take in the snippet format. Sometimes that information gets covered by our Frank Andorka (reminder: you can send anonymous tips from solarwakeup.com or email him or myself). In this case, he covered the responses by the various ISOs to FERC’s request for information about resiliency. This is part of the NOPR process we saw a few months ago. The takeaway, our grid isn’t made for new energy generation and wires are the weakest link. His story here.

Big Time Virginia Legislation. A big utility bill that passed the Virginia legislature and has now been signed by Governor Northam. Amongst the many issues this bill tackles, it declares 5GW of solar and wind development in the public interest. Bills like this take years to accomplish and solar’s role was in the weeds for much of that time. One of the people that I know was deeply involved in this is Scott Thomasson of Vote Solar. If you plan on doing business in Virginia, come say thank you in person at Equinox 2018. More coverage on this coming shortly, check solarwakeup.com in a few hours.

Overhyping Bad News. Yesterday there was an article about solar taking a break in California. It was the top story you clicked on and therefore we covered it. First, top gravitating to the bad headlines. Second, most of these articles are clickbait based on misread data. So we set the record straight in our afternoon story so that you get the complete picture.

RPS Ballot Initiatives. 2018 is going to be a big year for ballot initiatives. Amongst the many issues across the Country are three RPS questions being posed in Arizona, Nevada and Michigan. I’m optimistic that these questions will do well at the polls not only because of a wave but because people like the idea of more clean energy in the wake of closing power plants.

See You There? I am waiting for two confirmations of great interviews to join two already great solar leaders, Bernadette Del Chiaro and Danny Kennedy. The venue selection is going on now so if you expect to attend, get your tickets now. Event is on April 10th.

News

Have a great day!
Yann

Reports Of A Pause In The California Solar Market Are Greatly Exaggerated

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: Quartz Media’s Michael Coren read a Greentech Media report and pronounced that solar in California is overbuilt. At the same time, Coren contends there is plenty of solar in the pipeline. And the residential and commercial markets are still moving ahead. SolarWakeup’s View: What happens when writers who aren’t steeped in the inner workings of solar try to write about it? Bad information gets spewed out into the atmosphere and undoes whatever pollution control solar has done in the first place. Now, I’m sure sure Michael Coren can write rings around around me when it … Read More →

19th Century Grid Unsuited To 21st Century Electricity Distribution

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: The invaluable Michael Panfil, lawyer for the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), created a tweet-storm on Friday worthy of a president as the nation’s ISOs offered comments on the FERC resilience docket. In short With the exception of PJM, the regional ISOs say the weakest link in the current electricity-distribution system is in the wires connecting centralized generation plants to customers. More distributed generation with storage is the most likely solution to the problem. SolarWakeup’s View: Short version: A 19th century grid isn’t the most effective way to transmit electricity in the 21st century. That sound … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for March 12th, 2018

Prosumerism Consolidation. Before Innogy existed and E.ON split itself, RWE and E.ON were the German utilities trying to make sense of the new direction of the power economy. Germany led the way in solar before everyone else and eventually RWE and E.ON realized they had two distinct businesses. Power plants and consumer services. Both of them created a prosumer business, spun out from the parent company. Now, E.ON is acquiring innogy, the RWE prosumer business in a complicated transaction. For solar, especially in the US, it doesn’t mean much except for a bigger player on the block in E.On. Both entities have been investing heavily, more on that to come. Most notable units with the transaction is Belectric (owned by innogy) which appears to be heading to RWE once the transaction closes.

Vote Solar’s Michigan Report. Frank Andorka covered the report released by Vote Solar late last week. We’ve talked about the strategic shift in Vote Solar’s tactics to opine on issues that otherwise wouldn’t affect solar except now solar is a better choice for consumers. This report presents the data to make it so and hopefully the regulators will listen. These types of projects are not free nor cheap. Vote Solar needs your help to make markets like Michigan prosper so you can do business there. Join me and hundreds of solar friends at Equinox 2018 in San Francisco next week on the 22nd. Reminder: if you buy 10 tickets and send me the receipt, you get to write a paragraph here.

Storage Market(s). Make sure to catch my conversation about dc-coupled energy storage or read the write up from Frank. This was recorded at SolarWakeup Live! New York. A lot of hype about dc-coupled has got storage companies claiming big things but I spoke with one that has had it up and running for a year. If you are doing solar farms or C&I, you’ve got to be thinking about storage.

Oklahoma? My friends know that this is the State that I want to make the poster child of energy systems. So when I read about EV growth in Oklahoma and feedback from people that bought an EV, I get excited. OG&E and the other utilities have such a great opportunity to send us a postcard from the future.

SolarWakeup Live San Francisco. The second speaker to join us on the SolarWakeup Live! stage is Bernadette Del Chiaro, the Executive Director of California Solar and Storage Association. Everyone knows Bernadette and the work she’s done to bring CalSSA to where it is today. She is going to be a great conversation and will give us the insight on the legislative agenda ahead for the largest market in America. Get your tickets now, WAKEUP20 for 20% off.

March Madness Bracket. SolarWakeup is having the 1st annual March Madness bracket challenge and it’s free. Go to ESPN Tournament Challenge and search for SolarWakeup group. The password is GoSolar. The more folks we have, the more fun we will have. The winner gets to write the opening paragraph and promote their agenda, company or cause. Must have your bracket complete by Tip-off on the 18th.

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Have a great day!
Yann

Let’s Get High(er): GE Unveils 853-Foot Wind Turbine (Plans)

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: GE unveiled its latest wind turbine, the Haliade-X. It will Stand 853-feet tall. Have blades the length of a football field. Will, if all goes according to plan, will produce 67 GWh annually (Vox calls that “whackadoodle.”) SolarWakeup’s View: First off, let me say my first reaction to this story was, “Whoa – that is one enormous wind turbine.” But then it got me to thinking: When a utility retires a fossil-fuel-fired plant, how much wind and solar will we need to replace all that generation? The answer is a ton. When a plant is … Read More →

For Michigan, It Should Be All About Renewable Energy Jobs

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: A report by Vote Solar and the Union of Concerned Scientists revealed that if DTE Energy, a Detroit-area utility, implemented a renewable/energy efficiency portfolio instead of a $1 billion, 1,100 MW natural gas plant

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: A report by Vote Solar and the Union of Concerned Scientists revealed that if DTE Energy, a Detroit-area utility, implemented a renewable/energy efficiency portfolio instead of a $1 billion, 1,100 MW natural gas plant Would provide more than 10-times the number of construction jobs. Add slightly less than 4-times the number of permanent jobs. Would generate $213.5 million in local and state taxes and $41.1 million in federal taxes. SolarWakeup’s View: I love Vote Solar. The work they do to advocate for the industry almost flies under the radar unless you’re paying close attention, but … Read More →