Busted Brackets. I was going to make fun of all of you that picked Illinois to win it all but then Florida went and watched too many family guy clips about Oral Roberts. My championship game remains intact but I guess we’re all assured of a bad year in picking. That is except for our leader, who must reveal their identity to get mid bracket credit, for being in the top echelon of all brackets including having still every Elite Eight team alive.
The Good And Available Jobs. The political pendulum always swings wildly before the pen hits paper and when it comes to infrastructure/climate/renewables/jobs, this time it will be no different. There are many things that can differentiate the value of a job but here is a list of things that happens to be true about jobs in our industry right now. 1. everyone and their competitor is hiring. A few months ago the green light to staff up for the 2021 plan and recapture lost positions from 2020 was given and the job postings are plentiful. 2. Jobs aren’t just checking off the salary box but also the culture, mission and values of those companies is being driven by this competitive market. Recruits are choosing their bosses and companies while determining their best path forward. 3. Jobs in renewables pay incredibly well and have the perks to back them up. Not only do they pay well, they have a positive impact on the world and a bright future for many years to come.
Climate Diplomacy. US and Chinese diplomats met in Alaska for a face to face meeting. Climate was discussed and while there was some hope for a working group to be established, it wasn’t. There were some higher level tensions in the room so climate may actually be a topic where some agreement can be found early on. Let’s see how Blinken and Kerry tag team this effort.
Don’t Call It A Comeback. Some positive movement on PURPA facilities that should make this a viable market going forward, especially in solar plus storage facilities. Look out for the trifecta of tracking solar with storage coming to a neighborhood near you.
Repeal And Replace. Power plants, starting with the ones closest to population centers will be shut down and replaced with cleaner generation and storage in a much more distributed way. I’m saying that the facilities will range from large central solar with grid scale storage, smaller solar farms as you get closer to the demand and then DERs at the demand location. All operated in a systemwide way using smarter and faster pricing signals. We call this the future of ClimateTech.
Financing The Plus+. Solar + Storage PPAs continue to gain momentum among commercial energy consumers. My C&I solar friends at Sustainable Capital Finance (SCF) have a great solution for schools, municipalities, non-profits, and commercial & industrial projects. SCF will be hosting a webinar on March 31st, covering industry trends, SCF’s new storage pricing & transaction features, as well as challenges and solutions when executing Solar + Storage PPAs. You can sign up here or contact the SCF team at info@scf.com for more information.
Opinion
Best, Yann
