More Of The Same. Bill Johnson, the former TVA, Progress Energy and Duke Energy CEO, will likely be named as the new CEO for PG&E. Working with three of the hedge funds, PG&E is nominating a new slate of directors that will not include the clean tech names that were floated by another fund. All of this will come in time for the new legislative session where Sacramento will have to decide on the bailout for the utility around the indemnities and liabilities from last years disasters. The legislature should send a strong message by denying PG&E anything and instead going all in on CCAs, solar, storage and more retail competition. First with a return to NEM 1.0 and a higher rate if a C&I project loses the tenant off taker. Maybe PG&E will realize that Sacramento isn’t playing along with more of the same.
BlackRock Goes Clean. CleanCapital is expanding their relationship with BlackRock’s Renewable Power Group with an equity investment. Last year, BlackRock and CleanCapital acquired 60 C&I projects totaling 47MW and now BlackRock will own a piece of the development platform. More to come…
Climate Change Talks Go Mainstream. On Friday, AOC held an hourlong town hall with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes to talk about the Green New Deal and climate change. One of the important notes was AOC’s reiteration that this was a resolution and not the law. That the resolution is aspirational and with the help of Rhianna Gunn-Wright explained how the goals were achievable with the help of solar and wind. I recommend watching the event, it makes the strong case around the urgency and generational need for lofty goals.
EV Critical Mass. Last month, 58% of all auto sales in Norway were Tesla. Ford announced a 370 mile range for their EV SUV and Mercedes is ready to announce a full electric lineup by 2022. Duke Energy is asking to rate base over $70 million in charging infrastructure including for mass transportation. I haven’t seen too many demand models include massive EV adoption to the extent that I expect to become reality.
- Bloomberg: PG&E Is Near a Deal With Hedge Funds on CEO, Board Overhaul
- CleanCapital: BlackRock investment will fuel CleanCapital’s growth
- Think Progress: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez answers one of the biggest questions facing the Green New Deal
- Greentech Media: IRENA – 140 Gigawatts of Solar and Wind Capacity Installed Globally in 2018
- CleanTechnica: SunPower Named Top US Commercial Solar Provider In 2018, Among Top Solar Manufacturers
- Utility Dive: Maryland passes energy storage pilot program to determine future regulatory framework
- PV-Tech: Recurrent Energy secures US$50 million credit facility from Natixis
- ILSR: Video – Accountability and Ownership Matter for Puerto Rico’s Future Grid
Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann