Coming Up On 5 Years. In about 3 weeks, I will have published this newsletter for 5 years. Starting with an initial list of less than 50, there are now almost 5,000 of you that read the newsletter or website on a daily basis. More importantly I get to have amazing conversations with many of your every day. It has made me a better solar executive and consultant and for that I am thankful. Next week, I will be sending you a survey to learn what more this platform can do for our relationship. What do you think SolarWakeup should do next or what information do you want to see?
Solar Goes Bipartisan. SEIA did good work and got 69 members of Congress to write a letter against the trade case. 16 Senators from both sides of the aisle led by Tillis (R-NC) and Heinrich (D-NM). On the House side, the name that stands out to me is Mark Sanford (R-SC). Sanford is known for his conservative credentials and carries real weight in the GOP on the budget policy front. VP Pence’s Chief of Staff thought Sanford was a strong contender for VP in 2008 when he was Governor of SC. Let’s get some more members to sign on, if you have a relationship, use it now.
SolarWorld In Name Only. CEO, Frank Asbeck, with the help of the Qataris is buying the SolarWorld assets. Unknown from the reporting if that includes the SolarWorld USA entity or just the manufacturing assets that will be put into a new holding company. This makes me wonder what and how this impacts that original tariff money and this new 201 petition. Either way, this makes SolarWorld modules essentially unbankable in my opinion.
- SEIA: Bipartisan Grp of 69 Lawmakers Urge Feds To Oppose Punitive Tariffs That Would Gut U.S. Solar Industry
- PV-Tech: SolarWorld ‘reboots’ as Frank Asbeck gets approval to buy key assets
- Los Angeles Times: Severing ties with utilities isn’t as easy as cutting the cable cord
- Renewable Energy World: There Are No Glass Ceilings In This Solar Village
- Arizona Central: Utility regulators to vote on APS rate hike Tuesday
- Press-Republican: NY regulators catch an earful on higher rates for National Grid
- Greentech Media: Mexico’s Nascent Energy Storage Market Is ‘Very Open for Business’
- New York Times: Chile’s Energy Transformation Is Powered by Wind, Sun and Volcanoes
Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann