The House Legislation. Draft legislation for the budget reconciliation bill was unveiled showing some details of the clean energy related tax credit. Some highlights include a 10 year extension at 30% for the ITC including stand alone storage as long as prevailing wage levels were paid. There is an adder if local content is used that can increase the tax credit. Projects under 1MW appear to be exempt from the requirements and look at a solid 30% for the next decade. All of this comes under the shadow of the Senate, where Manchin and Synema are taking center stage on what this actually looks like. With the tax increases also included as a pay for for the cost of the bill, expect many things to move if and before this is signed by the President.
Gas Price Rising. Gas prices rose again in August, trending the line up and to the right in the US but also in Europe. With cost competitiveness of gas power plants declining, the argument for the energy transition gets stronger and beyond the climate impact alone.
b>Illinois Gets It Done. The Illinois legislature has passed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act which is sent to and expected to be signed by the Governor. The legislation is expected to add 4GW of wind, 4GW of utility scale solar and 5.8GW of rooftop and community solar. This comes after years of trying to expand the work done under the previous FEJA legislation that kicked off that local market.
The Auctions Like +Storage. Auctions, often used outside of the US, have been a good indicator of changes in the forward looking landscape. In Germany and the UK, generation plus storage is gaining major traction and adding significant pipeline. It is also expanding the growth of ancillary services for frequency regulation and other revenue stacking opportunities.
Gulf Coast Post Ida Coverage. See some of the post Ida coverage from the Gulf Coast. SPI may already have slipped your mind but remember the local community continues to rebuild. Solar and storage played a major role, where deployed, in keeping access to some utilities for those communities.
- PV-Tech: 10-year solar ITC extension, standalone storage credit and PTC revival included in draft budget bill
- Reuters: High gas prices demand creative climate thinking
- Solar Power World: Illinois’s renewable energy overhaul bill passes Senate and moves to Governor’s desk
- Energy Storage News: Wins for solar-plus-storage in tender ‘prove energy storage is integral to greener Germany’
- Utility Dive: New York directs utilities to submit transmission proposals as decarbonization deadline looms
- Axios: Ad wars intensify as Democrats’ green energy plans take shape
- PV-Magazine: The world’s largest solar power plants
- CBS Local: Regulators question Entergy’s transmission upgrades after ‘catastrophic’ failure
- New York Times: New Orleans Built a Power Plant to Prepare for Storms. It Sat Dark for 2 Days.
Opinion
Best, Yann