Social Media Action For Reefs. Former Miami Dolphins player, Jarvis Landry, caught me by surprise when his post included a call to action on climate change as it pertains to reefs. A new level of action for climate that solar should think about.

Two Investments, One Deck. Union Square Ventures is a well known, successful, early stage venture capital firm. This is a firm that did part of the series A for Twitter in 2007. Two new investments and 60 slides on why they are looking at climate tech as part of their thesis.

Forget Carbon Neutral. Microsoft is challenging its team to get to carbon negative by 2030, a leap from the carbon neutral goals set just a few years ago. Making this possible for its millions of customers would be a great next step. Here is their post outlining this.

We Knew. “Yeah, we knew. Everybody knew,” he said. “And somehow we all ignored it.” Those are the words of Shell CEO Ben van Beurden. 

• Time: The Reason Fossil Fuel Companies Are Finally Reckoning With Climate Change
• Energy Transition: Making Emissions Visible
• Greentech Media: Germany Seals $45B Coal Phaseout Deal
• Axios: “Phase one” trade deal could spur Chinese purchases of U.S. energy
• Reuters: U.S. presidential hopeful Bloomberg unveils plan to cut wildfire losses in half
• Utility Dive: PepsiCo to get all its US electricity from renewable sources
• Solar Power World: New guide outlines ways to include low-income customers in utility solar programs

Opinion

• Rocky Mountain Institute: The Hidden Costs of EV Charging Infrastructure

Best, Yann

Back with Friday rundown tomorrow. 

• Axios: Wind and solar dominate new U.S. power
• Vox: The best case for and against a fracking ban
• PV-Magazine: Residential solar power purchasing tipping points found
• PV-Tech: Sonnedix lines up finance to continue PV spree in post-hurricane Puerto Rico
• Greentech Media: Solar Industry Asks Trump to Allow More Cell Imports to Spur Domestic PV Manufacturing
• Utility Dive: Early utility regulator retirement gives Wisconsin opportunity to move on third party solar impasse
• MIT: Climate change means the US must start building big things again

Opinion

• EDF: California’s new long-term gas plan is a win for customers and the environment

Best, Yann

BlackRock’s Fink Speaks Climate. BlackRock’s CEO wrote his annual letter that outlines some philosophical points about business and climate change. By not stating the actual metrics, Fink is giving some space to company CEOs to outline their own view of this world. Company executives spend an outsized amount of their time doing what they think keeps them employed and well paid by investors. They rarely spend time doing what they think is right when they know investors will fire them for doing it. Fink coming out and saying that their investments will have a guide involving sustainability creates a new operating agreement. Looking at the largest BlackRock holdings, Exxon, Chevron and NextEra show up on the top of the list that are energy related.

A Trillion At A Time. The EU is going to investment at least $1Trillion euros to avoid a climate crash. What’s the best way to spend that and what does it mean for the industry?

Looking Inside A Mind. Dan Shugar of NEXTracker is one of the more interesting people in solar doing one of the more uninteresting things. Trackers were largely written off 15 years ago when cost would be able to catch up but with high-efficiency and bifacial modules getting traction, NEXTracker was able to build a billion dollar business and be acquired by Flex. This turned an unsexy idea into a great company and Dan does a good job opening up in this interview. Or maybe I have a soft spot for building aluminum hardware businesses in solar?

Coal Goes, What Follows? Coal is leaving stage left and now it looks like things are not going well in the world of natural gas. Too much supply and low market prices are seemingly hurting the financials of gas companies. There is still a lack of impact on gas generation, as that market expands in DG segments, but these tea leaves look to be indicating the start of a possible trend.

Oceanfront Property. Twitter is loving the words of the APS CEO, saying that the Arizona utility will not directly or indirectly fund regulator’s political races. I’m sorry to say that Arizona still does not have oceanfront property even if Mr. Guldner is trying to sell it. 

• New York Times: BlackRock C.E.O. Larry Fink – Climate Crisis Will Reshape Finance
• Reuters: EU sets out trillion euro plan to avert ‘climate crash’
• PV-Magazine: Dan Shugar, NEXTracker CEO, riffs on tracker innovation, bifacial panels and getting acquired by Flex
• Axios: Largest U.S. natural gas producer plans $1.8 billion write-down in Q4
• Arizona Central: APS won’t spend money on political campaigns for Arizona Corporation Commission, company CEO says
• GreenBiz: It’s time for Silicon Valley to start buying electric commuter buses
• Greentech Media: WoodMac – Volkswagen Will Be World’s Biggest Electric Car Maker by 2030
• PV-Tech: Analysts report 2.13GW annual small-scale solar surge in bushfire-ridden Australia

Opinion

• Utility Dive: Will deep decarbonization include nuclear? Possibly, with many caveats

Best, Yann

Terraform Gets A Bid. Brookfield has placed a bid to the remaining shareholders at TERP to acquire the remaining parts of the company that it doesn’t own yet. Brookfield already owns 62% of the shares and sees enough upside to acquire the rest of the company for a price that is a premium of 11% from the prior night’s closing.

ACORE Has A Dream. Four of them to be exact. An RPS, a carbon tax, clean energy tax credits, and transmission investments are part of the plan to drive a cleaner grid in the future. ACORE is right about the plan, these policies would help the planet and our industries but I am too jaded to see the political path to make it happen.

Airports And Solar. An infrastructure fund that has a portfolio primarily in airport construction and operation is acquiring solar developer, Greenskies. Greenskies has been active in the solar market for sometime and has also been looking for partners like pretty much all solar developers. The interesting evolution is that there appears to be a growing value placed on the actual development platforms not just the projects. This was a hard value to find in the market in the past, maybe things have changed.

Million Solar Roofs. There is something happening in residential solar around the world. Governments are seeing the value and incredible value in residential rooftops that don’t yet have solar. Austria is looking to install 1million solar roofs by 2040, a goal that California just reached last month.

• Seeking Alpha: Brookfield Renewable makes bid for TerraForm Power
• PV-Magazine: ACORE’s four policies to clean the grid
• Greentech Media: Infrastructure Fund JLC Buys Up Solar Developer Greenskies
• Forbes: Austria Pledges To Fit 1 Million Roofs With Solar By 2030
• GreenBiz: 8 electric truck and van companies to watch in 2020
• Utility Dive: 2020 Outlook – 10 trends driving the US power sector
• Bloomberg: Goldman to Buy More Loans From Firm Led by Ex-Solar Execs

Opinion

• Axios: Amid chaos, new decade brings big global warming changes

Best, Yann