Old Data, New Coverage. We’ve seen the DOE Energy Employment Report already, the data is positive and friendly to the energy sector. That being said, the New York Times is doing a nice infographic on the data given the President’s focus on the energy sector. It also needs to be repeated because the quantity of solar jobs doesn’t appear to really hit home with all politicians quite yet, many of them still consider solar jobs subsidized and temporary.
Flip it and reverse it. I can’t even, I don’t know, I mean, oops. I know Rick Perry is the Secretary of Energy but he has no business getting an audience at a conference like BNEF. It does nothing more than incite uncertainty and fear as opposed to real policy discussions. Renewables driving more coal? Nuclear weapons depend on new nuclear power plants? Give me a break. BNEF is better than this, and if they insist on having him speak, should counter program the speech with people that can rebut the nonsense immediately. ERCOT is showing the the Country how competitive RTOs drive the cost down and provide consumers with choice on source and price.
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Lowering soft costs. What is the real soft cost of solar power? How much are you putting it into your estimates for non-hardware and non-labor costs? As we transition to time of use, energy storage and more complicated analysis, I am concerned to hear that most of the industry is still relying on excel files for rate analysis and production analysis. I heard this in my conversation with Energy Toolbase CEO and many of the CEOs at the asset management summit. Excel files are costing you money and projects, time to transition to software solutions and get more efficient.
Make sure you listen to the latest episodes of EnergyWakeup. Hear from solar entrepreneur, John Gurski, the founder of Energy Toolbase, a cloud based energy bill analytics and proposal tool. I also speak with Tony Clifford from Standard Solar about being acquired by Gaz Metro and his work at SEIA.
- New York Times: Today’s Energy Jobs Are in Solar, Not Coal
- PV-Magazine: Full speed in reverse – Rick Perry presents his vision for DOE
- SolarWakeup: A Discussion On Lowering Soft Costs for Solar plus Storage Projects
- PV-Tech: North Carolina restarts effort to freeze clean energy mandate
- Arizona Daily Star: With APS vote soon, utility regulator wants election funds disclosure
- Vox: Talking climate policy, transit, and high-speed rail with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee
- Greentech Media: Cypress Creek CEO – ‘We’ll Be Sub-75 Cents’ per Watt by 2020
- Bloomberg: ACWA Power Will Bid to Build Saudi Arabian Solar Energy Project
Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann