Speakers in Boston. Senator Boncore, sponsor of S. 1824, which attempts to increase the net metering cap and Michael Judge, Director of Renewable Energy at MA DOER, will be joining our conversation in Boston. What will it take to get NEM cap raised and SMART program implemented? Join us on 10/31 in Boston.
SolarWakeup Live! DC. Tickets are now available here. Join us on December 6th for a great conversation. Speakers will be announced soon and sponsorships still available.
Solar In Arizona. I’ve been waiting to release this podcast, a conversation with Lucy Mason of AriSEIA. Lucy is the former Chairwoman of the Energy Committee in the Arizona State legislature and a member of the republican party. Yet she leads AriSEIA and we talk about the settlement and the politics of solar in Arizona.
Closing Coal. Luminant, Texas’s largest power generator and a subsidiary company owned by Berkshire Hathaway, is closing two coal plants in Texas. The question for solar is what less coal power means for our market. In Texas the market is made by natural gas and cheap wind and not solar but the power needs will remain. Unlike most other power sources, solar isn’t getting financed as a merchant asset because the marginal cost of production is zero and the market knows that.
Inefficient and Costly. Coal plants have been depreciated many times over and most current owners of plants have either valued their asset beyond peak value or bought them as distressed assets. The plants in Texas are 30 years old and repowering them doesn’t make financial sense. Even if Trump/Perry do all they can to prop up the power markets, long term investors know that coal will be regulated against over the next 30 years if you were to build a new asset. With China halting coal construction and development, our infrastructure investors know where this will all end.
Cost of Freedom. Rick Perry, at a congressional hearing, was asked about the cost of his new ‘resiliency’ rule (code for giving billions in subsidies for coal plants). His response was priceless, pun intended. He retorted by saying, “What’s the cost of freedom, that’s not something I would leave up to the free market.” From a policy standpoint, this is well documented as the societal benefit test which regulators have had available to them for years but utilities and ratepayer advocates fight against.
Helping Miners. Maybe he can ask a coal miner what the cost of his health and well being is too, because I’d guess that he’d rather install solar than go underground and mine for coal.
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- SolarWakeup: AriSEIA’s Lucy Mason, A Republican Solar Adocate Leading Arizona’s Chapter
- Dallas Morning News: Texas’ largest power generator speeds up coal’s decline with closure of two more plants
- Politico: Trump’s Love Affair with Coal
- Los Angeles Times: Coal country is finding little relief in Trump’s climate actions
- PV-Magazine: Utilities’ latest tactic? Fixed charge increases – and PUCs are listening
- CleanTechnica: Intelligent EV Charging Startups Shouldn’t Copy The Gas & Utility Business Model
- Florida Times-Union: JEA eyes major solar expansion amid thorny debate
- Department of Energy: Swiss Team Wins U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon
Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann