Old Grid, New Energy. Some of today’s best stories are on Twitter when an expert gives his take in the snippet format. Sometimes that information gets covered by our Frank Andorka (reminder: you can send anonymous tips from solarwakeup.com or email him or myself). In this case, he covered the responses by the various ISOs to FERC’s request for information about resiliency. This is part of the NOPR process we saw a few months ago. The takeaway, our grid isn’t made for new energy generation and wires are the weakest link. His story here.
Big Time Virginia Legislation. A big utility bill that passed the Virginia legislature and has now been signed by Governor Northam. Amongst the many issues this bill tackles, it declares 5GW of solar and wind development in the public interest. Bills like this take years to accomplish and solar’s role was in the weeds for much of that time. One of the people that I know was deeply involved in this is Scott Thomasson of Vote Solar. If you plan on doing business in Virginia, come say thank you in person at Equinox 2018. More coverage on this coming shortly, check solarwakeup.com in a few hours.
Overhyping Bad News. Yesterday there was an article about solar taking a break in California. It was the top story you clicked on and therefore we covered it. First, top gravitating to the bad headlines. Second, most of these articles are clickbait based on misread data. So we set the record straight in our afternoon story so that you get the complete picture.
RPS Ballot Initiatives. 2018 is going to be a big year for ballot initiatives. Amongst the many issues across the Country are three RPS questions being posed in Arizona, Nevada and Michigan. I’m optimistic that these questions will do well at the polls not only because of a wave but because people like the idea of more clean energy in the wake of closing power plants.
See You There? I am waiting for two confirmations of great interviews to join two already great solar leaders, Bernadette Del Chiaro and Danny Kennedy. The venue selection is going on now so if you expect to attend, get your tickets now. Event is on April 10th.
- SolarWakeup: 19th Century Grid Unsuited To 21st Century Electricity Distribution
- Richmond Times-Dispatch: Governor signs sweeping utility overhaul affecting 3 million Virginia ratepayers
- SolarWakeup: Reports Of A Pause In The California Solar Market Are Greatly Exaggerated
- Rocky Mountain Institute: Not All Renewables Are Created Equal
- Utility Dive: Are renewable portfolio standards on the way out? Three ballot initiatives say otherwise
- ILSR: Solar Surprise – Small-Scale Solar a Better Deal than Big
- Washington Post: Eon and RWE Just Killed the Utility as We Know It – Gadfly
- Forbes: Is The Corporate Demand For Solar Energy Stronger Than Trump’s Tariffs?
Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann