E025: SMART Program In Massachusetts and How Regulators View 201 Petition Risk with Mike Judge

MA DOER Releases 100MW RFP, Starting SMART, But Results Could Be Changed

• MA DOER has released the initial block procurement with a 100MW RFP ahead of the resolution of the 201 petition case which could increase the cost of solar modules significantly
• The MA distribution companies, that make up the SMART program, have selected CLEAResult as the administrator and the initial bidder conference will occur on November 17^th, 2017
• DOER has issued the final regulations and submitted them to the DPU to enact the tariff rules. DOER has requested the tariff to be created by June 1^st, 2018 but the process is ongoing
• The regulations from DOER and the RFP are meant to be final, however if the 201 case severely impacts the results of the program, DOER reserves the ability to make changes
• Developers are looking at their own situation for bidding strategy. Some bidders are considering submitting projects meant for SREC II as NEM cap increases seem unlikely and other bidders have modules reserved without 201 impact

On the 14^th of November, DOER released the RFP for the initial block of the much anticipated SMART program. The timing of the release was cause of many questions considering the shadows of the 201 petition which could affect the price of solar in Massachusetts. SolarWakeup covered many of these questions with Mike Judge, Director of Renewable Energy at DOER, during last month’s SolarWakeup Live! in Boston. The initial 100MW RFP is managed by the newly selected administrator, CLEAResult, and will set the clearing price for the initial set of solar projects. All blocks after the RFP will be benchmarked against this RFP making the pricing important for the entire program. As the 201 case is not fully resolved, bidders will have to predict its outcome or ignore it completely. Some developers commented to SolarWakeup that modules have already been procured which are not impacted by the outcome of the trade case. In the scenario that the case increases the cost of solar panels, future blocks of the program could result in underpriced tariffs for the solar generation as capital costs of installation increase. Mike Judge commented about this scenario to SolarWakeup, “We [DOER] do have the ability to make changes to the program if necessary. So if something really drastic happened, it's our reg, we can open that reg,” Mike continued, “we don't open regulations without careful consideration but we can take appropriate action if necessary.” DOER is hopeful that bidders understand the various outcomes of the 201 case and looks at changes to the regulations as an option of last resort. This doesn’t minimize the impact to the RFP results. Bidders with SREC II projects, some operating, could decide to bid those projects into SMART prior to electing SREC II compliance if they view the NEM cap increase as unlikely. Make sure to check out SolarWakeup Live! in D.C. on 12/6 and NYC late January. Make sure to subscribe to EnergyWakeup on your favorite podcast platform including iTunes, SoundCloud and Stitcher radio. Please subscribe and share with your friends how much EnergyWakeup is helping you. You can hear the full podcast here with transcript

This is your SolarWakeup for November 14th, 2017

Great Response. There are days I wonder if you are listening to anything I write but then there are days like yesterday. Over 1,000 of you went to the USTR site to make your comments heard. Plus I am sure many of you asked your colleague to do the same. Keep up the pressure and ask your partner companies to do the same. Use an engineer, a lawyer, an accountant that depends on your business to be successful? Send them the link today!

National Security. Jobs, consumer cost, and now national security – all worthy editorial content on why the 201 petition is bad for America. The military has been ahead of the game when it comes to renewable energy for far longer than the rest of the government. These op-eds are crucial to show the diverse and unanimous opposition to companies that look to destroy an industry for their own good.

No Sympathy To SolarWorld. This is the third time in the US that SolarWorld looks to step on hundred of thousand jobs for the enrichment of its investors and executives. During the second anti-dumping case, I publicly called for solar people to stop supporting SolarWorld by no longer buying their products. Unless there are consequences outside of this process, like no sales, SolarWorld will continue to find bailouts wherever possible. This includes all partners. Taking money to help advance the SolarWorld goals, means you are taking sides. Lawyers, accountants, marketers – run away and find business from the solar industry away from SolarWorld. That is the only way to stop this behavior that hurts us all. This may be an unpopular opinion but I doubt I am the only thinking it.

Pennsylvania SRECs. In-State SRECs only for Pennsylvania compliance. Let’s see how the market grows from here going forward, looking for 5 year strips to drive some growth in the market.

SMART Goes Live. You heard it hear yesterday and the interview with Mike Judge will get published tomorrow. SMART RFP has been released and bidding will start soon. Be wise with your strategy and how it overlaps with the 201 case.

Kerry Plots Legacy. It sounds like John Kerry is pushing emerging economies to look at other sources of energy besides coal, namely renewable energy. He was a rockstar at the Paris COP and pushing this agenda abroad is fantastic.

Bonn Bonn. The global community is not surprised by the lack of US involvement at the COP23 hearing. I continue to be amazed and surprised by the leadership from Governors like Jerry Brown and leaders like Mike Bloomberg (Go Hopkins!). We need more Cities and State level politicians to push for 100% renewable energy policies and local leadership on solar policies. As an industry, focus on changing the rules at your City Hall, it is a much easier and immediate path to market development.

Presented By NTCIC. National Trust Solar is a subsidiary of the National Trust for Community Investment Corporation.  We enable historic, new market and solar tax credit investments in support of communities nationwide.  Since our beginning in 2000, we have raised more than $1 billion in tax credits.  We are recruiting new sponsors and hiring for our dynamic team.

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Have a great day!
Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for November 13th, 2017

A Moment To Write A Note. You really have no choice, today is the day that you need to take a minute and forward an email to your team. If you didn’t know, Robert Lighthizer, is the US Trade Representative. He is the one that sits in the oval office and briefs the President on trade issues. The solar 201 petition is essentially passed the trade commission phase and moving into the Lighthizer hearing phase. This hearing is happening on December 6^th and while you will not be able to get into the hearing, you can send public comment. Here is your task for today. As each of your employees to write a comment and ask your customers to send one too. Together we can get 100,000 comments on behalf of the solar industry to Mr. Lighthizer. The link to comments is here, if you need a draft script, it is here.

Not What If but Would You? Everyone has done this math but it is time to execute. What if your employee cost went up by 5 cents per hour. $2 per week. What if your salary went down 5 cents per hour or $2 per week? $2 per week isn’t going to break your business or personal budget. On the other hand, if every solar professional provided 10 cents per hour to an advocacy campaign, I guarantee that your job prospect would improve and be saddled with less regulatory uncertainty. In theory, if I started a SolarWakeup advocacy campaign that was funded by our readers and their companies employees, we would have over $10million in annual budget. With that budget, we would have a mailing list of over a million American solar supporters and local officials would know better than to vote against solar. Call this SolarPledge 2.0. If 10,000 readers/employees commit to this, I’ll quit my other work and we can conquer the solar coaster together. Would you?

Power Markets & Solar. In my conversation with Tom Matzzie last week we spoke about his work in the power markets as an energy retailer. Part of being a retailer is matching generation with customer load through financial products common in the power markets. Those same products, outside of accounting rules, allow retailers to create their own synthetic community solar programs. Some cautionary messages from Tom on this as well but if you aren’t working with a retailer yet, you probably should be.

The MA SMART Program. This week you will hear the recording of my conversation with Mike Judge, Director of Renewable Energy at Mass DOER. Mike is in charge of the SMART program regulations draft and the auction process. The news he made at SolarWakeup Live! was that the RFP for the first block will come out this week or next. There was some hesitation in light of the 201 proceeding but if the SMART program were to start on time, next summer, the RFP has to go out now. Be aware that the auction could be skewed by developers that have protected modules without 201 tariffs meaning that any assumed increase of price you include could put you outside of the bidding norm.

Your Event. I want to thank MDV-SEIA for asking me to hold an interview at their event. If your group is hosting an event and want to chat about doing the same, I welcome the opportunity. House Versus Senate. Keep your eyes on the difference between the Senate and House tax bills.

DC Sponsors. Starting today you will see logos and links for Live! DC sponsors. I want to thank Standard Solar, MMA Energy Capital, NTCIC, GAF and True Green Capital for sponsoring. Please take a moment and learn more about their work.

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Have a great day!
Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for November 10th, 2017

Today is Veteran’s Day and a great time to thank all veterans working alongside us in the solar industry. I also want to thank the leaders that give opportunity and seek out veterans when the time comes to work as a civilian.

10 Minutes. 10 People. The trade rep hearing on the 6^th is a big deal. SEIA is likely to be planning some great and public participation that you should look for. In the meantime take ten minutes and get ten colleagues to do the same to send your comments to the trade representative about what this 201 petition means to you, your job and your company. 10 minutes times ten people. That’s what we need.

Rocking The Policy. Vote Solar is doing some pretty awesome things and getting involved in policy battles across the Country. They are also growing and adding superstars to the already stacked team, (much like the Miami Heat team a few years ago). Keep watching them, and their efforts.

Steyer. Is compiling quite the email list with his impeachment efforts. Moreover, with the likely tracking code on the website, he is capturing the Fox & Friends viewers that are coming back to his website. The retargeting I would do would then show a Facebook ad for Trump support with an email capture system there. Information warfare starts with someone clicking a link. The stated goal is 2million emails, which would give him almost 2% of the last election, which is a great place to start if you want to run any sort of issue campaign.

Painter’s Union. In this conversation with Tom Matzzie he tells the story of his time as a union organizer and his experience working with a painter looking to join the union. Painters had to spend many hours working on political related advocacy to advance their union. Learning to educate those that affect their business was classified as a requirement. If you compare the importance of policy in the painting sector versus solar, ask yourself the importance of investing the time to advocate.

Dollars In Dallas. This is a brutal headline for local politicians and may be the best news push of the 201 petition. Losing $100million investment in a single County is brutal for a county admin and this is happening across the South because of the trade case. If you know a project halted, at risk, let’s put it into the newspapers.

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Have a great day!
Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for November 9th, 2017

Live From DC! Big congratulations to the new and fantastic team at MDV-SEIA. They cover 3 (4) States and hosted their annual Solar Focus Conference this week. I had the opportunity to interview Tom Matzzie, CEO of CleanChoice at the conference and record it so you could listen as well. Tom is an amazing advocate and energy leader in our space using the power of the masses to advance renewable energy. I can’t wait for him to lead CleanChoice to 1 million customers. Tom and I are sharing some great ideas on advocacy which we will hopefully share soon!

10 Hours. In our conversation, Tom tells the story about the union painter having to spend certain amount of hours educating legislators. What would it take for you to spend 10 hours per month on policy like calling or meeting with legislators, volunteering on a campaign or educating regulators? Imagine if 275,000 solar pros spent 2.7million hours per month on policy, do you think we’d be fighting legislative battles right now?

Inverter Battles. There seems to be split happening in the microinverter battle between SolarEdge and Enphase. SolarEdge announced revenues of $166million, net income of $26million. On the other hand Enphase had revenues of $77million and lost $5.9million. The problem with technology is that winners take market share and the slide as the second place is difficult. I’d expect Enphase to pivot into something that separates the offering into another category so the comparison isn’t apples to apples and allows customers to think differently. If they don’t expect more of the split to happen.

Ratebasing Solar. There has been a flurry of requests for and investments in renewable energy. NV Energy is looking to approve PPAs at rates in the $30/MWh range. AEP, like NextEra, has focused on ratebasing renewable energy. The issue is that utilities aren’t truthful about what is best for the customers. A PPA in Florida or Ohio would likely have better rates than the LCOE to consumers, especially in the situation that would drive the utility to give zero capacity value for planning purposes and request additional gas power to make up capacity needs.

DER Data. Does anyone have data on demand side management, demand response programs run by investor owned utilities? This goes in line with capacity value for solar across distributed and central plants as I don’t remember the last time my DSM box was used for my AC unit in South Florida.

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Have a great day!
Yann

E024: Live From DC, Tom Matzzie, CEO of CleanChoice. Talk Power Markets, Community Solar And Policy

This is your SolarWakeup for November 8th, 2017

States Matter. A bit of a sweep across the NJ and VA elections as democrats have taken the mansion in NJ and retain it in VA. Solar is a bipartisan-supported issue at the voter level but GOP politicians have still hesitated to adopt pro-solar policies. To be fair, consumer cost has been used as an anti-solar excuse across party lines because the repercussion for not supporting solar isn’t there. But as our friends in Maryland would attest to, having a friendly vote in the Governor’s mansion goes a long way to passing legislation. Nobody wants to pass a bill against a veto threat.

280.Twitter now has a 280 character limit…

Solar Saves Lives.An important announcement yesterday about the future of energy in Puerto Rico and the rebuilding effort. In a call led by David Crane, President Bill Clinton announced the start of a coalition to raise funds and products to help bring energy to Puerto Rico and rebuild the grid in a better way. Solar Foundation is leading the operations and has set up the website solarsaveslives.org which gives you information on how to get involved.

Big Money Jobs. Cypress Creek Renewables has been making a lot of noise in the press recently. After announcing a billion dollars to be invested in Oregon, more coverage has come out on their investment in South Carolina. In coordination with the announcement, Cypress donated $25,000 to a technical college to build out the workforce. Investments and jobs are a good way to speak to policy makers.

Consumer Choice Modeling. It is interesting to see rating agencies look at the risk of consumers wanting something better as a negative corporate impact to companies like utilities. When the result of giving your customers something they want is negative to your business, your business model may be broken.

EV Tax Credit. Keep your eyes on the EV tax credit in the tax reform bill. Demand growth is the most important data point for power companies and cheaper EVs mean faster adoption which in turn creates demand growth. EEI is likely making or requesting that change on the hill right now.

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Have a great day!
Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for November 7th, 2017

I’m in DC for the MDV-SEIA Solar Focus Conference. Join me on stage tomorrow to kick off the conference with a discussion on power markets, growth of community solar and policy.
South Korea. Trump is in South Korea which last week threatened a WTO complaint if the US creates a tariff under the 201 petition. Korea could also go on the defensive considering they have an important share of the energy storage market, which the US needs access to. With everyone on the agenda, it is doubtful that solar makes the conversation but I hope that it does.
FERC is Full. The Senate has confirmed the two final nominees for FERC including McIntyre from Jones Day who will be the next Chairman of the regulatory body. Last week we published a conversation with Wellinghoff, former Chairman of FERC, in which he discussed the odd precedent of the chief of staff being appointed by the White House.
Coal. ERCOT, a closed but competitive power market in Texas, is saying (through pricing) that coal plants are no longer market viable. On the other hand solar projects are being financed and contracted by corporate, municipal and utility offtakers. Now, the same company that closed two plants is buying generation assets which include ERCOT coal plants by acquiring Dynegy and its 30GW of capacity (most of which is gas).
Coal Subsidies. The reporting has been focused on Murray Energy and First Energy with their push for coal subsidies (resiliency payments) under the NOPR that DOE is pushing at FERC. Rick Perry said the $10billion plus of extra cost to consumers is the price of freedom. I don’t follow his logic since gas is made here and the sun shines for free.
Ratebased Solar.Florida continues the path to let monopolies own more solar. Unlike other markets where the price of solar drops through competition, utilities in Florida are not incentivized to get the lowest cost of solar and take advantage of the tax credit or deductions.

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Have a great day!
Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for November 6th, 2017

First Speaker. SolarWakeup Live! DC is setting up to be a great lineup. Andrea Luecke, President and Executive Director of Solar Foundation, will be joining us on December 6^th. Solar Foundation performs the important annual solar jobs census which is currently underway and recently released a report on diversity in the industry. More speakers announced soon.
Power Markets. You probably agree that solar needs to become a more active participant in the power markets. Whether you are doing an off-site PPA or selling power on the wholesale markets, there are questions you want to be educated on. On Tuesday, I’ll have the CEO of a power retail company on stage and I want your questions. What do you want to know and what is important to your business?
Climate Report. In 1990, Congress passed the Global Research Act which led to the release of the updated National Climate Assessment last week. This is a report initiated as a joint effort of over a dozen agencies and brings the administration to the mainstream. “It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century,” Furthermore: “For the warming over the last century, there is no convincing alternative explanation supported by the extent of the observational evidence.”
Twitter Trolling. The Rick Perry comments last week brought out a bit of a Twitter troll in me because ‘smart’ people were agreeing with Perry’s comments. Many people were making the point that electricity is good for society and its fight against crime. The problem is that solving this issue doesn’t require fossil fuels. I quickly found myself getting targeted by an ‘academic’ for arguing with Perry’s flawed logic. Money buys access and academia is not immune from it – which saddens me for the students of School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan.
Electrification Design. If you had to design a way to bring energy to an un-electrified village in Africa, how would you do it? Take into account the levels of service: lighting, cooking, cooling, etc – how would it work in your design and how much would it cost?
Clean Air/Clean Water. Pruitt is dismantling scientific advisory boards and replacing members with people that say things like, “air is too clean, children need to breath more irritants, in order to learn how to fight them.” Why is this not a political risk for politicians? Clean air polls very well except campaign advisors don’t seem to think it risky.

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Have a great day!
Yann