By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

With a decided lack of leadership at the national level on moving clean energy policy forward - and in some cases taking significant steps backward instead - the power to affect change in environmental policy necessarily is defaulting to the city and state level. That's why the latest numbers from Environment America's Research and Policy Center's announcement yesterday that more than 200 mayors across the United States - 216 in fact - have signed its letter calling for more solar energy is such an exciting development. Even more exciting is the fact that the signatories aren't limited to states and regions that have traditionally supported solar power as a natural part of their development. From every region of the country, solar energy is gaining momentum as the environmentally smart choice. “While our federal government is promoting 19th-century energy policies, Americans can look to local governments to lead the United States’ transition to clean energy,” said Emma Searson, Environment America’s Go Solar Campaign Advocate in a press release announcing the news. “Mayors across the country are rising to the challenge -- thinking bigger, acting smarter, and tapping the sun for more power.” The list of 216 mayors who signed the letter spans the political spectrum, including 25 Republicans, as well as a broad range of city sizes and budgets. Republican Mayor James Brainard of Carmel, Ind., is proud to support solar in his community and says it’s a “no-brainer” for every city to consider: “Even as Carmel continues its substantial growth, our city is working aggressively to reduce our carbon footprint well below what it was several years ago, when we were a smaller community," Brainard said in the release. "Solar plays a major role in that effort, including more than 6,100 panels on four major facilities: our water treatment plant, a sanitary sewer pump station and two public parking garages in our city center. They’ll cost about $3.2 million but yield well over twice that in energy savings over the life of the panels. All this in a part of the country that hardly gets sunshine every day of the year.” What Brainard says is true - solar isn't just for the sunny states anymore. As battery storage and other technological improvements continue to grow, the range of regions that can successfully install solar continues to expand as well. So the letter signed by these mayors is just another signal to the national government that it should get its act together and support solar energy - because the Solar Revolution is already here, whether the fossil fuel interests that dominate our politics like it or not.

Your Help Is Still Needed. Dozens of solar workers have lost their homes due to the fire north of Sacramento. CALSSA has set up a donation page and your generosity is greatly appreciated, any amount helps get solar pros that lost everything back on their feet. 
I’ll Take The Usual. Can’t argue with the data on new generation, solar and wind are the default fuel when it comes to every day interconnections. The issue sits with the existing portfolio of generating capacity especially within ratebased portfolios at the utilities across the Country. A lot of the portfolio is not that old either, which means replacing it will take decades unless regulatory oversight chooses to sunset the plants early. That being said, that would require an insane increase of solar generation to be built including distributed resources that likely includes power dense fuel cell or generating equipment alongside TWh of storage. Point is, it’s doable but difficult to execute within today’s regulatory environment. 
Fight For Your States’ Rights. Here is your typical letter from 5 State Attorneys General saying that they will fight for clean energy if the Trump administration tries to slow the progress. One of those AGs works in a State (MD) that has a republican Governor. Reality is that this is not typical but notable progress for the clean energy issue to be taken up within a week of the election. Yesterday, a climate change sit-in happened in Nancy Pelosi’s office and Congresswoman-elect Ocasio Cortez joined in. More to come on the creation of the Select Committee on Climate Change. 
The Almighty Pricing Signal. Locational pricing, short term pricing, and anything that else that allows intermittent and solar plus storage to create revenues without offtake agreements would be the fastest way to increase adoption of solar. The reason is that it decreases the gap between PPA and default scenario. It also eliminates some of the risk for post term energy valuation in qualifying facilities. How to make this happen however…
It’s Not What, It’s How. I see plenty of articles about solar on farm land across America. Illinois has this conversation right now and I discussed this with Jon Carson of Trajectory Partners. The key in my opinion is not that NIMBYism on the solar farm but the desire for neighbors to know who will be their neighbor during construction and for the next 25+ years. If the development team does it properly during the initial process, they are much more likely to be successful. 
Making Utility Changes (Staffing Update). RMI and Advanced Energy Economy are out with a report on the future business models for utilities. Also of note, former SEIA Chairman, Nat Kraemer, was announced as the new CEO of Advanced Energy Economy this week. 
Be Subscribed. Good reminder to make sure that your colleagues are subscribed to this newsletter. They can do it with an email by clicking here. 

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By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

As more renewables are added to the United States' electrical grid, management of those resources becomes ever more critical. Software that can help utilities integrate more renewables on the grid is becoming ever more critical, and companies that can bring such software to life are leading the way toward a more futuristic, customer-centric grid. Which is why a new partnership between PPL Electric Utilities and GE is so fascinating. PPL Electric Utilities and GE Power Digital announced yesterday a joint initiative to develop and test software to manage and control electricity from renewable and stored energy sources. Planning for, monitoring and controlling DERs while maintaining reliability requires in-depth system knowledge combined with advanced technologies. GE's DER Orchestration software uses automated and adaptive technologies to manage the impact of distributed generation. GE was recently recognized by IDC MarketScape as a leader in DER management systems.1 PPL will adopt GE's DER Orchestration and integrate it with the utility's Advanced Distribution Management Solutions (ADMS). This combination will enable the utility to model and improve grid operations, maintain grid reliability, enhance load forecasting and improve bi-directional communication with DERs. PPL and GE will test the software within the utility's service territory for assistance with future product development and verification for others within the industry considering DERMs solutions. Matt Green, chief information officer at PPL, commented, "There will be more change in the electric utility industry over the next 10 years than we have experienced in the prior 100 years. Distributed energy will be everywhere, but we'll still need the grid. With the proper investments to successfully orchestrate DERs, the grid will become more valuable. Utilities are best positioned to provide the platform of the future and enable emerging technologies to thrive. To accomplish this, we need long-term strategic relationships such as the one we have established with GE." Responding to changes in the grid while maintaining reliability is a key focus for PPL. Their investments to date include installing smart grid technology, designing data analytics models to improve equipment maintenance and replacement and installing better protection against damage from lightning strikes. PPL is ranked in the top 10 percent nationally and first in the Mid-Atlantic region in keeping the lights on for its customers, according to system average outage frequency figures from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Reliability is directly related to customer satisfaction. PPL routinely ranks among national leaders in customer satisfaction, according to a noted national study. The study measures utility customer satisfaction by examining key factors, with power quality and reliability having the highest weight. "Distributed energy brings with it variability that places new stresses on the grid. To address this challenge, new approaches to business and operating models along with advanced software solutions are critical," said Jeff Wright, vice president of product management for GE Power. "We're glad to be working directly alongside a forward-thinking utility like PPL. Not only are they focused on innovating for the future, they're focused on doing it the right way for their customers – safely and reliably."

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

I've complained for years that the utility business model in the United States is broken. The idea that a centralized electricity production system is more efficient and effective than a decentralized model is one that certainly deserves to be challenged (if not, as would be my preference, tossed aside entirely). Now the Rocky Mountain Institute has released a report suggesting that if there is to be an energy transition in this country - away from polluting fossil fuels and in the direction of clean, renewable energy - that changes to the utility business model aren't just necessary, they're essential. To drive the changes, RMI, America’s Power Plan and Advanced Energy Economy Institute have put together a lengthy report detailing the policy and regulatory options they believe will help create, as they term it, a more customer-centric grid experience. “The grid is experiencing rapid changes in its shift to a 21st-century system, and electric utilities have a fundamental role to play in ensuring this transition strengthens resilience, improves environmental performance and protects the interests of customers while maintaining essential features of affordability and reliability,” Dan Cross-Call, a manager at RMI and one of the report’s authors, said in a press release announcing the report's release. “This report offers a practical guide to industry leaders—regulators, utilities, grid operators, policymakers and policy influencers—on how to best engage with an increasingly decarbonized and distributed energy system, shepherding and managing this transition to maintain the fundamental role of utilities and achieve new policy objectives.” The report not only outlines 10 reforms they believe are critical to building the grid of the future, but they also released a series of real-life case studies that show these reforms in action. As more renewable energy is produced in the United States, utilities are panicking as they try to figure out how to deal with the additional distributed generation options that are bleeding customers off the centralized grid and affecting revenues for today's centralized utilities. Studies like the RMI study show there are alternatives, if the utilities are willing to listen and evolve.