Right Job Right Location. Part of our job is to make sure that the energy transition doesn’t change the location of the jobs that people have today. As someone that has moved for work, as many of you have, it isn’t easy to leave behind friends, family and comfort for a new beginning. For many in coal, gas and power sectors they are working jobs that may have been jobs in their families for generations, think coal miners. We’re getting data that show that job opportunities match where the energy transition is impacting the most workers and it’s up to many of you reading this to grow your businesses in those locations and not put them where you are comfortable. Hiring talent is surely one of the toughest challenges you will face in the coming years so go to the talent.
Speeding The Replacements. The fiscal climate dilemma will surely be centerstage this decade. The dilemma is to determine what to do with existing assets that have not reached their end of life while also acknowledging that they are not the best solution anymore especially with societal costs being included in today’s analysis. Yes, it was the wrong decision to build in the first place but now they are installed, capitalized and millions of retirement accounts, pension funds, and investments are taking the assumption of a full life for granted. Should we replace many of those plants? Yes, the climate and grid need it to happen but that doesn’t happen in a vacuum either.
Climate, Jobs And Wealth Creation. We are the center of the greatest wealth creation opportunity in a generation, that is a certainty. Because of that and how the grid is changing, it is also where the largest growth of jobs will happen. As I said in a recent interview, tell me the job you want and I’ll show you the job opportunity in our industry. While this is the SolarWakeup and I remember at every CALSSA board meeting that we have become the big S, solar plus storage industry. The best part is that we are creating jobs, careers, and wealth while ensuring that our kids inherit a cleaner planet.
The First Step. In the coming months and years, we are going to have tough conversations, some of which I outline above. We’ve been having net metering battles since the day I joined the industry 15 years ago and even in California, the biggest market in the Country where solar is literally keeping the lights on during peak shutoff events, the fight continues. The grid is transitioning, changing for the better. We can either work together to make it work better for everyone or we can fight the battles where one side shuts their eyes and points that clean energy is bad, bad, bad. Look at SEIA’s statement about Texas last week, no finger-pointing just simply saying we can solve this problem, shutoffs, and rampant costs, by including the lowest costs and more resilient technologies. It is a long past time for anti-renewables forces to stop saying that consumer choice and self-reliance by investing in their own energy source is bad for the grid and if they aren’t going to stop, then it’s time for regulators to stop hearing it because consumers are tired of it.
- Axios: How Biden’s clean-energy jobs transition could work in fossil fuel hubs
- Utility Dive: Possible hundreds of billions in US power sector securitizations spur ratepayer protection debate
- Vox: 3 popular policies Democrats can use to fight climate change and boost the economy
- PV-Tech: Enphase Energy unveils US$1bn note offer
- Reuters: Exelon to split in two, expects losses from Texas freeze
- PV-Magazine: Two ways to improve low-income community solar programs
- Solar Builder: RFP alert: Southwest Virginia needs a residential solar partner in coal country
- Rocky Mountain Institute: North Carolina Advances Its Clean Energy Transition Despite Challenges of 2020
- Los Angeles Times: How far will Biden go to fix the climate crisis? Pay attention to this gas project
Opinion
Best, Yann