Here’s What Happens When Utilities Rule The Roost

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: This is going to shock a lot of you, but utilities would like the solar industry to stop harping on net metering and move to what they call “rate design.” K Kaufmann, communications manager for the Smart Electric Power Association (the utilities’ arm of the solar discussion) (SEPA), lays out the case for why moving the conversation away from net metering will help utilities. Oddly, however, it doesn’t explain why there would be any advantage to the solar industry to move off net metering. SolarWakeup’s View:  Sometimes, the jokes write themselves. [wds id=”3″] … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for April 16th, 2018

SPI Host Says, Forget Net Metering. Rate design is a false flag meant to lure solar advocates into a discussion of how we move into a large solar integration conversation. By changing the conversation from simple net metering to a complicated discussion about fixed charges, SEPA is saying to you, forget net metering. Last year ~3GW was distributed versus almost 10GW in utility scale. Gutting net metering is a fight to take energy choice away from the largest source of energy demand, the buildings across America so that more rate base can be invested. The larger point is that almost $4million from the trade shows we all attend goes to fund this rhetoric and I’m a bit tired of the status quo. Fighting for net metering means that all solar has a chance and grows across all of the value chains and we can’t have half of our trade show money going to values that don’t align with 90%+ of the solar industry because what does it say about our values if we don’t spend it on likeminded ventures.

A Runaway American Dream. The era of Chris Christie is over, Governor Phil Murphy is in the house now! NJ is going big with an enhanced RPS, SREC fixes and a community solar program. All of that on top of the PJM market will likely create some new development opportunities in Jersey. I look forward to seeing how this plays out over the next few years.

Exhibit A. For the past week, you (the readers) have been clicking on the South Carolina story of the day which caused Frank to have to cover the daily play by play. That’s the interesting part of the second story, we don’t control the topic, you do! But look at what happened in South Carolina where solar advocates, including Sunrun which has been reaching across the proverbial aisle as much as anyone, asked for a cap increase while utilities were busy losing billions on unbuilt power plants. After losing the vote, utilities pushed for a crazy rule that required the NEM cap increase to be approved by 2/3 of the House. What picture am I missing?

Exhibit B. Germany had a renewable energy auction and solar won all of the contracts with an average rate of 4.67 euro cents per kWh. In dollars that’s about 6 cents per kWh and Germany doesn’t have an ITC and has higher income taxes. Germany also has a similar irradiance level as Washington State or Southern Alaska. That’s the problem with ratebased solar power, the private sector can do the exact same thing but better and cheaper without a double digit return. If I were a regulator, I would require any rate based renewable energy or energy storage to have to compete with an open RFP. Get the picture?

Exhibit C. Here’s the bigger picture. (TL;DR) The monopoly system doesn’t work anymore. The market is moving on to consumer and retail choice. Produce your own, procure responsibly; cheaply or do nothing and go with the wires provider. Nuclear is a good example, the utility sector is pushing to build new and consumers through legislators supported this. Then it required money so they approved advanced cost recovery. Then the delays happened, bankrupt suppliers and whistleblowers. Now solar with storage is less than 5 cents per kWh in sunny areas. Time to move on and let the market handle the 21st century. Picture that.

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Have a great day!
Yann

Are We Harping On South Carolina Net Metering? Yes, Because YOU Are

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: John Tynan, executive director of the Conservation Voters of South Carolina, penned an excellent op-ed for The State, expressing his … disappointment with the decision by the legislature to smother the solar industry in its crib by not removing South Carolina net metering caps. Some choice quotes: “H.4421 would have saved more than 3,000 solar jobs and ensured that the South Carolina solar industry will continue to thrive.” “It’s clear utilities will stop at nothing to continue to keep making profits. And when customers install solar panels, utilities lose revenue.” “… the utilities … Read More →

Back To The Future: New Jersey Starts Its Solar Return

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: The New Jersey legislature yesterday passed two bills – one in the House and one in the Senate – designed to jumpstart the state’s solar industry by: increasing the overall RPS to 50 percent by 2030 enabling a community solar program shutting down its problematic sREC program reducing the overall cost of the current solar Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) by lowering the Solar Alternative Compliance Payment. SolarWakeup’s View:  New Jersey has been quietly fuming as New York leapfrogged over it as a progressive state in the race for solar leadership. Well, yesterday, the … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for April 13th, 2018

We Want Solar. We’ve gotta stop being surprised when we see polls that show Americans wanting more solar. This isn’t just an environmental decision, it’s also one of control of cost and of self-reliance. A poll would likely show Americans preferring to disconnect from the grid but that’s a different topic. In a Q&A with Dan Rather last night, the first question came about science and climate change which makes me wonder where we fall short in spreading our message. A few years ago, a leading solar advocate told me that it doesn’t matter how much money solar has in its coffers, it would never win based on spending or campaign donations. Solar wins because of the people on the Capitol steps and marches in front of the PUC. I can’t help but think that all of these conversations we’ve had over the past few weeks about money vs values, that this advice is as true as ever and these polls are proof of that. Open the tent, it doesn’t have to be gold plated.

Solar Moves To EV Charging. GM is signing a deal with EVgo to get more fast charging done. EVgo is an interesting story with notable solar ties. EVgo was acquired from NRG, post David Crane, by Reuben Munger’s investment firm, Vision Ridge. Since then, in recent months, solar veterans Cathy Zoi (DOE, Silver Lake, SunEdison) and Julie Blunden (SunPower, SunEdison, CalCEF) have joined the company.

Do You DER? It seems that a gathering workshop on the FERC 841 order has attracted quite the attendees. Were you there? What was your takeaway?

Vehicle To Grid. Using your EV battery for distributed resources seems like a strange way to use an expensive battery in your car, causes all sorts of issues to the lease transaction and makes non-energy professionals have to trust a new market. Some companies are road testing this technology and I can see how this could work in the future. My guess is it happens in some fashion at some point.

MidWest Solar, Illinois. The Land of Obama is finally going solar (and other RE/EE). I am extremely bullish on early stage development in that region and see opportunities for all segments of this market. The politics could play well, as well as politics in Springfield could look at least. We will be announcing our dates and agenda for the Illinois event shortly, stay tuned.

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Have a great day!
Yann

EVs Will Start School Later This Year

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: Blue Bird Corporation, whose iconic logo you’ve probably seen on a school bus near you, is diving bravely into the future by unveiling the electric versions of its Type C & D configuration school buses. According to CleanTechnica, Blue Bird is reportedly the only U.S. company offering electric buses in those configurations. You could see these buses delivering your kids to school as soon as this fall. SolarWakeup’s View:  Pretty soon, you may not hear the churning of diesel engines as school buses stop at the end of your driveway to pick up … Read More →

Americans Tell Gallup: Develop More Solar, Please

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: Gallup’s annual Environment survey indicates that Americans want to develop more alternative energy sources instead of traditional fossil-fuel generation, to the tune of 73%. (Psst…Gallup….Lynn Jurich called and would like her conclusion back, please. Thank you.) In contrast, only 25% of the country is worried about the availability or affordability of energy in this country. And finally, more than half of Americans want to prioritize environmental conservation over fossil-fuel energy development (which may mean that, for now, the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve is safe from oil derricks). SolarWakeup’s View:  All I keep hearing … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for April 12th, 2018

See You In Charlottesville. I’m not the only one leaving town (I see you Paul Ryan). I’m on my way to Charlottesville to moderate a panel on solar investments and financing at the Tom Tom Festival. Let me know if you are in town for this.

Shame In SC. I thought  60-40 victory in the SC House would mean that a mild solar win for the industry was safe. BUT never underestimate the power of greedy monopolies, especially in Southern States. Using some crazy legislative tactics, the utilities got the House to reconsider the matter AND requiring a 2/3 margin to pass. This failed to happen and the bill died, for now, costing SC around 3,000 jobs. These jobs won’t come back in the nuclear industry, after that $9billion boondoggle, but hopefully legislative leaders will see a way to fix this. Frank and local news on the topic.

Monopoly Regulations. More on the topic of what monopolies should be allowed to do later but since SC happened, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the legislative power investor owned monopolies have through their lobbying. A monopoly is given to a private corporation for the public good, to have a responsibility to serve the consumer in the best way possible for key markets, energy being one. Having that privilege should come with restrictions, especially around influencing politics and participating in competitive markets that they could have an unfair advantage in. I believe, and most consumers would agree with me, utilities should be prohibited from lobbying and should be treated like non-profits that are only allowed to educate. No political fundraising or underhanded legislative tactics should be allowed by someone that already has 100% market share.

The Energy Show With Barry Cinnamon. Is now available on SolarWakeup. His latest episode about microgrids is here. We are excited to have Barry join the SolarWakeup community as we continue to grow and look forward to hearing his podcasts going forward.

More Murray Quotes. Another gem from Murray, saying “People will die in the dark” if coal goes away. Quite the opposite, no more mining accidents and cleaner air will mean society lives longer and solar will keep the lights on.

The Quiet Bus. If my kids could ride the Tesla electric bus, they definitely wouldn’t want me driving them to school. I discussed the school bus route with Proterra’s CEO in this podcast.

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Have a great day!
Yann

The Energy Show – What are Microgrids?

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The Energy Show, a podcast by Barry Cinnamon is now available on SolarWakeup We call our power system an electric “grid” because it is composed of a network of wires that move the power around from node to node – basically a combination of power sources (natural gas power plants, solar farms, nukes), wires (long distance transmission lines and local distribution utility poles) and controls. Microgrids are the same concept but on a much smaller scale. One example of a microgrid is a complex of buildings on an island. The power plant on an island has historically been a diesel … Read More →

Jigar Shah Speaks On The Future Of U.S. Solar, And He’s Optimistic

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent What Happened: Jigar Shah talked with GreenBiz writer Lucy Kessler to discuss how taxes and tariffs are going to affect the future of the solar industry. In the interview, he argues the “sky is falling” mentality the solar industry has surrounding President Trump’s ill-advised tariffs on imported modules is counterproductive and overblown. He also believes that while the tax-code changes may slow tax-equity financing in solar temporarily, the dust will settle once everyone understands the details of the law. SolarWakeup’s View:  Ever since I joined the solar industry in 2011, the name Jigar Shah has … Read More →