CleanChoice Wants To Accelerate Trend Of Businesses Seeking 100% Clean Energy

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

As more businesses decide to pursue 100% clean energy goals, they often need people to help them get there. CleanChoice Energy has launched a new service in several states designed to do just that.

The announcement comes on the heels of solar’s own national association, the Solar Energy Industries Association, signing an agreement with WGL Energy Services to offset its employees’ travel with 373 solar renewable energy credits (SRECs) from two solar projects in Virginia and Maryland, respectively. The move is an effort for the association to practice what it preaches to become carbon neutral.

It didn’t get the positive press it deserved for its decision, and it deserved it. SEIA’s move showed that businesses of all sizes and types can move to 100% clean energy given the proper driving spirit – and it shows the way for other associations in the space to do the same. Leadership like this is what will accelerate business decisions to go solar.

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The CleanChoice Energy program is designed to accelerate the clear trend the solar industry is seeing as businesses transition from a fossil-fuel to a clean-energy future. Each year, big corporations like Wal-Mart, Target and others vie for the honor of being the company to have the largest installed solar capacity in the country as highlighted in SEIA’s Solar Means Business Report.

While those large companies have their own teams dedicated to making the transition, smaller companies need guidance, which is the niche CleanChoice Energy is trying to fill.

The new CleanChoice program will initially be available to partners serving Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C., who want to bring their businesses and nonprofits into the 100% clean energy revolution.

“Commercial businesses and large nonprofits are eager to choose 100% renewable energy, and we’re excited to be able to work with brokers to help them make the switch,” said Tom Matzzie, Founder and CEO of CleanChoice Energy. “With CleanChoice Energy’s 100% renewable energy products, businesses and large nonprofits can purchase 100% solar and wind from the region in which they operate.”

According to their release, CleanChoice Energy’s Broker Program offers a dedicated team to provide personalized service to our partners which includes both custom and matrix pricing options, as well as exceptional account management services. The company maintains a Net Promoter Score that far exceeds industry standards. The new program will also provide brokers and consultants access to innovative energy products such as CleanChoice Energy Community Solar.

Additional CleanChoice Energy Broker Program benefits include:
● Quarterly review of account portfolios;
● Post service account management including environmental impact statements;
● Customer promotional materials to share their renewable power purchase;
● Flexible commission plans with timely and accurate reporting.

Solar To Surpass Wind In 18 Months, Become Fourth Largest Energy Capacity In The World

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

energy capacity

The sun slowly starts its global domination.

Look out, wind – solar is about to catch you.

That’s the headline from Frost & Sullivan’s recent analysis Global Power Industry Outlook, 2018, which posits that solar will surpass wind in global energy capacity starting in 2020, making it the fourth largest source of energy generation behind coal, gas and hydro. Less than a year ago, solar surpassed nuclear energy to reach fifth place.

The report says increased battery energy storage capabilities, surges in merger and acquisition activities, and disruptive energy start-ups are the primary reasons the renewable energy sector is seeing this surge – and solar has, so far, been the primary beneficiary of this energy capacity expansion.

The report also predicts that $2.2 trillion will be invested in new energy capacity through 2021, including more than $600 billion in the solar sector alone.

“To navigate through current trends and challenges, organizations must start embracing business models that enhance operational and process efficiency while reducing costs,” said said Vasanth Krishnan, Energy & Environment Analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “Adopting disruptive digital solutions that focus on consumer needs will bring the organization closer to technological and efficiency transformation.”

The report also highlights several other global energy sector trends, including:

  • The 3D’s of Power – Decarbonization, Decentralization, Digitalization – continue to be underlying factors determining the global power market landscape;
  • The residential battery storage market will be the fastest growing in 2018 driven largely by the surge in the behind-the-meter residential deployments in the US, Germany, and Australia;
  • “Analyzing long-term scenarios and defining positioning strategies should be key focus areas for industry participants in the long term,” noted Krishnan. “Also, as the renewable and distributed energy markets mature, a large installed capacity of equipment will need to be serviced, offering attractive growth prospects within the operations and maintenance sector.”

    For access to the executive summary, click here.

    Deloitte Says Businesses Want To – And Are – Fighting Climate Change

    By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

    Deloitte

    Water wet. Pope Catholic. Businesses are trying to fight climate change.

    Go figure.

    According to Deloitte’s eighth annual Energy Resources Report, businesses and consumers are moving forward to create what it calls a “virtuous cycle” of sustainability, including moving to cleaner energy sources like solar. But the study also finds what instinct might tell you from watching American behavior over the past 30 years – businesses are leading the charge, and the people are following.

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    The survey questioned more than 1,500 residential consumers and 600 businesses on their energy use patterns and found that “is leading many businesses to develop and deploy new tools for monitoring and reducing energy consumption, evolve their energy management policies and practices, explore expanding their use of renewable energy sources, and integrate their resource management programs more closely with their operations.”

    Study authors also found 7 in 10 businesses say their customers expect them to get at least some of their energy from renewable sources, with 48% of them saying they are actively trying to do so. And even more telling was this statistic: 21% of the businesses say they are trying to green their energy consumption as a result of demands from business partners.

    That’s why it’s so important to have businesses like Target and Walmart at the top of the Solar Energy Industries Association’s Solar Means Business report every year – with their extensive supply chains that extend throughout the world, decisions at the corporate level have real-world effects throughout the entire supply chain.

    And that influence isn’t limited to supply chain partners. The authors write:

    Residential consumers, particularly younger ones, seem increasingly keen on using clean energy sources in general, and on expanding the use of wind and solar power more specifically.

    Such findings aren’t entirely a surprise to long-term solar industry observers, but it does provide some data to support those who say the clean energy revolution is only just beginning and will continue to grow for the foreseeable future.

    Read the full report below.

    Deloitte Resources Survey 20181261