By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent According to a report from Bloomberg, natural gas is going to run into significant price competition from solar+storage in the coming years – perhaps even eliminating the need for new natural gas plants in parts of the American Southwest. The report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance advances a story SolarWakeup has been telling you about for months, which is that new natural gas-fired plants are increasingly being seen as unnecessary as the costs of solar+storage, especially at the utility-scale level, continue to come down. Prices are so low, in fact, that Bloomberg predicts solar+storage will … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent The state university system of California just took the aggressive renewable energy goals set at the state level and turned them up to 11. The University of California system is committed to reaching its own goal of being powered 100% by renewable energy by 2025 – 20 years before the entire state’s deadline of 2045. The announcement is in parallel with the system’s intent to become carbon neutral the same year. According to the release, the California universities’ system has already saved $220 million with its energy efficiency programs, and continues to leverage the benefits … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent The New York Public Service Commission (NYPSC) has taken the next step toward reaching its energy storage goals when it accepted the environmental review report connected to the state’s Energy Storage Roadmap. The roadmap, announced with great fanfare by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, envisions 1.5 GW of storage installed in the state over the next seven years. The NYPSC has undertaken steps to make that goal a reality in the most effective, environmentally friendly way possible. According to a release announcing its acceptance of the environmental review, the NYPSC says the goal means that … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent After receiving a grant from Massachusetts of $875,000, National Grid has added its first battery – a vanadium redox-flow battery (VRB) – in connection with its 1 MW solar farm outside of Shirley, Massachusetts, according to reports in the RTO Insider newsletter. The battery setup is designed to demonstrate how utility-scale storage can work in this state, which is currently ranked No. 7 in the country in overall solar deployment. [wds id=”3″] As RTO Insider reports, “Carlos Nouel, vice president of innovation and development at National Grid, told RTO Insider that ‘the Shirley project will … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent As I was scrolling through my LinkedIn feed this weekend, I ran across an article from Forbes magazine writer Michael Shellenberger that both made me laugh out loud and shake my head. The headline of the article was “Had They Bet On Nuclear, Not Renewables, Germany & California Would Already Have 100% Clean Power.” Which, if you think about it, is like saying, “If my dog meowed, she’d be a cat.” Shellenberger bases his article on a study by Environmental Progress, which a quick glance at their website shows is a shill organization for the … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent When you think of renewable energy leaders, Rhode Island may not immediately leap to mind – but thanks to a recent request for proposal (RFP) issued by Governor Gina M. Raimondo for 400 MW of renewable energy, that may be about to change. The state’s largest utility National Grid developed the RFP in coordination with the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources (OER) and Division of Public Utilities & Carriers (DPUC). According to a release, the state has more than tripled the amount of renewable power in its portfolio since Governor Raimondo announced her goal … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent A new Deloitte Global report, “Global Renewable Energy Trends,” indicates solar and wind are becoming the preferred electricity-generation sources worldwide. There are three key reasons for the increase: price and performance parity with fossil fuels; better grid integration infrastructure and improving technology. In other words, solar and wind are now cost-competitive with fossil fuels and are delivering the same performance. As that continues (and other technologies like blockchain come into play), Deloitte expects the trends to continue. “Demand for renewable energy sources has grown tremendously in recent years,” says Marlene Motyka, Deloitte U.S. and global … Read More →

The Energy Show: By Barry Cinnamon These days you can’t watch TV, read a news story or listen to the radio without seeing catastrophic fires, hurricanes, and high temperatures. The world is getting hotter. To illustrate, Death Valley recorded the hottest month ever recorded on Earth. Temperatures averaged 108.1 degrees day and night, all of July 2018. That beat last year’s record monthly temperature. This is not just a U.S. only story, it’s a worldwide issue. During the month of July 2018 record high temperatures were set on every single continent in the northern hemisphere (it was winter in the … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Though the overall solar market declined in Q2 of 2018, there was good news to be had in the utility-scale and residential sectors. Those are the headlines from the Q2 U.S. Solar Market Insight Report from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Woods MacKenzie Power & Renewables (WKPR) (formerly GTM Research). As some predicted, the decision by the Chinese to halt their domestic market sent component prices into a nosedive, which allowed the utility-scale solar market to procure nearly 8.5 GW of solar in the second quarter. Lower than expected tariffs – starting at … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Vote Solar announced today that it and the Arizona small business community have come out behind Proposition 127, a ballot initiative that would enshrine a 50% renewable portfolio standard (RPS) by 2030. Arizona’s current RPS is 15%. Prop 127, backed by progressive billionaire Tom Steyer, has been mired in controversy as the state’s three largest utilities – Arizona Public Service (APS), Tucson Electric Power (TEP) and the Salt River Project (SRP) – have all funded political action committees to oppose the proposition. APS even brought a lawsuit challenging the signatures on the ballot petitions, a … Read More →