Trump To Throw Free Market Principles Out Window On Behalf Of Coal, Nuke Plants

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Well, that’s not very free market of him. In a move that made George Gilder do a spit take, President Donald J. Trump may soon order grid operators to purchase electricity from failing coal and nuclear plants in an effort to keep such faltering plants alive and well, according to a Bloomberg report. [wds id=”3″] A memo reviewed by the news organization says the Energy Department is considering using its power under the Federal Power Act – Section 202 powers, to be exact – to use emergency powers to take such action. Bloomberg called the … Read More →

NV Energy Unveils Massive Solar, Storage Plans

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent NV Energy, Nevada’s largest utility, unveiled plans to add more than 1 GW of solar power and at least 100 MW of battery storage in its latest Integrated Resources Plan (IRP), filed today with the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN). The new projects will be evenly distributed throughout the state, with three new plants located in the north and three located in the south, pending the plan’s approval by the PUCN. [wds id=”3″] “The six new projects position NV Energy to keep its commitment to double renewable energy by 2023 and, importantly, by diversifying … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for June 1st, 2018

Bad wifi on the plane means no column this morning. Have a great weekend and I will see you all on Monday. Let’s get ready for a strong June to close our Q2 in a great way! SolarWakeuplive.com to register for our Chicago event.

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Have a great day!
Yann

Minnesota Forges New Rules For Easier Clean-Energy Interconnection

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) decided last week to make significant changes to its interconnection procedures in an effort to make it easier for clean-energy customers to connect to the grid. Despite its reputation as being the Midwestern leader in community solar development, outdated interconnection rules had slowed the progress of community solar garden growth and caused frustration among solar advocates within the state. With the help of he Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), Fresh Energy and the Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC), the MPUC has adopted more straightforward rules and procedures that … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for May 31st, 2018

Learn This, Import License Fee. Here is the thing for you to think about going forward with the global solar economy. As we read about new plants in the US, product is coming and going across borders. Silicon, wafers, cells, glass, back sheets etc, are made all over the world. Some innovative companies like SunPower will have an onshore/offshore strategy which creates the best blend of lead times, cost of goods and types of products the market wants. Tariffs just increase the cost of the products across the value chain and nobody benefits. If instead, we had an import license fee on modules, the market would be able to pay for local module assembly manufacturing. Any module that comes into the market from abroad would create a pool of capital from the ILF that gets distributed to domestic manufacturers. So using an example that has both on and off shore manufacturing equally, the manufacturer ends up basically being tariff free. This ensures the solar market gets low cost solar while benefitting local manufacturing. Best of both worlds!
Growing Choice In Illinois. As policy fights in energy come up, I see a natural ally for solar in the retail energy companies. Utilities see this alignment as well and fight the consumer choice rules that allow retail energy providers to compete for consumers’ business. This is happening in Illinois right now. As a tangent, this affects community solar in a big way because the rules could overlap. Learn more about community solar and adjustable block grants in Illinois at SolarWakeup Live! Chicago on June 21st. Early bird pricing ends today so get your ticket today!
EVs For Everyone. EVs everywhere, that is a future of our transportation sector that I can get behind. This isn’t just for your Tesla owners, this is a 40x growth of where we are today in the next 10 years. The future includes electric buses and scooters in addition to cars. Add this to the retirement of coal and gas peaker plants, we’re going to need a lot of solar to be built in that same time frame.
Solar Powered Peaches. Hanwha is setting up an assembly plant in Georgia which is great news. I will note once more, this has very little to do with 201. This has to do with the value of supply chain and the growth of the markets on the East Coast. The Jacksonville and Savannah ports are massive distribution hubs with rail that goes up and down the coast. 201 supporters can save their happy dance for another argument.

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Have a great day!
Yann

Are Renewables Being Targeted In Illinois Despite Public Support?

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent The legislature giveth with one hand and seems poised to taketh away with the other hand from the Illinois renewable energy providers. Despite a recent survey by CleanChoice Energy that shows 83% of Illinois residents want to have the choice of clean energy as an option to supply their homes and state-sponsored support under the Future Energy Jobs Act of 2016, action in the legislature later this week could diminish solar’s growth considerably if two amendments to SB 1531 are passed as part of the bill. At issue is the idea of “automatic renewals,” a … Read More →

Import License Fees: A Reasoned Argument For A Tariff Alternative

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Let me start by stipulating that American jobs are important to me. Let me further stipulate U.S. manufacturing jobs are of particular importance to me. I come from blue-collar roots two generations back, and I am fully on board with keeping manufacturing jobs in the United States and using the levers of government, when necessary, to do so. But these tariffs on solar are killing me, and they are doing real harm to the industry. As we’ve reported, companies like Cypress Creek Renewables are canceling enormous numbers of projects, which means jobs not created and … Read More →

This is your SolarWakeup for May 30th, 2018

The Bridge Fuel To Solar. Utilities and IPPs, like Vista Energy, are showing the future of the grid by announcing intentions to build more solar and less natural gas. If natural gas was the bridge fuel, the future costs of solar and storage may be the land on the other side of the moat. This is a space to keep your eyes on as a critical power market intent, especially when it comes from IPPs that benefit from more consumer retail choice. Having forward thinking allies on our side could be a great partnership in the future.
Policy Advocacy Works. SolarCity used to spend a ton of human and financial capital on policy in the US, on their own and in partnership with advocacy groups. Since the acquisition by Tesla, the company has been quieter on policy, not necessarily absent but a lot quieter. With the news out of Australia, it appears that it may be a US internal policy to stay out of the limelight but this is a great reminder that policy advocacy is an important part of our work. Can you commit one hour of legislative outreach in June? Meet with a State rep, Member of Congress or your mayor?
Great Benchmark In Haiti. Having lived in South Florida for most of my life it’s great to see some positive news out of Haiti. Glad to show off the results of solar leaders that have pushed for more solar to be built their and drive some economic growth in the space.
Cost Of Inaction. Trillions of lost economic growth due to inaction on climate issues. This is on top of the cost of inaction that drive more damage to our society and infrastructure. Pennywise, pound foolish is the saying you are looking for.
Taking It Up A Notch. Bam! Vote Solar, ELPC, SEIA, and others are appealing the Michigan commissions decision to approve the DTE natural gas plant. At the very least I hope that the legal tie-up lasts long enough for DTE to see the virtue in our argument and rescind the request to build the gas plant.

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Have a great day!
Yann

No New Natural Gas Plants For Vistra, Dominion, As Solar Soars, Reuters Reports

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Solar’s continued ascendancy – now reaching nearly 2% of all electrical generation in the United States – is coming at the expense of combined-cycle natural gas plants. Two of the nation’s largest utilities – Dominion Energy and Vistra Energy Corp. have announced they will no longer build natural gas plants because the underlying economic case for them is disappearing in solar’s shadow, Reuters reported late last week. [wds id=”3″] Vistra and Dominion are only the latest utilities to bow to the new electrical-generation reality. In states like California, Arizona and New Mexico, public utilities commissions … Read More →

Haiti Hits Solar Benchmarks As Electrification Drive Continues

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Like Puerto Rico, Haiti is a country that often only finds its way into the U.S. consciousness if something bad happens on the island nation. But one year after its new president launched his “Change Caravan,” there is potentially good news coming about the rural electrification of the country – and solar has played a critical role. More than 7,000 individual solar systems have been provided since May 2017 to households in 11 of the most rural areas of the country. The government’s press released notably does not say installed, so it’s unclear how many … Read More →