All Eyes On DC. With the American Rescue Plan headed to Biden’s desk today all eyes move towards the climate and infrastructure bill. It was Senator Manchin that said it could be as high as $4trillion investment and it launches Mayor/Secretary Pete into the spotlight. In bipartisan formats, energy storage standalone ITC is center stage alongside the rest of the ITC expansion/extension. This major bill would be a decade of infrastructure improvement for grids, roads, bridges and more but likely the most meaningful expansion of climate policy in the history of the Country.
Manchin’s Role And Rule. The West Virginia Senator has been saying that he will not take the bill up in reconciliation and exclude Republicans from the start. Lindsay Graham is posturing some talk about adding the GOP to the climate discussion, which quite frankly would be a welcome addition from my perspective. Manchin holds the key as the 50th vote and could be pressuring the GOP to get involved or risk being left out as they did in the latest COVID stimulus. The reality is that all infrastructure is local and when it comes to our market, it would mean hundreds of thousands of well paying jobs for many years across America.
Standard Standards. NREL Is out with a new permitting database assessing the state of permitting, in progress and inspection across 20,000 jurisdictions. Ahead of the launch of SolarAPP, NREL is showing that even though there are national standards for solar construction, there are no standards carried across the Country. NREL is currently processing and selecting the administrator for the SolarAPP platform which should help carry the program into the next phase of launch.
New Energy Demand. Markets continue to understate the role and impact that EVs will have on the grid. When we need power, how much we need and where it’s needed.
A Product Showcase. In two weeks, join CALSSA and the dozens of manufacturers in a product showcase. This is a free event if you register in advance, you can do that here. Absent in person events and a desire to stay in front of a computer all day, CALSSA brings you the best way to learn about the latest and greatest.
- PV-Magazine: Lawmakers propose energy storage system tax incentive
- Solar Power World: New NREL tool aggregates solar permitting timelines, requirements across all jurisdictions
- Reuters: EV rollout will require huge investments in strained U.S. power grids
- Utility Dive: ‘A total mindshift’: Utilities replace gas peakers, ‘old school’ demand response with flexible DERs
- Bloomberg: Goldman Weighs Sale of Majority Stake in Japan Renewable
- Renew Economy: Australia’s big fossil fuel generators are being replaced by big batteries
- Recharge News: BOEM chief pledges new US offshore wind leases ‘as quickly as we can’
Opinion
Best, Yann