Tag Archives: idiots

Could We Finally Be Rid Of Suniva?

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened:Remember Suniva? The company whose bankruptcy last April set off the swirling cesspool that became the solar tariffs this January? Well, there have been some interesting developments with its bankruptcy lately, to wit:

  • The company’s biggest creditor, SQN Financial, has asked the judge to extend its exclusive right to Suniva’s assets, and
  • the reasons they give could be an indication that the creditor is close to negotiating a final dissolution of the company.
  • It should be noted that SQN tried to dump Suniva one month into their bankruptcy to make the tariff case go away, requesting a $55 million payment from the Chinese Chamber of Commerce to make Suniva disappear. Think of all the headaches that could have been saved if only SQN had thrown a 6th Round draft pick into the deal.

SolarWakeup’s View:  Will no one rid me of this troublesome solar company? Well, hold on, folks, because there could be a deal in the works to rid the solar industry of Suniva for good.

In the last year, I’ve become far too adept at reading solar companies’ bankruptcy filings, but when someone suggested I look at Suniva’s filings again, I thought, “Do I have to?” It’s not an overstatement to say I’m so sick of talking about Suniva I can’t even with this.

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But I pulled myself together and dived back into the muck of Suniva’s bankruptcy and found a few interesting notes I think may mean our long national nightmare could soon be over.

A flurry of filings by the bankrupt module manufacturer’s biggest creditor (and all around bad actor in this tariff drama) indicate they are trying to procure a clean title for all of the former company’s assets because they have had, according to the filings, multiple companies inquire about purchasing them. SQN, however, doesn’t currently have a clean title to the assets, which makes negotiating a final purchase…difficult to say the least.

I checked again this morning and there doesn’t seem to have been activity since last week. But I think the filings bear watching – Suniva might be no more very soon.

(It should, of course, be noted that if Suniva is sold as it appears increasingly likely it will, it means almost the entirety of the whole stupid, idiotic tariff decision was for naught. After all, wasn’t the whole craven thing an attempt to save THIS company’s skin? You know what? I was right…..I can’t even with this.)

More:

The Section 201 Trade Case: Suniva’s Tangled Web (Renewable Energy World)

The Section 201 Trade Case, Part II: In the Hands of DIPs (Renewable Energy World)

The Section 201 Trade Case, Part III: Will Any Americans Benefit? (Renewable Energy World)

As They Sowed, So Shall We Reap (SolarWakeup)

Bonus:

Have some Peter O’Toole, will you?

South Carolina Solar Soul Under Attack

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened:  The burgeoning South Carolina solar industry is being debated in the state’s legislature, with two conflicting bills offering significantly different visions of its future.

  • The utilities are at again (by which I mean lying) about a cost-shift to reduce how much the utilities pay solar customers under net metering
  • A second bill would remove a 2% cap on how much solar utilities have to accept, a measure designed to expand the industry”
  • Meanwhile, solar advocates worry that Dominion Energy’s attempt to buy the parent company of South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCEG) could damage solar’s prospects in the state

SolarWakeup’s View:  All I can tell you is that I shook my head in disbelief as I perused all the South Carolina solar news lately.

I’ve seen this lunacy before, where a state is caught between a voracious anti-solar utility and, you know, its citizens. But some legislators in South Carolina, whose solar industry has only been growing since former Governor Nikki Haley signed net metering legislation into law in 2014, are trying to undo all the progress the state has made by essentially dismantling the work Haley began.

For reals. And this misguided attempt to kill the South Carolina solar industry is based on the same lie the utilities are telling Kentucky lawmakers to undermine the solar industry there, to wit: Solar customers are shifting costs to non-solar customers, a lie I have debunked so many times I’ve lost count.

To those of you new to this zombie lie, a study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has said that though a miniscule cost shift happens, it only happens when a state reaches 10% solar penetration.

Wanna guess how much electricity South Carolina produces from solar? According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, 0.21%. So, yeah, the cost shift is a lie here just as much as it is in Kentucky.

Here, let’s let a South Carolina backer of the net metering destruction bill explain himself, courtesy of Sammy Fretwell of The State:

State Rep. Bill Sandifer, R-Oconee, said he is not opposed to solar power but the existing system is unfair to power companies and customers who don’t use solar energy.

Utilities say non-solar customers are paying to subsidize solar customers – a point sun-power advocates sharply dispute.

That is akin to socialism, Sandifer said. “It is totally wrong for customers, or ratepayers who are not utilizing solar, to be paying for the people who are utilizing it. This prevents that.’’

Aside from the mislabeling of net metering as a “subsidy” – it’s actually a free-market way of compensating solar users for the excess electricity produced (even Ayn Rand would be happy with this arrangement), Sandifer’s argument might as well have come from a SCEG spokesperson. (And as another aside, does the word “socialism” scare anyone under the age of 60 anymore? Lordy….)

Meanwhile, SCANA Corp., the parent company of SCEG, is up for sale, and Dominion Energy of Virginia is the buyer of choice for many. But solar advocates worry that such a purchase would further damage the industry because of Dominion’s lobbying might. I have no idea whether those concerns are real, but I tend to trust solar advocates of utility ones.

Opposing this idiotic bill are efforts to remove a 2% cap on solar capacity that most observers expect to be hit by the utilities this year. If that happens, the solar industry could stop growing and could well freeze in place.

So there you have it – the battle over the future of South Carolina solar is set – and now it’s up to the solar customers in the state to keep the worst-case scenario from happening. Let’s raise the cap and keep net metering – it’s really the best solution for everyone.

More:
Utility friendly politicians take aim at solar expansion in SC

South Carolina solar advocates worry Dominion-Scana deal will stall industry

Zombie Lie Informs Kentucky’s Attempt To Kill Its Solar Industry