Buffett Goes Shopping. Berkshire Hathaway is buying the Dominion Energy for $4Billion plus about $6Billion in debt. This is the first deal that Buffett has done since the start of the pandemic and now gets Berkshire control of 18% of the interstate movement of natural gas. That’s something that should be considered. Keep in mind that Berkshire is heavy in the railroads which make a lot of money with coal transportation and natural gas are part of the fuel that is hindering coal’s future success.
Dominion’s View Forward. The obvious question is why Dominion would give up its natural gas assets. After a legal decision regarding the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Dominion and Duke called the pipeline development off. With electrification and EVs on the horizon, corporate announcements on renewables rising, Dominion saw this as a graceful exit for their shareholders.
Is This A Larger Shift? The headlines will read, “utilities skip the natural gas bridge and go from coal to renewables instead.” I do believe that we are close to utilities saying that natural gas peakers are no longer competitive or the best thing for ratepayers. Most of the coal to gas power plant replacements have already occurred, the majority of ratebase has already funded the construction and we can rotate into solar plus storage mass adoption. I’m all for that last bit but wouldn’t mind regulators doing the math for ratepayers on whether the assets should be built on the utility balance sheet or by 3rd parties with a PPA.
Something I’m Watching. India elevating their fight with China on imports of renewable products amongst others.
Mayor Pete On Clean Energy. Today, Clean Energy For Biden is hosting Mayor Pete Buttigieg on Clean Energy and Climate Change. The event is at 7:30pm EST. You can RSVP on the link and donate here.
Nonprofits Want Solar Too. My friends at CollectiveSun can help you sell more solar to nonprofits. By working with CollectiveSun your nonprofit prospects get easy $0 down financing and a 12% or more tax-like credit for their systems. Now, more than ever, solar can help nonprofits save on their critical operating expenses. If you are a solar installer or developer, this is a great solution for you to sell more solar and ignite more deals with nonprofits. Click here to learn more about working with CollectiveSun.
- CNBC: Warren Buffett’s Berkshire buys Dominion Energy natural gas assets in $10 billion deal
- Axios: Natural gas pipeline project canceled after Supreme Court victory
- PV-Magazine: Solar workforce development can help win independence from systemic racism
- Greentech Media: Europe’s Demand for Electric Cars May Get a Jolt From COVID-19 Response
- PV-Tech: Indian solar manufacturers call for 50% duties to support local production
- New Haven Register: CT Green Bank bond offering aims to expand residential solar availability
- Grist: Between coronavirus and climate change, is it time to go off-grid?
- GreenBiz: Climate change is a leading issue for Latino voters — they could swing the election
Opinion
Best, Yann