This is your SolarWakeup for December 4th, 2018
Do You Vote Solar? Last evening some of the biggest solar supporters came together to celebrate Vote Solar and the entire team of passionate solar advocates. There are few teams that have done so much, so quietly to advance our market. We had some fun talking about past victories that are the foundation of solar markets across the Country. So I raise my glass for a toast for Vote Solar and all solar advocates that do the policy work that allows installers to sell solar to homeowners and creates the market that creates my job. Without the policies that enable our market, most of us would be doing other work.
Reality Of Nuclear. Every few months there seems to be a nuclear should make a comeback for the sake of fighting climate change. This storyline seems a bit tired given that it’s been used for years. It is ingrained in so many higher education institutions and think tanks studying the issue. I understand the argument but the political reality is that nobody looking to fight climate change is leaning in on nuclear. I will hear from some of you that the portfolio has to include nuclear but I am here to tell you that the market has moved on. One small pet peeve, calling renewables ‘buoyed by subsidies’ while arguing for nuclear is laughable. Without early cost recovery and government subsidized insurance, water and waste, nuclear would be non-existent.
Has COP Lost The Luster? COP24 has started and if I wasn’t following the Solar Impulse team on social media, I wouldn’t know. First, it’s in Poland which hasn’t exactly been the leader in climate policy. Second, without the US leading the marketing of it in the US media, it seems to be lacking any coverage at all. As an aside, various forms of renewables shouldn’t put other forms down in order to gain an edge, there are plenty of antagonists to focus on.
Green New Deal et al. New leaders in Congress have surprised me with the pedestal that the green new deal has been placed on as one of the signature areas of focus going into the new Congress. Ocasio-Cortez, who is humanizing the role of member of Congress in a great way, has been actively pushing for co-sponsors and ignoring the ‘freshmen members stay quiet’ status quo. I look forward to speaking with co-sponsors of the bill and understand how the pivot from macro, big idea like green new deal can leverage the political power that solar has within the voting public.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for December 3rd, 2018
41. “The United States is strongly committed to the IPCC process of international cooperation on global climate change. We consider it vital that the community of nations be drawn together in an orderly, disciplined, rational way to review the history of our global environment, to assess the potential for future climate change, and to develop effective programs. The state of the science, the social and economic impacts, and the appropriate strategies all are crucial components to a global resolution. The stakes here are very high; the consequences, very significant.” - President H.W. Bush on February 5th, 1990
Tariff Update. Trump had a trade talk dinner with China over the weekend and the two Countries have come out with a momentary pause to the trade war escalation, waiting to increase the tariffs from 10% to 25% while talks continue. For solar this would have larger impacted the raw material increases which could have trickled up to the end product costs that you pay every day for your projects.
Trickle Up. David Roberts from Vox uses comparison to economic theory to highlight the future potential of a grid centered around distributed generation instead of central power plants. This flows with the goals of the solar market and also plays into the future where electric vehicles are the default condition in the auto market. Good to see this in the mainstream media.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for November 30th, 2018
DC Goes 100%. This has been talked about for some time but now it’s becoming law and it makes DC the 3rd State to go 100% renewables. DC has some limitations on how to execute on this but being in the PJM market it does have the flexibility, much like the deal for the solar output by George Washington University. The rooftops are not widely available but we saw a community solar project announced yesterday as well. Local sources sound optimistic about the opportunities in Maryland as well with a legislative path to an increased RPS. Frank speaks to MDV-SEIA’s executive director about the victory in DC.
Empower Ratebase, Not Thoughts. I appreciate the sentiment from Rocky Mountain Institute in the 1st part of the 4 part serious about empower utilities to participate in the clean energy transition. The problem isn’t that they are against the clean energy transition, the problem is the lack of short term, quarterly profits within the current regulatory framework. Utility execs like other execs will tend to do what their compensation is aligned against. If utilities were to be told that they would make money to participate in the clean energy transition, execs would sing a different tune. The issue now is that the clean energy transition is trying to replace and eliminate utilities, not make them more money.
In-no-va-tion. I meant to write about this last week but this is an important topic within the political conversation on climate change. Climate change is not a bi-partisan topic which originally was a hoax. When hoax stopped working with the American people, skeptics went with the unsettled science and not being scientists. The public has largely stopped buying the unsettled science line and we have advanced to the latest political talking point. “Climate change is here, it doesn’t matter who causes it but whatever we do can’t impact the economy.” Then, to buy time, politicians will pivot to the need to drive innovation within the demographic of their audience. Innovation is such a broad topic that clean coal and 50% efficient solar modules could fall into the category. Additionally, everyone loves innovation which gets listeners of the talking points to nod in agreement that we need to find more solutions. I call BS though, we need more execution and less talk about innovation because innovation is driven by larger markets and the hopes by people to disrupt the market with new products, services and ideas.
Have a great weekend! Please send me a note when you travel to San Francisco, always great to meet you in person and stay tuned for great new podcasts dropping next week.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for November 29th, 2018
Quick rundown today as it’s been a long week after the holidays and everyone wants their racking and mounting before the holidays. Don’t forget to check out all the fun stuff Quick Mount has to offer for your stockings this holiday season.
More On SRA. Frank speaks with the Solar Rights Alliance’s Executive Director, Dave Rosenfeld. Check it out.
The Future Of The CA Grid. Sunrun’s Chief Policy Officer, Anne Hoskins, a former utility regulator posts a really smart op-ed about the role distributed solar plays in the future where fires are bigger and badder.
Big EV Infra Money. ChargePoint raises $240million and has now surpassed half a billion in funding. Some of the smartest names in solar are now at the competitor EvGo, some new interesting ones coming soon I think. I like watching this infrastructure race taking off.
Solar Powered Oil. Orsted has done a 12 year deal with Exxon. This is likely through an energy forward contract of some sort and shows that shorter term contracts in tradable markets is the way to get deals done. Exxon is using solar to increase profits on oil, the irony.
Slowing Militaries Resiliency. The military using solar, wind, energy storage and microgrids to make its facilities safer and less expensive to run is a good thing. Stopping that momentum is a bad thing.
I’m All In On 180kWh Beast. This week at the LA Auto Show, a formerly stealthy company, Rivian, rolled out its 180kWh pickup and SUV trucks. I’m not saying I miss my F-250 but I’m all in on big electric trucks and the load they add to the grid that can be met with giant solar farms.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for November 28th, 2018
NRA For Solar. Yesterday was giving Tuesday and one of the groups I’d like to point out to you is the Solar Rights Alliance. The intention of the group is to focus on activating solar homeowners much like the NRA does. In the initial roll out, the hypothesis worked. The Solar Rights Alliance was able to activate and engage solar homeowners to make calls and send emails to legislators. SRA is looking for more financial backing but it is also looking for access to grow the homeowner base, make sure to get acquainted and reach out to them to learn more.
Where Solar Installs. Part of the issue with the above exercise is the lack of data of homeowners that went solar. One startup is putting this data to work and help solar companies get more granular. I’ve personally used and paid for the data that comes from Ohm Analytics because I think that a solar community of like minded homeowners is one of the most valuable assets in solar.
Based On Alternative Facts. In yesterday’s White House Press Briefing, Sarah Sanders said that the National Climate Assessments wasn’t based on facts. See for yourself in the clip below.
SEIA Backs Storage ITC. Frank talks to Abby Hopper, CEO of SEIA, about SEIA’s letter asking for energy storage to be added as an eligible technology for the ITC.
PG&E Did What? A lawsuit has been filed by PG&E customers and a new report filed with the CPUC shows that PG&E was indeed worried that winds would require that the grid be shut down but decided it didn’t need for it to happen. This is going to work out in the legal system and undoubtedly find its way into the legislative process next summer once again.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for November 27th, 2018
FERC Nominee Showdown. Look for more under the radar news about the nominee to join FERC after Bernard McNamee was videotaped saying “renewable energy screws up the grid” amongst other anti renewable rhetoric. This is up to the republican leadership in the Senate but given some Senators support for wind and solar energy, this could spell some trouble for the nomination. Look for solar supporter, Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), to potentially step into the sunshine given his 2020 re-election date.
Good For Me, Not For You. Some markets have great amount of solar especially within rate based approvals but lack the uptick of distributed generation. The likely reason is that the market policies work against consumer choice that stop consumers from being able o put solar on their roof. Frank takes you through the story out of Georgia.
Get Some Energy (Storage). The utilities have taken over the cap tables across the energy storage space and many European utilities have been more active than some US utilities. The most notable energy storage company in the market for acquisition is FlexGen which we covered a few weeks ago and who has been active providing storage solutions to IPPs like Vistra Energy.
Trump Refuting Trump. Mainstream political reporter from the Washington Post goes line by line of the most famous Trump speeches and refutes them with the National Climate Assessment. Worth a read.
Who Gets Hurt. Whether it was the 9th ward in New Orleans during Katrina, firefighters on Long Island during Sandy or folks living in Paradise during the Camp Fire, those that are harmed by the effects of climate change are everyday Americans; often lower and middle income. The cost benefit for many Americans is largely obvious, given that the people that can most take advantage of the opportunities of the clean energy future also benefit from less dramatic climate events. Like some people say, the worst that can happen is a great new economic opportunity is created.
Where To Next? Where should SolarWakeup Live! go to next? What market is opening up and you want to learn more about?
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for November 26th, 2018
What You Missed. While you were recovering from your turkey coma, the Trump administration dumped volume II of the National Climate Assessment on black Friday. In the hopes that no-one would see it, it caused quite the weekend on Twitter. On Thursday I was wondering why Trump was busy tweeting twice about the climate change hoax and how cold it was on Thanksgiving. Obviously this was in anticipation of the release the following day. Today is a day to talk about climate change, the reality being that solar is so bipartisan that neither side wants to make it an issue to debate in an election and until solar makes politicians pay for voting against solar, climate change is the issue that will lead us. I’m not saying this is the best path for solar but it is the political reality.
The Friday Dump. In 1990, Congress passed a law requiring the executive branch to release a climate change assessment every 4 years, volume II of which was released in the proverbial Friday trash. You can read the full report here. The report comes a month after the dire warnings of the IPCC and is no less dire in the wording and impact to the economy. If America and the world don’t start acting on climate change the world will be a different place and any legislator that ignores it will likely be thrown out of office over time (how much time is the question).
The Takeaways. Vox gives you the three biggest takeaways in of the 1,500+ page report below. Moreover, the New York Times gave two columns on the front page on the issue.
Right’s Reaction. Climate change made the top issues on the Sunday shows. Senator Mike Lee and conservative talking head, Danielle Pletka, knocked down the report with “I’m not a scientist” and doing something about climate change would be “harmful to the economy.” You no longer need to be a scientist, you can simply believe the Trump administration’s report and their warnings about the impacts of climate change. On the other hand dealing with climate change not only isn’t harmful to the economy, it is helpful as the report says that failing to deal with climate change is a 10% drag on the US GDP.
Left’s Reaction. The loudest voice online, in my timeline, was Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. Senator Klobuchar was on the Sunday shows and lightly dodged the questions about running for President, it’s not a no but no decision is made. Klobuchar rightfully highlighted the impacts to the midwest and how climate change will hurt farmers across America. Politicizing the impacts is the right step forward for politicians that find issues that they care about and their opponents do not.
From The Author. There are many authors but I urge you to read the Katharine Hayoe’s twitter feed on the topic. She is well versed as a climate scientist and speaks clearly about the issue ahead and what your takeaway should be. If you’re not planning on reading the National Climate Change Assessment, read this tweet story.
Political Next Steps. As I mentioned above, climate change is the political reality for everything within solving climate change. Solar should politicize 100% RPS across the Country and talk about clean energy job creation. But when it comes to the political reality, don’t expect solar to be the wedge issue that makes politicians do pro-solar on both sides and ignoring this fact would be political negligence by our trade associations, (i.e. no more solar awards to republicans for now). Don’t take this is as a negative however, the report also broke down the demographics of who is most concerned about climate change. Hispanic Catholics, who have been historically hard to rally for the left, are most concerned about climate change. More than anything, climate change now created a wedge issue for a key political demographic.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for November 20th, 2018
Today is the last newsletter before the Thanksgiving break as I once again look to escape the smoke and hunker down for the first rain of my Bay area living. I am thankful for your continued support and readership and hope that I am able to give you valued content every day.
What Is The Value Of Solar? Every time this happens, a PSC looking to understand the value of solar that is, the report comes back showing that solar is worth more than the retail rate offered by net metering. This is the fundamental argument against calling NEM a subsidy. So you may ask yourself why solar never asks for a NEM rate above even credit and the answer to that is simplicity. Homeowners understand what they pay and they understand that it doesn’t matter when they produce versus when they consumer. Simplicity is the face of solar the utilities look to break in their opposition to our industry.
The Fate Of PG&E (Once Again). There was a non-solar policy battle in California this summer centered around the liability (and ability to charge consumers for) the cost impact caused by fires in 2017. Before the fires in Paradise and Malibu are even put out, the issue is coming up again. The camp fire is the worst fire in California history and early news reports appear to question what caused the fire to spark. Look for PG&E to look at ratepayers to bail the company out which makes one wonder whether PG&E wouldn’t be better post restructuring as a wires company focused on transmission and get out of the generation and retail side of the business. I do expect that Wall Street is paying close attention and ready to make a move.
A Green New Deal. I don’t want to debate the Green New Deal. I want to talk about the political strategy of the Select Committee on Climate Change and Green New Deal. I think America will view both of those ideas as partisan. How about the Select Committee On Clean Energy Jobs and a Wind and Solar New Deal instead?
Get That Load. An offer to municipalities and other fleet operators to sign up for special rate schedules for their electric vehicle fleet. This is a direct attack on the oil customers and make it easier and cheaper for fleets to electrify. This is going to be copied across the Country by every utility desperately looking to growth their base load of consumption.
Make It Easy. The New York PSC is right, “if you want people to do something, make it easy.”
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for November 19th, 2018
Escaping Smoke. No column this morning as the family and I have escaped the smoke that has enveloped the Bay area from the Camp Fire in Paradise, CA. We are now busy in Tahoe raking up the leaves.
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Yann
This is your SolarWakeup for November 16th, 2018
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Yann