Busy week at Quick Mount HQ so quick tidbits today. 

South Carolina. Governor McMaster signed the compromise bill years in the making. Great to see some solar friends standing front and center. Congrats to the few that did the work for the many! (Pay your trade association dues folks!)

Tax Credits In Play. The Senate, seeing the light coming from that strong House letter, is putting the start of tax credit reform on the table including a longer glide path (read extension) on the table. There was some quick and strong work done in the background and trade groups did a great job responding forcefully to the House letter backing the legislators with the industry support they needed. The folks at SEIA deserve special praise for their leadership here from staff, executives and the board!

Innovation. Too late to be the primary driver. Even innovation requires commercialization and derisking that takes too long.

A Job With Reward. Join Vote Solar as the Interior West Senior Director. If you are good at your job, no doubt you will be, you will be able to say to your grandkids, friends and/or family that you did an amazing job fighting climate change. Apply today, full job description here.

• Solar Industry: S.C. Governor Signs Energy Freedom Act – A Major Boon For Solar
• Utility Dive: Senators launch bipartisan initiative on long term solutions to expiring energy tax credits
• Bloomberg: Senate GOP Counters Ocasio-Cortez With Free-Market Climate Bills
• Greentech Media: EDP and Engie Team Up to Conquer Offshore Wind
• PV-Magazine: California prevents utility from paying EEI dues with ratepayer funds
• Axios: The big climate-change disconnect
• Washington Post: I oversaw the U.S. nuclear power industry. Now I think it should be banned.

Opinion

• GreenBiz: What’s the (right) word on climate change?

Have a great day!

Yann

Corporate Leadership. There are now several groups that advocate for climate policy from a corporate perspective. The carbon tax has been rebranded a carbon dividend to get voters to understand that the money flows back into the economy. This is similar to the process in California where I just received a credit on my electric bill. The famous Luntz polling group is also out with public messaging warning to the republicans. They can no longer message away from climate change as the support for a dividend grows amongst voters. SEIA has been on top of this through corporate purchasing programs and nationwide advocacy for policies like community solar and the ITC extension. 

More Refined Focus.  Let’s be like Sunrun, wasn’t something most people were expecting to hear from SunPower 3-5 years ago but I agree that this is the right move. Making one of the most desirable and well known modules puts the company on a different starting block and it also has one of the most prominent dealer networks in solar. As the company focuses on a service business, aided by commercialization of new technologies, you’ll likely see partnerships with retail companies that want to aid SunPower in owning the energy bill. 

Leadership Through Hiring. Missouri solar installer, Sun Solar, is doing what the industry talks a lot about. While the industry is openly highlighting some issues on diversity, solar is leading on hiring veterans. Big kudos to the Sun Solar leadership for doing what we always talk about. 

Same Concept, Different Fuel. Chevron is partnering with EVgo to add charging stations to some of their gas stations. This is interesting given that fuel providers are looking at a future with less consumption of their product. Many of them also have robust commodity trading desks which could make them stand on par with traditional electric utilities and even provide fleet products on pricing on their systems. Also, while we’re all looking at solar, the EVgo team is absolutely crushing it. The team has a long solar pedigree and gets the financial proposition needed for infrastructure and their business model is being rewarded by the market. I can’t wait to see how they execute when you can charge your car in 10 minutes.

• Axios: The big corporate shift on climate change
  
• Greentech Media: SunPower Fleshes Out Future Vision as an Energy Services Company
  
• Energy News Network: Missouri solar installer making strides recruiting and hiring military veterans
  
• CleanTechnica: Chevron Dabbles In EV Charging, Installs EVgo Fast Chargers At Select Stations
  
• Inside Climate News: An Indiana Church Fights for Solar Net-Metering to Save Low-Income Seniors Money
  
• GreenBiz: Here’s why energy companies are adopting AI
  
• Utility Dive: New Hampshire legislators quintuple net metering cap by veto-proof margin
  
• Bloomberg: Can Elon Musk Still Stop Climate Change? 

Opinion

• PV-Tech: Affordable solar-plus-storage ‘hard to beat’ for coal

Have a great day!

Yann

• Vox: Jay Inslee is writing the climate plan the next president should adopt
• Axios: Where Joe Biden stands on climate change
• Bloomberg: Tycoon Declares Coal Doomed in Last Bastion of Big Bank Aid
• Gilette News Record: Wyoming Solar Energy Association forms as state’s first solar trade organization
• Utility Dive: PG&E, Dominion, 11 other major companies push carbon tax in new climate initiative
• Greentech Media: Engie Acquires Genbright to Unlock More Value From Distributed Storage and Solar Portfolio
• CleanTechnica: China Invests In Renewable Energy In Cuba
• PV-Tech: Danish clean energy fund draws US$700m from Nordic investors eyeing Asia and LATAM

Opinion

• Think Progress: ‘We have lost Australia for now,’ warns climate scientist in wake of election upset

Have a great day!

Yann

Weekend! Enjoy your weekend. If this email was forwarded to you please subscribe.

8 Million Jobs. 10 Years. Read the full Inslee plan to create 8 million clean energy jobs in 10 years. 

Goldman Finds Their Solar Groove. Big deals are falling to Goldman Sachs. DG portfolio with SunPower, structured deal with South Jersey Industries and now the super sized CCA deal in CA. 

A Note Worth Reading. Solar’s Tor Valenza is out with an open letter to fossil fuel workers. I like the idea of speaking to the worker instead of about them. 

• Think Progress: Inslee drops new climate plan focused on creating 8 million jobs over 10 years
• Greentech Media: Goldman Sachs Becomes Solar Supplier to California CCAs as Its Acquisition Spree Continues
• Medium: An Open Letter to a 2019 Fossil Fuel Worker from a 2019 Solar Worker
• Energy News Network: Midwest utilities ‘overwhelmingly surprised’ by solar subscription demand
• EDF: Jobs, equity and economic justice are at the core of new Illinois Clean Energy Jobs Act
• GreenBiz: How Walmart boosted clean energy policy in Georgia
• Utility Dive: Solar, wind industries urge feds to smooth deployment kinks

Opinion

• Axios: Green New Deal activists dismiss nuclear power

Have a great day!

Yann