By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent The Wells Fargo is coming down the street, and it’s got $5 million in it for the GRID Alternatives Tribal Solar Accelerator Fund, which is an extension of its National Tribal Program. Under the program, GRID Alternatives has already built more than 600 projects on tribal land, and the new funding will allow them to continue funding projects for the next three years. The National Tribal Program, which has installed nearly 3 MW of projects, began in 2010. GRID estimates the exisiting projects will generate $23 million in lifetime energy costs savings [wds id=”3″] “Many … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Yesterday, we wrote about how utilities didn’t seem all that enthusiastic about the new rules the Trump Administration had laid out to weaken regulation on coal plants. In fact, most of the utilities discussed in the article reaffirmed their commitment to growing their renewable portfolios at varying speeds. And today we have another real-life example of the shift that is coming in utilities’ attitudes both toward traditional coal plants and renewable energy. Xcel Energy, Colorado’s largest utility, won approval from the Public Utilities Commission to ramp up its investments in renewable energy to to the … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent They don’t mean to seem ungrateful, but … At the Electrification 2018 conference, Greentech Media was anxious to find out how utilities felt about the new rules surrounding easing regulations on coal plants. Would they turn away from renewable energy and decide to keep their failing coal plants open? Would they slow the pace of renewable energy purchases? Would this signal the end to renewable energy as we know it? Well, what the Greentech Media editors (which surprised no one, including them) is that most utilities, no matter where they were in the United States, … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Could the Utah solar market be cratering just one year before Solar Power International heads to Salt Lake City. No. The answer is no. Despite breathless reporting over the weekend that implied that Utah’s market has hit the skids, most observers believe the market is simply correcting itself after full retail-rate net metering went away in November. And while installations are off 23% so far in 2018, it’s far too early to tell whether the decline will continue as consumers adjust to the new rules. [wds id=”3″] As Jasen Lee reported in The Deseret News, … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent It’s as if Apple started using a Microsoft operating system. Exxon, one of the world’s largest oil-and-gas corporations, put out a request-for-proposal for contracts on at least 100 MW of solar and wind power, and possibly up to 250 MW for the right contracts. The contracts would be for between 12 and 20 years long, according to Bloomberg reporters who have seen the confidential RFP. It’s also unclear whether the power is intended to fuel the company’s Irving, Texas, headquarters or whether Exxon would re-sell the power to other offtakers. [wds id=”3″] It’s not unusual … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Corporations are driving clean energy adoption globally, and they have procured more than ever before so far in 2018 – at least according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Through July, global corporations have already shattered the 2017 full-year record by more than 2 GW through July, having already purchased 7.2 GW through July vs 5.4 GW in all of 2017. It’s being driven by sustainability plans and the incentives to build clean energy projects. And solar is making up an ever-increasing portion of the purchases, thanks to plummeting PV prices – though wind still makes … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent On the campaign trail in 2016, then-candidate Donald J. Trump spent a lot of time trying to win the votes of coal miners by lying to them. He frequently told them he would end the mythical “War on Coal” and somehow magically bring back coal jobs. Well, here it is in 2018, and now-President Donald J. Trump is still talking about saving coal jobs, even as coal miners watch their coworkers lose jobs to automation and, yes, a reduced need for coal. A lie, no matter how often it is repeated, is still a lie. … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Most experts agree that electrification of transportation is one of the keys to decarbonizing the grid. And for those who can afford to do so, that means purchasing an electric vehicle and installing a charging station at their home. But what about those who aren’t able to make that investment or don’t have access to it easily, like low-income communities and some communities of color? Well, the California Air Resources Board is partnering with clean-energy pioneer GRID Alternatives to try to solve that problem. The clean transportation project, dubbed the One-Stop-Shop Pilot, is expected to … Read More →

The Energy Show: By Barry Cinnamon Great solar policy is just as important as great solar technology. Obviously we need the technologies for these products — but we also need the policies so that solar products can be cost-effectively installed. And I’m not just talking about incentives…policies related to net metering, interconnection and permitting are just as important. Getting good solar policy requires effective political lobbying. I hate to let you down, but these great energy policies did not magically spring from the brains of inspired politicians When I look back at the successes our industry has had over the … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, long an outspoken champion of solar and other renewable energies, took one look at the Environmental Protection Agency’s new plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and screamed, “Get my Press Spokesman on the phone right now!” And just like that, Cuomo announced that New York had joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance, a group of 17 nations and Washington D.C. that are committed to eliminating coal from their electricity-generation and putting a moratorium on new coal plants that don’t have carbon-capture technology on them. New York is the first U.S. … Read More →