Have a great weekend!

• CBS: New Orleans will require COVID vaccines or negative tests for bars, Superdome and more
• The Hill: Pelosi breaks bad news to moderates – No vote on infrastructure this month
• Energy Storage News: Stem Inc affirms 2021 guidance despite US$100m loss reported in first quarterly results since public listing
• Utility Dive: As Senate passes infrastructure bill, Democrats eye opportunity for more energy spending
• Bloomberg: Blackstone to Invest as Much as $500 Million in Solar Firm Array
• Axios: Bill Gates pledges $1.5B for climate projects with Energy Department
• Reuters: RWE CEO – don’t believe in renewable megadeals in next years
• PV-Tech: US solar manufacturers secure DOE funding to help develop innovative tech
• Solar Power World: Nexamp expands into utility-scale solar development market

Opinion

• Canary Media: We need gargantuan investment in EV charging stations. Where will the money come from?

Best, Yann

A Budget Resolution. The Senate passed their budget framework which sets up the reconciliation path and the House is expected to do their framework week of August 23^rd. This sets up for the committees to put their language together in time for Biden’s September 15^th deadline. This $3.5trillion spending bill has some goodies in it, we’re talking some real money in this one!

Reading The Infra Bill. Some of you, correctly, pointed out that I was not exuberant about the bipartisan infrastructure bill and that there is also real line item spending for our industry namely $65billion for grid and transmission infrastructure and $7.5billion for EV charging. Not a bad down payment. Also, asking for a friend, do you think transmission includes software enabled energy storage adoption?

Electrify And Solarize. California is moving to electrify all new commercial properties and require multi-family properties to have solar with storage. This is a move in the right direction but for some reason the California policies don’t all seem to sync up with the goals outline by this policy and SB100. More to come on this

The EV Charging Revolution. Electrification of buildings and moreso transportation is not just a shift in fuel source that lowers carbon emissions. It changes the supplier of the fuel largely moving from oil majors to utilities. If you think about it, those two trillion dollar markets have never really competed head to head. While there has been overlap, they’ve stayed out of each other’s way for over 100 years. That is going to change!

Public Companies Maturing. Being a public company isn’t always easy and rosy but even with good market indicators and complex challenges facing them, I think solar and cleantech public companies are doing a good job maneuvering their way around the market. Keep up the great work everyone!

• Politico: Senate adopts budget that paves way for $3.5T spending plan
• PV-Magazine: Solar highlights in the Senate’s $3.5 trillion budget proposal
• Energy Storage News: ‘Tremendous investment’ – US bipartisan infrastructure legislation puts billions into energy storage
• Canary Media: California takes bold steps to make electricity the fuel of choice for new buildings
• Utility Dive: California utilities, clean energy groups urge CPUC to move quickly following Newsom’s emergency call
• Axios: Exclusive – Strange bedfellows come together on EV charging
• PV-Tech: Shoals Technologies reports record Q2 revenue despite components slide
• CleanTechnica: U.S. Department Of Energy Awards $45 Million To Advance Solar Manufacturing

Opinion

• Reuters: California’s clean grid may lean on oil, gas to avoid summer blackouts

Best, Yann

• Politico: Biden scores a bipartisan win. Even his team isn’t ‘Pollyannaish’ about more.
• Utility Dive: FERC requests more evidence of reliability impacts as Spire STL pipeline seeks temporary approval
• New York Times: Biden Finds a Bipartisan Victory, but Democratic Unity May Prove More Elusive
• Axios: IPCC’s journey from “probable” to “unequivocal” on human-caused warming
• Reuters: Canada’s Heliene opening its second U.S. solar panel factory
• Grist: The Dixie Fire is moving too fast for California’s emergency alert systems
• PV-Tech: US Senate passes landmark infrastructure bill as attention turns to solar ITC extension
• Canary Media: Ambri’s liquid metal battery digs up $144 million in storage investment gold rush

Opinion

• PV-Magazine: Standard Solar installs one of New York’s largest community solar + storage projects

Best, Yann

IPCC Sounds Climate Alarm. It’s getting hot out there and scientists are saying it’s all coming earlier than previously expected. When my favorite sports podcast starts talking about climate change and rising oceans sinking Miami, you know that climate concerns are getting mainstream. Unfortunately, there is no correlation to the political reality of anyone really giving enough thought to how to actually avoid this outcome. Read the details because I can’t do the scientists justice in how to accurately portray the red alarm.

Budget Bill Timeline. Schumer released the plan for the budget bill and the plan for getting it to the Senate with a goal timeframe of September 15^th. This is the target for committees doing their legislative work but largely ignores the House and how they will package the bipartisan infrastructure bill with the budget bill. Will Pelosi sit on the bipartisan bill for 6 weeks or more?

Stranded Not Stranded. Stranded assets is how the market defines coal and gas power plants that are losing their value beyond the current contracts when cost of production exceeds value of generation. I see energy storage being the savior to stranded assets or at least the perceived value of those sites. Land plus interconnection are the two ingredients most crucial to a storage asset, particularly in competitive power markets. Look for those asset owners to make a big run and install storage assets on those sites and unstrand those investments.

Helioscope Acquired. Congrats to Paul and Paul at Folsom Labs. From the empty office in the Genability office to the pioneers of digital layouts, you made your mark on the solar industry for a long time. Getting acquired by Aurora makes sense and I look forward to seeing how you build the next generation with even more resources.

• The Guardian: Major climate changes inevitable and irreversible – IPCC’s starkest warning yet
• Vox: The devastating new UN report on climate change, explained
• Axios: World leaders, activists react to “sobering” UN climate report
• New York Times: Senate Democrats Begin $3.5 Trillion Push for ‘Big, Bold’ Social Change
• Utility Dive: Push for green energy could strand more than $68B in coal and gas assets, S&P says
• PV-Tech: ReNew Power signs PPA for ‘India’s first’ round-the-clock renewable energy project
• RMI: We Have Solutions to the Climate Crisis. Now We Must Act.
• Solar Power World: Aurora Solar acquires Folsom Labs in big solar software move
• Canary Media: Why rooftop solar leader Sunrun chose a utility executive as its next CEO

Opinion

• PV-Magazine: Who is working against distributed solar – State campaigns in the East

Best, Yann