This is your SolarWakeup for January 18th, 2017

Oh Nevada. I’m somewhat entertained by the fact that the solar industry is whining about what NV Energy is doing but not getting political about it. I don’t mean argue policy but pick a political fight. There is total nonsense going on about energy savings and how people with solar shouldn’t get savings. In translation, it means that the utility is producing less electrons that it can add to the demand growth and build more infrastructure. I really hope that people drop the good guy act and throw our weight around. 80%+ support amongst both parties, solar should be a third rail for politicians except we don’t make them pay the price.
What’s the deal NY? I can think back to many years ago and someone is pitching me on the idea of solar in New York. When is it really going to pick up so people can actually get some things done outside of key projects that are pushed through the political arena? Someone please get the REV or whatever other policy the regulators want into the market.
Peak Coal? China just called the top of the coal market and is canceling 104 coal plants. The country was famously adding a coal plant per week Now that total coal usage is going down in China and the US will continue to decline, I think it is safe to say that coal consumption on a global basis will also reduce over time. Of course, we need to do more to eliminate those plants, and that is why we cover the importance of baseload solar/battery stations that can do exactly that.
What’s in an RPS. Every solar pro should be walking around with the latest DOE employment report. Solar and renewables are responsible for the vast majority of all job growth in the electric power sector. Solar is bigger than most other fossil segments, combined. 370k people spend time in solar and that is why Governors, who actually have to run the State and pass a budget, are looking at strengthening the RPS’s in their States. I’m sure some States will play politics and potentially try to reduce them but for the most part, RPS’s are looking good to Governors from both parties.

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for January 17th, 2017

No Commentary. It’s just too funny not to make it the number 1 story today but I continue to be amazed what politicians can dream up.
Solar jobs, jobs, jobs. DOE is out with the second annual energy employment analysis and the numbers create some political reality for DC. They may not care much but when it comes to the electric power sector, more people work in solar than any other fuel. Over 370k Americans spend all or part of their time within the realm of solar energy. Take that to the next legislative debate you have.
PR sets the bar high. I’ve become a bit jaded. When I read an article about solar or renewables in national papers like the NY Times, I wonder who pitched the story. Someone pushed the story so that a message was put out and in this case the article is all about how AES is excited about the crucial job energy storage is going to perform in California. No fossil fuel plant with much bigger capacity goes through the PR of this level to set the bar of importance this high. It makes me think that any minor issue will be covered with the same lens which perhaps is the intent of this article, to set the bar high.

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Yann

These are the top 10 most read solar articles by your peers this week!

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for January 13th, 2017

Growth by decline. The data comes out every year. Massive capacity growth across the world but lower capital deployment. With modules at low 30 cents, who would think that you can get more with less? Focus on the GW top line but also note that you’ll more deals to get your investors happy.
Enphase gets more money. Private capital into a public company doesn’t usually mean positive news but hey it’s solar and winter season is never pretty. On the other side, the investors are high end and Enphase makes a good product that needs more runway to get scale. The one piece of concern is the end of the article, some of the funds will be used to hire consultants on how to get more demand globally.
NV Energy goes for it again. First off, NV Energy policy folks need to listen to the EnergyWakeup podcast. We covered their overreach tactic this week here, but it seems that they continue to get bad advice from their lobbyists. NV Energy wants the PUC in Nevada to undo the net metering for the Northern part of the State. The policy was just put back into place in December. Maybe the company should focus on its baseload in the Casinos that continue to leave their service, solar on every home in the State wouldn’t get close to that kind of demand reduction.

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for January 12th, 2017

EnergyWakeup. Your feedback has been incredible and hearing everyone’s positive thoughts on the podcast is great. If you haven’t caught episode 2, here it is.  You can subscribe to it on iTunes, Souncloud or Stitcher radio.
Tillerson echoes corporate talking points. Rex Tillerson, the CEO of Exxon, has spent his entire professional career at Exxon. While Exxon is currently under investigation for covering up early climate science, the CEO was vocal at the time of the Paris climate deal signing that Exxon stood behind the international community’s deal. In a different arena, the US Senate hearing room, Tillerson did not go so far to back the accords but also failed to say that he would push the administration to withdraw. Even saying that the entire global community needs to work to fight climate change.
SunEdison drama continues. At this point it appears only the restructuring advisors and paid board members are making any money dragging this story out. Brookfield Asset Management is still interested in buying the yieldcos and replace SunEdison as the sponsor on the projects. Assuming that the offtakers and capital providers are okay with the qualified sponsor transfer, Brookfield is stepping into deals that only a few companies would be able to. That would explain the reason for offering a share price below the public market valuations.
A solar drone gets parked. Google had made an investment into Tital Aerospace to build a solar drone capable of beaming internet to the masses. That program is now shut down and most of the leadership has left the company. Facebook has also been working on a similar program actually getting a plane off the ground but not without some trouble. As battery costs come down, the efficiencies should make this sunshot a doable program.

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Yann

EnergyWakeup – Episode 2 – Bryan and I discuss the Trump Energy Cabinet and the fight in Arizona

In this episode, Bryan and I go over the latest in the Trump cabinet and how those picks affect the solar and cleantech space. When it comes to politics, there are inside and outside influences that can affect the outcome, listen to this episode to see where companies should be paying attention. California is transitioning to NEM 2.0 and Arizona may be setting a precedent on how utilities could slow play their attacks on solar. This episode is sponsored by MMA Energy Capital, provider of development, construction and project level debt. If you are searching for a great partner with capital, let them know you heard about them on EnergyWakeup. [soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/301973508" params="color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=false&visual=false&show_playcount=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]

This is your SolarWakeup for January 10th, 2017

A new EnergyWakeup. Stay tuned as a new episode gets released, an email will be sent as soon as it hits the airwaves. Remember to subscribe on iTunes and leave a rating.
SEIA moves ahead. Welcome Abby Hopper as the new CEO and President of SEIA. She takes over for Tom Kimbis who has been the interim President and will return to General Counsel and Executive Vice President. Hopper led the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and prior to that the Maryland Energy Administration. She will start next week, just a few days before Donald Trump takes the oath of office.
The States reconsider. After making some anti-solar decisions, it seems that some blowback is occurring. Arizona and Nevada are going back to look at how to alleviate some of the tension. In Nevada that means looking at reinstatement of net metering in Las Vegas service area and Arizona has to fix the grandfathering rule is recently created. In our podcast, we cover how the baby step efforts to attack solar may be getting some traction.
More nuclear policy. Sometimes I get the feeling that nuclear policy may be the way solar gets some opportunities to advance its own policy across the Country. Whether it is DOE or at the State (see IL) and now NY, solar could grab on to some of the subsidy bills that work to bailout the operators. Look at this in the same way we identified the oil embargo as an opportunity to attach the ITC. Stay tuned on this.

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for January 9th, 2017

Sentiment matters. Journalists are trying hard to find trends in thoughts when stories don’t exist in news. I appreciate that the New York Times is trying to showcase that investors are looking at cleantech as the wise investment going forward, that’s not news however. The problem is that in every regulation, an additional level of doubt will be priced in. What if this, what if that? A dollar here, a dollar there and you may start talking about real money.
What is happening in storage? Seriously, I want to know. I get the trend in residential but what is the market? How big is it? Where does it make financial sense for the consumer? The money for 3^rd party products is crazy expensive still, so the scale must be small. I want you to tell me where that market is going because as much as it seems to be solar in 2007, I feel like we are skipping over a few steps.
If A then B, maybe. I am fairly certain that no new coal power plant will be built in the US, ever. (send me a note if you disagree) I also think that outside of some constraint electricity markets, a deregulated natural gas power plant will have some trouble getting money. How would the fuel hedge happen, if at all? So obviously, the focus of new power is in the regulated power markets where consumers provide the fuel hedge free of charge. I caution anyone in solar to mistake the concerns in the fossil markets to mean that the money will automatically flow to renewables. I don’t see that happening because the investor mindset is completely different.

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for January 6th, 2017

Recapping the crossed chasm. Obama released cabinet exit memos yesterday including the one from the Secretary of Energy. Moniz highlights the market leap in solar over the past 8 years under the Obama administration. I’d add that the Bush admin gets some credit for signing the original 30% ITC into law a decade ago. Now let’s push Perry to let the markets thrive. Let all energy compete like in ERCOT.
It wasn’t a secret. I guess we need to send the next EnergyWakeup podcast to Bloomberg because it wasn’t a secret to anyone that listened who Thomas Pyle was. The associations he leads are a front for the free market, read anti-solar, dreams of some in the coal and gas sectors. DC works in weird ways, often associations have the insight pathway to influence the right offices and staffers.
Good news for climate ratings. Bill Nye is getting his own climate change show similar to Years of Living Dangerously on Netflix. This means that the second season of Years is doing really well in the ratings with the demographics that are attractive to Netflix. If climate documentaries are driving viewers to the networks, expect more of them which is a welcome sight for this writer.

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Yann

This is your SolarWakeup for January 5th, 2017

The Association shuffle. January will have plenty of news when it comes to national trade associations but for now the small ones (SEFA) will become part of SEIA. This is in line with what happened to the Solar Alliance a few years back. The trade association game is difficult and mostly about fundraising especially in an industry like ours where policy is defensive and margins are slim.
Optimism be damned. Focus on rhetoric. Brad Plumer is right, the climate activists are trying to find the positive side of the Trump administration. The issue with that approach is that it assumes no political action from the minority side. Energy and climate advocates should focus on three things: more solar, clean air and clean water. Anything else becomes a debate, the only ones against those three things pay off politicians and that’s a fight we can win.
California keeps plugging in. Through the first 10 months of 2016, 128k systems were interconnected in California. Now comes NEM 2.0 and energy storage in the Country’s leading market. There could be a dip coming out of the first quarter as consumers are educated on the new policies. Keep watching the CSI numbers to see if the trajectory trends in a different direction.
Getting into the global markets. As Innogy finishes its acquisition of Belectric, you can expect more of this to happen across the world. Access to retained dealflow across global markets ensures that companies can whether the ups and downs of the individual solar markets.

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Have a great day!
Yann