See You In Charlottesville. I’m not the only one leaving town (I see you Paul Ryan). I’m on my way to Charlottesville to moderate a panel on solar investments and financing at the Tom Tom Festival. Let me know if you are in town for this.
Shame In SC. I thought 60-40 victory in the SC House would mean that a mild solar win for the industry was safe. BUT never underestimate the power of greedy monopolies, especially in Southern States. Using some crazy legislative tactics, the utilities got the House to reconsider the matter AND requiring a 2/3 margin to pass. This failed to happen and the bill died, for now, costing SC around 3,000 jobs. These jobs won’t come back in the nuclear industry, after that $9billion boondoggle, but hopefully legislative leaders will see a way to fix this. Frank and local news on the topic.
Monopoly Regulations. More on the topic of what monopolies should be allowed to do later but since SC happened, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the legislative power investor owned monopolies have through their lobbying. A monopoly is given to a private corporation for the public good, to have a responsibility to serve the consumer in the best way possible for key markets, energy being one. Having that privilege should come with restrictions, especially around influencing politics and participating in competitive markets that they could have an unfair advantage in. I believe, and most consumers would agree with me, utilities should be prohibited from lobbying and should be treated like non-profits that are only allowed to educate. No political fundraising or underhanded legislative tactics should be allowed by someone that already has 100% market share.
The Energy Show With Barry Cinnamon. Is now available on SolarWakeup. His latest episode about microgrids is here. We are excited to have Barry join the SolarWakeup community as we continue to grow and look forward to hearing his podcasts going forward.
More Murray Quotes. Another gem from Murray, saying “People will die in the dark” if coal goes away. Quite the opposite, no more mining accidents and cleaner air will mean society lives longer and solar will keep the lights on.
The Quiet Bus. If my kids could ride the Tesla electric bus, they definitely wouldn’t want me driving them to school. I discussed the school bus route with Proterra’s CEO in this podcast.
- SolarWakeup: Utility Monopolies Screw SC Solar After Sneaky Shift On Bill
- Greenville News: Utility companies flex their muscles, SC House votes to kill solar bill
- SolarWakeup: The Energy Show – What are Microgrids?
- Think Progress: Top coal lobbyist could quickly become EPA chief, thanks to Pruitt’s scandals
- Greentech Media: Coal Retirements Will Cause People to ‘Die in the Dark,’ Says Murray CEO
- CleanTechnica: Blue Bird Now Taking Orders For Electric School Buses To Be Delivered In 2018
- GreenBiz: Energy storage charges forward
- Utility Dive: MISO states push for authority over DER in electricity markets at FERC meeting
Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann