By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

You know how some people claim to have the gift of seeing the future? Well, I’m lucky enough to know someone who actually does see the future, and his name is Yann Brandt.

OK, Yann won’t be doing palm readings at the Quick Mount PV booth at Intersolar next week or anything like that (note to Yann: a side business, perhaps?), but he was prescient enough to foresee the largest solar + storage deal announced yesterday at Moss Landing in California two weeks before it happened.

On June 19, Yann wrote:

What if, Vistra’s portfolio is replaced by storage? I don’t mean around the edges but MW for MW of capacity. I know this is a hypothetical but if you read the expectations from the Vistra investor’s day presentation, you see that they expect big storage in CA and NY in particular.

And low and behold, 14 days later, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) announces that it has contracted with Tesla and Vistra to build the two largest storage projects in the country. Yann had it down even to the company (Vistra). It’s clear Yann has a knowledge of the market and can see things others can’t, and he deserves his props for getting this one right.

Of course, the bigger picture here is the doom it spells for natural gas peaker plants, which until recently had been the backup-power solution of choice for California and other utilities across the country. Then California’s Public Utilities Commission started clamping down on peaker-plant applications and telling utilities to get on the storage bandwagon right quick.

What the PG&E case tells everyone is that massive storage plants are possible and even preferable to natural gas – and that could spell the end of natural gas’ reign as a “transition fuel.” What is likely to happen now is that other utilities commissions are going to see what’s going on in California and start demanding the same storage commitment from their utilities. And as storage prices continue to fall, look for that to happen quickly around the country.

Now everyone email Yann and ask him what numbers you should choose for the lottery – the guy seems to have a knack for seeing into the future.

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PG&E Proposes World’s Biggest Batteries to Replace South Bay Gas Plants

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

One year after making its request, Interstate Power & Light, an Iowa utility, has backed off its plan to offer electricity from existing solar and wind project at higher prices to its customers, formally withdrawing the proposal from before the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB), according to a report in Midwest Energy News.

Instead, the utility has issued requests for proposals for community solar projects ranging from 2 MW to 7 MW. It will take bids through July 25 and hopes to have a finalized plan before the IUB by September.

The premium pricing scheme, called “Beyond Solar” (an odd name since the proposal included selling electricity generated from existing solar arrays – but we digress), came under sharp criticism from solar advocates because of the built-in discrepancy between what solar users would pay under the plan compared with what non-solar users would pay. The utility called it a “premium” service to justify the gap, but what it was really was a practice akin to usury.

As a non-solar utility, Interstate Power & Light must have surveyed the rest of the Midwest and realized they were quickly becoming a dinosaur in its own region. Illinois just passed its progressive Long-Term Renewables Resources Procurement Plan. Minnesota has a burgeoning community solar program. Even in Michigan, the utilities there have pledged to go coal-free by 2040 and invest heavily in solar energy over that same time period.

And while Iowa has been known for its wind development (having high-profile advocates like Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst didn’t hurt), solar has been slow to develop there. It’s unclear exactly what caused this about face, but it’s about time.

As Josh Mandelbaum from the Environmental Law & Policy Center told Midwest Energy News:

I think they are legitimately trying to engage with stakeholders. We’re certainly appreciative of the continued effort and the fact we’re headed in the right direction.

Perhaps this new community solar plan will light the solar fire in the state so it can join its other Midwest brethren and sistren in joining the solar revolution.

More:

After criticism, Iowa utility takes new approach with solar offering