By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) passed a rule by a vote of 2-3 (no, we’re not sure how that’s a thing either) that

• Tries to usurp the rights of states to set their own clean-energy goals.
• Privileges fossil fuels over renewable electricity sources by not accounting for the full value of energies like wind and solar.

SolarWakeup’s View:  For the moment, let’s set aside the issue of the Republicans’ mythical support of “states’ rights,” which they largely ignore when inconvenient on a multitude of issues, to which you can now add electricity generation.

Miles Farmer, a National Resources Defense Council lawyer, was all over the order on Monday, three days after it was issued shortly after midnight (the whole thread is worth reading, so see the link below).

Here’s why this issue is critical to the development of solar and wind. In a typical wholesale energy market, where prices are determined through a process of competitive bidding, utilities that own some production would manipulate prices by submitting artificially low bids to drive down prices. Then they would buy energy from other suppliers at those suppressed prices

FERC has prevented market manipulation by setting minimum prices for energy. In the past, however, the rule did not apply to renewable energy sources

which, in many cases, are supported by the government. The new rule, issued Friday, requires the minimum price stipulation to apply now to renewable sources.

The bottom line for renewables is that they are being penalized for being supported by state governments – but FERC deliberately ignores the state supports for traditional fossil fuel generation. So the order, instead of leveling the playing field as it purports, tips the field in the direction of fossil fuels and, in the process, usurps the states’ ability to support clean energy.

For those of you with short memories, FERC earned mad props earlier this year for rejecting a Department of Energy directive to subsidize nuclear and coal plants. The new order it issued Friday, however, essentially accomplishes the same thing without the negative publicity.

As Farmer notes, however, the rule isn’t final yet and will inevitably be appealed. So there’s still hope this odious rule won’t go into effect. But we best be vigilant because this rule could do significant damage to the renewables’ industries – and we must be ready to fight this with everything we have.

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Miles Farmer explains the inexplicable FERC order that kneecaps clean energy

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened: Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed a sweeping electricity bill yesterday that had been championed by the state’s largest utility, Dominion Energy.

• The bill declares 5 GW of solar and wind development as being in the public interest.
• It also discusses how adding renewable resources will also modernize the grid.

SolarWakeup’s View:  This bill shouldn’t surprise anyone. Shortly before he left office, former Governor Terry McAuliffe signed a raft of legislation to offer support for the solar industry across every segment, designed to encourage solar development in the state.

From yesterday’s signing of Senate Bill 966, dubbed the Grid Transformation and Security Act, new Governor Ralph Northam is clearly seizing the mantle of being a pro-renewables state leader.

The legislation declares wind and solar development as being in the public interest (which, of course, it is), as well as well as calling for the development of 5 GW in renewable energy. What is unclear is whether that development will only take place under the auspices of Dominion or whether it will also encourage rooftop solar.

It’s not a small matter. The biggest weakness in our current grid (as I wrote about yesterday) is the transmission wires. To truly modernize the grid,

it will require more rooftop solar and fewer utility-scale projects. Otherwise, you’re still just adhering to an outdated, centralized production model that somewhat undermines solar’s distributed-generation advantages.

Don’t get me wrong: Any bill that promotes solar in any form is good for the industry, especially in uncertain times. And Dominion Energy has shown itself to be one of the more solar-progressive utilities in the country. But what role rooftop solar plays into these ambitious plans is something that needs to be watched closely.

MDV-SEIA’s Executive Director, David Murray, gave this comment to SolarWakeup today,”Virginia has long lagged behind its neighbors in solar deployment, and no doubt this is an exciting step forward. MDV-SEIA is proud to have been a part of the “Rubin Group,” a consensus building process among energy stakeholders that led to legislation declaring over 5 GW of renewable power in the public interest of Virginians.

The Commonwealth will now be able to take greater advantage of the cost savings, fuel diversification, and economic development benefits that accompany solar power.”

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Governor signs sweeping utility overhaul affecting 3 million Virginia ratepayers

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened: The Minnesota-based Institute for Local Self-Reliance, who employs one of the best DG analysts in the industry in John Farrell, have released a study that

• Proves that distributed generation is now cost competitive with utility-scale solar.
• The sweet-spot for project size is between 10 MW and 20 MW.

SolarWakeup’s View:  The common narrative in the solar industry is that DG solar is still more expensive utility-scale. But an analysis by the Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR) says that a full analysis shows that narrative is simply wrong.

Farrell’s analysis is worth reading for its detail, but it’s the big takeaway that should rock the industry. If what Farrell and his team found is true, then the utilities should be worried about their long-term viability unless they change their business models significantly.

As I wrote about yesterday, the weakest link in the current transmission-and-distribution system on which the U.S. electrical grid is based is t

he wires. Not only are they prone to breakdowns, they leave the grid vulnerable to attacks by groups that want to disrupt life in the country.

Think about the chaos that would ensue if the electrical grid in this country went down for any length of time. And it’s those unsightly wires that could provide the inflexion point for an attack (I recounted my own experience with such a grid-level problem yesterday).

On the other hand, while distributed generation isn’t foolproof, it is much harder to damage or hack a system that is not the result of a centralized grid system. The more electricity is distributed in single-home or community-level distribution, the more secure our electrical system will be.

That’s why this report is great news for the solar industry – it undermines the typical utility argument about big being better. It’s something all solar advocates should internalize when that argument inevitably comes up again.

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Solar Surprise – Small-Scale Solar a Better Deal than Big

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened: Quartz Media’s Michael Coren read a Greentech Media report and pronounced that solar in California is overbuilt.

• At the same time, Coren contends there is plenty of solar in the pipeline.
• And the residential and commercial markets are still moving ahead.

SolarWakeup’s View: What happens when writers who aren’t steeped in the inner workings of solar try to write about it? Bad information gets spewed out into the atmosphere and undoes whatever pollution control solar has done in the first place.

Now, I’m sure sure Michael Coren can write rings around around me when it comes to evaluating venture capitalists, technology and Silicon Valley (which are listed as his areas of expertise) – but his understanding of the California solar market is…well, charitably put, limited.

In his five-paragraph piece, Coren examines a Greentech Media report that indicates utilities in California did not procure any new solar last year, and utilities say plans to procure more solar this year will also be slow.

Coren seems oblivious to the fact that this utility slowdown has been expected in light of the Section 201 tariffs President Trump imposed in January. It’s long been assumed the utility-scale market would be hit most severely because of the number of modules they buy for the larger projects. The dip by California utilities may be entirely the result of that horrible federal policy change.

But no matter: Coren ploughs ahead and draws the conclusion that California has too much solar and is taking a break from growing its solar industry.

Except that in the piece itself, Coren undoes his argument when talking about two of the fastest-growing segments of the industry: residential and commercial. Those, he says, are still growing in California. He also adds that there is plenty of utility-scale s

olar in the construction queue.

So…let’s see if I have this straight

• Californians have built too much solar and are taking a break from new generation.
• Except for the projects utilities have already planned, which are plentiful.
• And except for the residential and commercial markets, where people are putting distributed-generation solar arrays on their roofs almost as fast as they can be permitted.

I’m not sure Coren thought his premise through (either that, or he/his editor just put a click-bait headline on the story to generate interest).

Despite Coren’s central contention that California is taking a break from solar development, I’m here to tell you: Solar is alive and well in California and looks to be about to rise.

Statewide policies like a 100% renewable portfolio standard, a clean-peak standard and the shuttering of fossil-fuel plants (and a reluctance to build new natural gas plants) means more solar is almost inevitable in the Golden State.

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California is taking a cooling off period after generating too much energy from the sun