Tag Archives: Exxon

Reports: Exxon May Want To Power Itself With Solar And Wind – And Is Close To Signing A PPA

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.

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It’s not unusual to see oil companies dabble in renewable energy. After all, as Bloomberg points out, Shell and BP have already (re)entered the solar markets and are actively exploring entering wind. But Exxon, the legacy company of John D. Rockefeller’s oil conglomerate, has long held to the precept that it should stick with what it knows.

There is no indication of what has changed the company’s mind, but if Exxon joins the renewable revolution, its importance can’t be overestimated. As Kyle Harrison, a New York-based analyst at Bloomberg NEF, said:

I have never seen an oil and gas company doing a corporate PPA anywhere near that size. If you’re seeing the biggest oil and gas companies going out and making investments in clean energy, it shows that renewables are cost-competitive. This can be a way for them to show a commitment to sustainability without suffering economically.

It would indeed be something of a game-changer, particularly in Texas (where the RFP is for). Texas is one of the largest wind-producing states in the country, and even solar is becoming cost-competitive with coal in the Lone Star State. What a revolution it would be to see this once and future oil capital of the world slowly but surely move on toward a renewable future. You’d expect that kind of future in states like California and Arizona (and even Massachusetts). But in Texas? A move to renewables – especially by a company like Exxon – would really change the conversation around renewable energy, in the best way possible.

Cigarette Companies To Exxon Execs: Damn, Sucks To Be You!

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened: Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court told Exxon it couldn’t hide evidence it knew about global climate change (and its role in producing it) for years before they admitted it.

  • The ruling crushed Exxon’s hopes of keeping the information from the state’s attorney general, Maura Healey, who is currently investigating the company’s alleged history of climate perfidy.
  • As Think Progress notes, “In January 2017, a Massachusetts Superior Court judge ruled Exxon must comply with Healey’s investigation and turn over 40 years of documents on climate change. Exxon appealed.

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SolarWakeup’s View:  When you’re getting sympathy cards from Phillip Morris International and Reynolds American, you know you’ve suffered a pretty significant court loss.

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Until yesterday, U.S. cigarette manufacturers had been the most famous corporations to be held responsible for suppressing evidence that its products were literally killing people. And while the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s decision to require Exxon to turn over more than 40 years of documents related to their understanding of climate change and its products’ roles in exacerbating it doesn’t absolutely mark Exxon as guilty of gross negligence and malfeasance, it’s not a stretch to think the documents they’ve fought for more than a year to keep secret will.

I’ll let Think Progress do the heavy lifting here:

…the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Friday affirmed a lower court’s ruling that state Attorney General Maura Healey has authority to investigate Exxon. The court ordered the oil company to hand over documents to the attorney general’s office as part of her investigation into the company’s history of climate deception.

Healey and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman are both looking into whether Exxon misled shareholders about the risks that climate change posed to the company’s business.

I recognize it’s hard to stay focused on something like this with everything else that’s going on in our world, but it’s hard to underestimate its importance not just to the solar industry – although the significance there can’t be undersold either – but to the world.

I don’t expect Exxon to pay any significant consequences, but maybe if Healey and Schneiderman can find evidence that the oil companies have known about climate change for 40 years, maybe I can stop having discussions with some of my relatives who still believe climate change is a Chinese hoax. And then maybe – just maybe – we can finally set about the business of fixing the problem instead of debating whether it’s real.

And I know the solar industry is ready to help.

More:

Massachusetts court rules in favor of attorney general in Exxon climate change case