Storage Day. Lots of storage news today, an RFP from Bay Area CCAs, large IPPs getting involved and a review of the blackouts from NPR. How much cheaper does residential storage need to get before it becomes an automatic addition? Is there a tariff arbitrage range where the time of use pays for it?

A Muni Plan. Municipalities are talking about taking over PG&E which seems like the go to argument from those frustrated with the utility. I am not sure that this is the best path, SMUD isn’t very solar friendly, Jacksonville is selling theirs and munis are typically higher cost without better products. This could work but I would suspect that it’s solving the wrong issue. A different type of oversight and the right management with the proper incentive structure seems more rational to me. This is a complex problem with a complex solution.

A Settlement. Tesla and Walmart have settled the fire lawsuit. Not many details but Tesla appears to be bringing in a third party to inspect the facilities and likely make the fixes. Which one of you has been contracted?

Solar Focus. Make sure to attend MDV-SEIA’s Solar Focus Conference on Nov 20-21. Get your tickets here. 

• Utility Dive: Bay area energy agencies launch storage solicitation amid PG&E power shutoffs
• Bloomberg: Walmart and Tesla Settle Lawsuit Over Rooftop Solar Fires
• New York Times: California Mayors Back Plan to Make PG&E a Cooperative
• Axios: How climate change concerns could affect Saudi Aramco’s IPO
• NPR: What Power Outages Mean For Solar’s Potential
• Greentech Media: EDF’s Energy Storage Ambitions Come Out of Hibernation
• Solar Power World: The solar industry needs more diversity, and NABCEP has a plan

Opinion

• GreenBiz: How innovators in 4 emerging markets are accelerating the clean economy

Best, Yann

Utility Reform Megathread. Much has been written about the issues that caused the PG&E blackouts, a culmination of decades of issues surrounding the utility, the regulations and environment. While some of us are inside the bubble that hopes for solar to be the savior in this story, and we will be, David Roberts goes on a Twitter megathread to give you insights on how he came to his conclusions. While David is a writer on the topic, he doesn’t work in the sector and would have come to the end of the story without bias regardless of where it led. So as you try and frame your argument to legislators and outsiders, here’s a good glimpse with deep dives into how we could go about solving this problem that was created by barely regulated monopolies.

Midwest Goes Solar. Alliant Energy in Wisconsin wants to add 1GW of solar in the next few years. Let’s hold our breath for consumer choice to do the same. What do you think about rate based solar? Is all solar good solar and we should applaud it or does utility owned solar at the cost of a solar market make it less good solar?

Stifling DG Solar. Speaking of solar markets lacking DG capacity, what is going on in Georgia? Some insiders make their case in their article.

Au Revoir Paris. A few years after declaring that he would, Trump is officially starting the process to leave the Paris climate accords. It’s a charade and would kill the economy, republicans are having a hard time finding their argument. 

Bonjour Pattern. CPPIB is acquiring Pattern Energy for several billion dollars. This reminds me that when it comes to doing big deals in renewables, large investors are having a hard time finding the scale needed to invest big dollars. This deal also makes me think what could have been, what should have been…

Do As I say. Amy Harder of Axios writes an honest overview of her personal climate footprint. I’m no saint when it comes to living green either so it’s a good time to reflect on the one or two things we could all do to improve. 

• Vox: The radical reform necessary to prepare California’s power system for the 21st century
• Greentech Media: Alliant Energy Joins Midwestern Utility Peers With Big Solar Plan
• PV-Magazine: Utility barriers to rooftop solar in Georgia
• Washington Post: Trump makes it official – U.S. will withdraw from the Paris climate accord
• Yahoo! Finance: Canada Pension Giant to Buy Pattern Energy for $2.6 Billion
• Axios: Climate-change confessions of an energy reporter
• Utility Dive: Security and distributed resources: An attacker ‘will eventually get in’
• New York Times: 5 Lessons We Learned From the California Wildfires

Opinion

• GreenBiz: Engie’s renewables chief on scaling corporate contracts, hydrogen hopes and offshore wind

Best, Yann

A Governor’s Roadmap. Things are escalating in l’affaire PG&E. Late Friday, Governor Newsom published a post outlining the roadmap on utility regulation which included naming Secretary Ana Matosantos as the state’s Energy Czar. The Governor also says that if PG&E isn’t ready to comply with legislation and prioritizing safety after the bankruptcy process, the State is ready to take over.

The Leads Are In. Reuters wanted to check on the solar leads created by the blackouts and found that solar sales are up and storage numbers are up 5x compared to forecasts. I would be surprised if this is only true for PG&E customers, I would assume that other utility service areas are also benefitting from the headlines. Question for C&I developers is whether blackouts have caused businesses to adjust ROI calculations when looking to go solar.

Rising Electricity Prices. Just this weekend we see headlines that APS and Xcel are filing to increase their rates. Death, taxes and rising utility costs. 

The Small Go Big. Countries like the Netherlands are going big on renewables and installing exponentially more than US States. The small Country is a bit larger than Maryland and is installing solar at the pace of California. The C&I systems are being installed at about $0.75/watt in Europe which make the financial case quite compelling.

DC Solar Focus. Join your colleagues in the Maryland, DC and Virginia areas for your regional Solar Focus Conference hosted by MDV-SEIA. Join your fellow solar professionals November 20th and 21st in Baltimore. 

• Axios: California governor threatens state takeover of PG&E
• Reuters: U.S. solar firms see growth in fire-stricken California
• StarTribune: Xcel Energy seeks 3-year rate increase totaling 15.2%
• AZ Central: APS seeks electricity rate hike. See how much it may cost you
• Bloomberg: Dutch Government Takes Extra Measures to Meet Emission Targets
• PV-Magazine: SoftBank expands U.S. holdings with massive solar buy
• Greentech Media: Vineyard Wind Pushes IRS for Subsidy Extension on Delayed Offshore Project
• Utility Dive: Solar, energy efficiency to drive drops in load, peak demand over next 10 years, ISO-NE says

Opinion

• Vox: The radical reform necessary to prepare California’s power system for the 21st century

Best, Yann

CALSSA Board Votes. If you are a member of CALSSA, please vote for me for the board. It’s one set of votes per member company so make sure my name makes it to your designated contact. If you are not a member, you should be!

Solar Boom. It is no surprise that the blackouts has caused customers across the Country to look for solar and storage solutions. Installers are telling me every day that their business is through the roof. Blackouts are the symptom of monopoly control and solar takes some of that power back for the consumer.


Storage Boom. The combination of big and small storage demand is driving the investment case up for manufacturers. Expect cells to sell for well below $100/kWh regularly in just a few years. Cheap storage is the ballgame folks!

DG Boom. One of the best pivots in solar over the past few years is how Sunpower has refocused its business on distributed generation. I think this is a positive driver for the entire market and while DG only represents a fraction of the US market, it is the biggest driver of public and political sentiment. DG is also the value chain where every participant makes money, from module maker to consumer, everyone is adding money to the bank account and growing organically.

The Win-Win. There is always a whisper in the background that DG or utility scale needs to win out. This is a circular argument because one does not grow without the other. Honestly, we would do great things if we spent a day lobbying for the main request of the other segment. We need to act on behalf of solar, not a segment of solar. A utility that lives with performance based ratemaking is going to make consumers happy and buy a ton of solar from utility scale solar farms.

Have a great weekend!

• ABC: Solar companies see surge in demand for battery storage with PG&E power shutoffs
• PV-Magazine: Bulking up – Storage heads for center stage
• Greentech Media: SunPower Grows Distributed Solar Pipeline, Preps for 2020 Storage Rollout
• Reuters: Cheaper solar power gains ground in southeast Asia
• Axios: Keystone Pipeline leaks 383,000 gallons of oil in North Dakota
• Renew Economy: Renewable energy target now overshot by nearly 1GW, says regulator
• Utility Dive: How utilities wield bad science to stunt clean energy
• Bloomberg: World’s Biggest Solar Plant Starts in Abu Dhabi, JinkoSolar Says

Opinion

• PV-Tech: Renewables set new records in Germany, but ‘second pillar’ solar needs to accelerate even further

Best, Yann