Tag Archives: Lynn Jurich

Americans Tell Gallup: Develop More Solar, Please

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened: Gallup’s annual Environment survey indicates that Americans want to develop more alternative energy sources instead of traditional fossil-fuel generation, to the tune of 73%. (Psst…Gallup….Lynn Jurich called and would like her conclusion back, please. Thank you.)

  • In contrast, only 25% of the country is worried about the availability or affordability of energy in this country.
  • And finally, more than half of Americans want to prioritize environmental conservation over fossil-fuel energy development (which may mean that, for now, the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve is safe from oil derricks).

Americans

SolarWakeup’s View:  All I keep hearing is how much Americans want to develop more solar energy. Poll after poll indicates that, including what I refer to as “the famous 90% poll” I’ve been hearing about since I joined the industry in 2011. Lynn Jurich of Sunrun posited as much in her latest thought-leadership piece.

The latest Gallup Environment survey is no exception.

According to the poll’s findings, 73% of Americans want the United States to wean itself of traditional fossil fuels and pour more research into alternative energy sources like solar and wind. And more than 50% prefer to protect the environment over more fossil fuel exploration.

So why does solar still find itself fighting an uphill battle in state after state to get itself established (in South Carolina, for example, where they were SO close to expandinig the industry but decided to kill it instead – sorry, my jaw is still dropped on that one)?

The answer is pretty easy, of course, and you know it deep in your soul – the coal, oil and gas industries are deeply entrenched in the political and utility infrastructure, and those interests are fighting a savage rearguard action to maintain their own power.

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But it’s a fight they will lose. The American people keep speaking, loudly, against their monopoly. Eventually, those voices will drown out the shrieking death throes of fossil fuel interests.

In the meantime, however, solar can’t just sit back and wait for this to happen. Americans have the attention spans of drunken gnats, so it’s incumbent on us to keep fighting to get the word out about the benefits of solar energy – as a job creator, as an environmental safeguard and as a national-security bulwark. I’ve always said that if we could activate the general public, solar would win this battle easily.

So let’s do it already – there are groups out there with whom an alliance to make this happen just makes sense. Make it happen in your community, and I’ll do what I can to make it happen in mine.

Deal?

More:

U.S. Energy Concerns Low; Increasing Supply Not a Priority (Gallup)

What Would Consumers Choose? (Solar. They Would Choose Solar.) (SolarWakeup, courtesy of Sunrun)

Solar United Neighbors

What Would Consumers Choose? (Solar. They Would Choose Solar.)

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened: Sunrun has produced a consumer-friendly report called Affordable, Clean, Reliable Energy, which asks the ever important question: What would consumers choose for their own electrical production?

  • In a delightfully readable format, Sunrun’s CEO Lynn Jurich posits that given a choice between a distributed-generation, renewable-energy based electrical system and the traditional fossil-fuel based one, consumers would choose the former.
  • She also forcefully lays out the case for solar as a job generator and calls for an end to the “war on solar” (now there’s a woman who knows how to use catchy slogans).
  • Lastly, Jurich argues in favor of removing the state-sponsored monopoly status from most utilities and letting the market decide what the best future for the U.S. electrical grid is. (You go, Lynn!)

consumers

SolarWakeup’s View:  More of this, please.

Poll after poll after poll indicates that American consumers, by and large, prefer solar electricity. The most famous poll of all showed the number approaching 90%. So why have we failed so spectacularly to rally those throngs of solar-loving Americans behind policies that would help maintain and expand the industry beyond where it is now?

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I have a theory, and it has to do with the technical nature of our industry.

It’s easy to get excited about efficiency ratios, inverter harmonics and other deeply technical issues, and they are interesting to most people within the industry. But most American consumers are like me – the engineering aspects of solar, while interesting, wouldn’t be enough to get me off my couch and to a pro-solar rally.

That’s why Sunrun CEO Lynn Jurich’s new 32-page advocacy piece, Affordable, Clean, Reliable Energy is such a refreshing change from the typical pro-solar article. Jurich’s clear, concise article hits on two of the most compelling arguments for why consumers should – and do – choose solar energy:

  • Solar is a job generator.
  • Solar allows consumers to seize control of their own electric future.

Jurich also issues a challenge to utilities who, in many cases, seem scared to compete against solar: Let the free market decide. Remove the state-sponsored monopoly status that most utilities enjoy across the country and give consumers the choice of what kind of electrical future they want. Would they want a decentralized/cleaner/cheaper electricity-generation system;; or rebuilt 19th century centralized/dirty/fossil based one. Jurich bets they would choose the former.

It’s a message that more solar companies must do a much better job of proclaiming every day – and I thank Jurich for at least giving it a good start.

More:

Sunrun - Consumer Centered Energy April 2018