Author Archives: Frank Andorka

ACC Insider Dealing Throws Shade on Arizona Solar Market

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

The invaluable Ryan Randazzo at AZCentral.com revealed today that the executive director of the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC), which oversees public utilities in the state, has had to resign because his wife worked for the lobbying firm that represents – wait for it – the state’s largest utility, Arizona Public Service.

Although there is no evidence of direct influence, the scent of conflicted interests surrounding Executive Director Tom Vogt was so strong that he resigned ahead of an emergency meeting the commissioners had called to discuss whether he had in fact violated state law by not disclosing his wife’s job.

[wds id=”3″]

Vogt was a strange choice as executive director when he joined the commission in January 2017. As I wrote at the time for pv magazine, his resume was pretty thin:

Vogt’s resume is longer, but his energy experience is even thinner than Forese’s. After a five-year career as an investment banker, Vogt entered the Air Force as an intelligence officer and served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He then joined then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s staff as a daily intelligence briefer.

Vogt served three years as an Arizona representative and led the state’s Department of Veterans’ Services before Monday’s appointment. His most notable legislative achievements focused on veterans’ issues and not on energy. He is also a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative policy shop whose anti-solar stances are legendary.

Given the information Randazzo uncovered, is it really any surprise that the solar industry in, mind you, a state with the highest insolation rates in the country is struggling? Vogt is not the first commissioner to have ties to APS, and APS has not been shy about spreading its money around in commissioner races in the past. It’s nice to see some accountability finally being put in place for these conflicts, but Vogt isn’t the only compromised member of the commission. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the long run.

It should also be noted that Vogt’s resignation comes shortly after Commissioner Andy Tobin put forth a proposal to raise Arizona’s RPS to 80% by 2050 to counter a proposal by progressive billionaire Tom Steyer to raise the RPS to 50% by 2030.

The difference between the two proposals is that Tobin’s is significantly more friendly to APS than Steyer’s plan, in that it considers nuclear power to be “clean energy.” APS currently owns two nuclear plants in the state and is the only utility to do so.

More:

Solar neophytes join ACC as its new leaders

Arizona Regulator Wants To Get Ahead Of The Voters (And That May Be OK)

Scott Pruitt Out At EPA; Former Coal Lobbyist To Step In For Now

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

There’s always a creative tension about covering the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a solar reporter. On the one hand, they don’t have anything directly to do with energy policy, so some solar reporters feel it’s not worth covering.

On the other hand, as a solar reporter, it’s impossible to completely separate the environment and the Solar Revolution, since one of solar’s biggest selling points is that it helps reduce greenhouse gases and thereby helps the environment. Therefore, policy set by the EPA can have an indirect effect on the solar industry whether it wants it to or not.

But sometimes there’s a news story so big you have to cover it no matter what, and such is this afternoon’s news that the scandal-plagued EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has resigned one step ahead of the law. And his replacement at the agency, on at least an interim basis, is former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler.

[wds id=”3″]

This, as you might imagine, is not good news.

As the Department of Energy hatches plans to bailout failing coal and nuclear plants, it’s not out of the realm of possibility to see Wheeler finish the job Pruitt so clearly had started. Both men savor the idea of eviscerating any environmental protection regulations currently in place, and Wheeler may have an added incentive – in the form of his former coal colleagues calling him on the phone – to finish slashing regulations on coal mines faster than ever before.

Here’s where things get particularly ugly for the solar industry: Though Wheeler is only the interim EPA chief, he can hold the post for up to seven months under the Vacancies Reform Act because his appointment to the agency has already been confirmed by the Senate. And 210 days is plenty of time for Wheeler to work in concert with Secretary of Energy to finish the coal/nuclear bailout plan and give coal its time in the … sun … again.

Oy vey.

NRA And Greenpeace Reach Historic Agreement: Solar Rocks

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

It’s our distinct pleasure to announce that the National Rifle Association (NRA) and Greenpeace have come to a historic agreement. And that historic agreement is this: Solar. Rocks.

According to a new survey by Swytch, a blockchain platform that tracks, verifies and rewards those reducing the global carbon footprint, 75% of both NRA and Greenpeace members believe businesses that switch to clean energy should be rewarded – and NRA members are more than twice as likely to own solar electrical systems than the general public.

[wds id=”3″]

Those are the headlines from the new survey, but they are not the only evidence that solar and clean energy support crosses party and regional lines. There’s this significant finding, too:

The survey also found that an overwhelming majority (92%) of Americans believe that renewable energy is either very important or somewhat important to the world’s future and more than 81% of respondents believe that solar power is the most important.

It’s the second part of that finding that should hearten solar advocates from coast to coast. It’s long been considered a settled fact that at least 90% of American support solar, but as far as SolarWakeup can remember, this is the first survey to show Americans have a marked preference for solar over other clean energy solutions. The survey solidifies the idea that the Solar Revolution is here to stay, something that could be proven only anecdotally through stories of the industry’s spread to non-traditional solar states.

The survey also had two more interesting findings about the motivation behind decisions to go solar and what might encourage more people to do so:

  • Roughly 48% of respondents stated their primary motivation for switching to clean energy would be to save money and more than 37% would switch to reduce their environmental impact.
  • Almost 92% of respondents would be more willing to install solar if they had a battery to store the extra energy produced and 88% would be more willing if they could sell the extra energy produced

Those last two findings are important. It shows solar advocates that the way to potential users’ hearts is through their wallets, and it shows that net metering and battery storage are critical to the spread of the Solar Revolution.

California Takes One Step Closer To Passing 100% RPS Bill

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

One. Step. Closer.

Nearly a year after SB 100, the California bill that would mandate a 100% RPS by 2045, failed to make it out of committee, the bill is now on its way to a vote in the full Assembly after passing out of the Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee this afternoon.

The measure had received 38,000 messages of support, delivered to lawmakers ahead of the vote by a broad coalition of solar, environmental and social justice activists.

[wds id=”3″]

In what would be a historic decision, the California Assembly could pass SB 100 and create a clean-energy nirvana in state – and the Union of Concerned Scientists couldn’t be happier.

“We are excited California is one step further on the path of creating new jobs, cleaning our air and powering our homes, businesses and cars with clean, zero-carbon energy. Reducing carbon emissions and air pollution by transitioning away from fossil fuels is one of the most important actions our country and world must take to avoid the worst consequences of climate change,” said Laura Wisland, senior energy manager at the Union of Concerned Scientists.“We appreciate the leadership shown by California legislators to keep our clean energy momentum going strong.”

The move to 100% is the inevitable conclusion of California’s long march toward clean-energy independence under the leadership of Gov. Jerry Brown, who has slowly but surely moved the needle toward 100% during his tenure. By doing it gradually but relentlessly, Brown has overcome the objections of even his staunchest critics – of which there are more than a few – and has continued California’s leadership of the U.S. clean energy revolution.

Passage of SB 100 is, of course, not guaranteed, but making it out of committee is an enormous step forward after it failed to do so last year. At Intersolar North America, then CALSEIA leader Bernadette Del Chiaro led a rally in support of the bill, only to have it fall a few votes short. Now that it has made it out of committee, its supporters are feeling pretty confident about how this vote will occur in the full Assembly.

“On this Fourth of July, as we sing about beautiful, spacious skies, let’s commend the Committee on its visionary decision to clear those skies and power California’s future with 100 percent clean electricity,” said Michelle Kinman, clean energy and transportation program director with Environment California. “We applaud Chair Chris Holden and the Committee for acting to create healthier communities today and better lives for our children.”

“SB 100 will assure that California continues to be in the forefront of leadership in addressing climate change by both accelerating the procurement of solar and other renewable energy sources in the near future and assuring that all state agencies are taking a long-run view about the issues that need to be addressed to get to a 100% greenhouse gas free electric system by 2045 or earlier,” said Ed Smeloff, California policy and regulatory director at Vote Solar.

“The climate change-induced fires that continue to ravage California have helped spark a deeper commitment to shifting to renewable energy,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of the California Solar + Storage Association. “From setting 100% clean energy goals to talk about electrification and a renewed comittment to energy storage on par with the Million Solar Roofs Initiative, California continues to focus on solving problems while creating jobs and economic development.”