Something About Babies And Bath Water: Big Oil Could Help The Renewable Transition If We Let Them (So Says The Fool)

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

According to Maxx Chatsko at The Motley Fool, it may not pay for renewable energy advocates to fit Big Oil for the Snidely Whiplash top hat and cape. It seems they are investing billions of dollars into renewable energy research that could help make a 100% renewable future possible – but only if they’re allowed to continue their work.

The argument is all about scale. While solar is spreading like wildfire of its own accord, building an infrastructure like the one Big Oil already has in place would take decades (if not centuries). Plus, solar companies at this stage in their development don’t have the capital on hand to make those investments. Much of the industry is still in the aggressive start-up mode, with money to make payroll still taking precedence over long-term investing in infrastructure.

Like Katie Fehrenbacher’s article earlier about using utilities to build electric vehicle (EV) charging structure, the question is how do clean energy advocates use the current infrastructure to widen the appeal for renewable energy. And Chatsko thinks there just might be a syngergy between renewable energy advocates and Big Oil (words we guarantee you never expected to see that close together – or even in the same sentence).

Chatsko writes (and he may well be right):

Displacing and replacing fossil fuels won’t be easy. Nor cheap. That leads to an inconvenient reality for most narratives surrounding clean energy: moving to a renewable future as quickly as possible will require help from the incredible capital generation capabilities of the world’s largest oil companies.

The numbers are impossible to ignore. Consider that ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM), Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS-A) (NYSE:RDS-B), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), BP (NYSE:BP), and Total SA (NYSE:TOT) have generated a combined $44.6 billion in free cash flow in the last 12 months. That’s a whole lot of solar panels. Or research and development. Or equity investments in promising start-ups.

It may be galling to a lot of renewable energy advocates, but it’s not the craziest suggestion we’ve ever heard. And if the checkbooks and possibilities are open, who are we to say no to their help?

More:

Big Oil Is Investing Billions in Renewable Energy. Here’s Where and How.

EV Charging Earns Nearly $1 Billion In Investments In California, New York

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

There just might be something to this electric vehicle (EV) revolution after all – at least New York and California seem to think so.

Greenbiz is reporting that between the two states, nearly $1 billion will be spent adding EV-charging stations to the nation’s infrastructure. In California, more than $750 million of public money is being invested in three of the state’s largest utilities, while in New York $250 million is being allocated to the New York Power Authority (NYPA).

As the invaluable Katie Fehrenbacher notes in her article, the decision to invest with utilities and power authorities reflects what could be the rapidly changing role of those entities as the grid modernizes and mobility becomes one of the primary drivers of that change.

As Fehrenbacher also notes:

Research firms like Bloomberg New Energy Finance are predicting that a third of the world’s vehicles will be electric by 2040. To meet this demand and adequately charge such dramatic growth in electric vehicles, more public charging infrastructure must be deployed.

Currently, there are between 50,000 to 70,000 chargers publicly available and at workplaces in the United States (not including home chargers). Including home chargers, there are close to 475,000 charging ports across the country.

As she notes, not everyone is happy. In what perhaps is the perfect summation of the other side of the EV debate, Fehrenbacher writes:

Not everyone agrees with the use of such sizable public funds for EV charging. The California Independent Oil Marketers Association called the CPUC’s move a “$500 million money grab.”

The entire article is worth your time. It’s a perfect encapsulation of where the country is – and perhaps should be – in terms of the EV revolution that is currently sweeping the world. The United States, thanks to visionary leaders in states like California and New York, has the chance to lead the revolution instead of follow it.

More:

A wave of electric vehicle charging investment is here

Back To The Future: New Jersey Starts Its Solar Return

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened: The New Jersey legislature yesterday passed two bills – one in the House and one in the Senate – designed to jumpstart the state’s solar industry by:

increasing the overall RPS to 50 percent by 2030
enabling a community solar program
shutting down its problematic sREC program
reducing the overall cost of the current solar Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) by lowering the Solar Alternative Compliance Payment.

SolarWakeup’s View: New Jersey has been quietly fuming as New York leapfrogged over it as a progressive state in the race for solar leadership. Well, yesterday, the Garden State told the world it was going back to the future and reclaiming the solar prominence it enjoyed under former Governor Jon Corzine.

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It’s easy to forget now, but New Jersey once sat in the second spot of the Solar Energy Industries Association’s Top 10 Solar States annual report not that long ago. But under a chaotic solar renewable energy credit (sREC) program combined with an exceedingly modest renewable portfolio standard (RPS), it had fallen all the way to fifth. And when most recent Governor Chris Christie left office with an RPS increase bill tucked neatly in his back pocket, the solar industry sighed heavily and resigned itself to slowly sinking even further.

But take heart, New Jerseyans – Governor Phil Murphy is here, and the legislature is about to send him a combined bill that will not provide New Jersey the springboard it needs to vault back to the top of the solar states list and grab at least a few headlines from the … colorful and bombastic governor of New York, who has been promoting solar in the Empire State like it’s the last thing he’s going to do on Earth.

“We applaud the New Jersey legislature for its forward-looking decision in passing twin solar bills that will set the stage for the solar industry’s continued expansion,” said Jesse Grossman, CEO of Soltage. “Now it’s time for the state’s industry – Soltage included – to roll up our sleeves and get work in returning New Jersey to its proper place top tier solar states in the union.”

It’s time for New Jersey to hop into the Delorean and go back to the future under its new governor. Not only is it good for the state, it also shows states like my own beloved Ohio that cloudy and cold should not inhibit the growth of a solar industry. I look forward to seeing New Jersey’s comeback. It’s long overdue.

This article was edited at 1:44 pm ET to add comments from Jesse Grossman, CEO of Soltage.

More:

New Jersey Legislature Passes Bill Supporting State’s Solar Sector

New Jersey Solar Industry Receives Much-Needed Win

How Will New York Meet Its 50% Clean Energy Standard?

That is the question the solar industry has been asking itself for a few years. Community solar, virtual net metering and RECs have all been a part of the development schemes. Long Island has been growing rapidly due to the FIT and high energy rates but to get the State of New York to 50%, more will have to be done.

To continue the dialogue, the Alliance for Clean Energy NY (ACE) will have its conference in Albany starting tomorrow. The State’s Energy Czar, Richard Kauffman, and members of the Obama Administration will join the head of the NYISO and State Legislator, Senator Kevin Parker. For more information make sure to head to aceny.org and let us know if you go.