Live From DC! Big congratulations to the new and fantastic team at MDV-SEIA. They cover 3 (4) States and hosted their annual Solar Focus Conference this week. I had the opportunity to interview Tom Matzzie, CEO of CleanChoice at the conference and record it so you could listen as well. Tom is an amazing advocate and energy leader in our space using the power of the masses to advance renewable energy. I can’t wait for him to lead CleanChoice to 1 million customers. Tom and I are sharing some great ideas on advocacy which we will hopefully share soon!
10 Hours. In our conversation, Tom tells the story about the union painter having to spend certain amount of hours educating legislators. What would it take for you to spend 10 hours per month on policy like calling or meeting with legislators, volunteering on a campaign or educating regulators? Imagine if 275,000 solar pros spent 2.7million hours per month on policy, do you think we’d be fighting legislative battles right now?
Inverter Battles. There seems to be split happening in the microinverter battle between SolarEdge and Enphase. SolarEdge announced revenues of $166million, net income of $26million. On the other hand Enphase had revenues of $77million and lost $5.9million. The problem with technology is that winners take market share and the slide as the second place is difficult. I’d expect Enphase to pivot into something that separates the offering into another category so the comparison isn’t apples to apples and allows customers to think differently. If they don’t expect more of the split to happen.
Ratebasing Solar. There has been a flurry of requests for and investments in renewable energy. NV Energy is looking to approve PPAs at rates in the $30/MWh range. AEP, like NextEra, has focused on ratebasing renewable energy. The issue is that utilities aren’t truthful about what is best for the customers. A PPA in Florida or Ohio would likely have better rates than the LCOE to consumers, especially in the situation that would drive the utility to give zero capacity value for planning purposes and request additional gas power to make up capacity needs.
DER Data. Does anyone have data on demand side management, demand response programs run by investor owned utilities? This goes in line with capacity value for solar across distributed and central plants as I don’t remember the last time my DSM box was used for my AC unit in South Florida.
Tickets!!! There are going to be a lot of solar people in DC during SolarWakeup Live! DC. Our room is only going to be able to hold about 75 seats. Get your tickets now before it sells out. If you are worried about the content, it’s time you trust that I am going bring value to the conversation. The key is to have relevant conversations that are timely!
- SolarWakeup: DC Live, Tom Matzzie, CEO of CleanChoice. Talk Power Markets, Community Solar & Policy
- PV-Tech: Enphase touts renewed growth expected in 2018
- Utility Dive: NV Energy boasts “lowest-cost” PPAs for 2 proposed solar projects
- Rocky Mountain Institute: DER 2.0: e–Lab Accelerator Unlocks the Potential of Distributed Energy Resources
- San Diego Reader: Consumers tired of utilities’ carelessness and greed
- Bloomberg: Coal’s Trump Bump Is Over
- Greentech Media: The Rise of Renewables Creates Uncertainty in US Power Markets
- Times Free Press: Critics blast TVA monopoly and urge changes in solar power pricing
Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann