Tesla pushes off warehouse, Green Source Advantage comes to N.C.: pvMB 8/21/19

Tesla pushes off warehouse facility for another year – In an SEC filing, Tesla has shared that the company will be postponing the opening of  a new warehouse facility by a year, now projected to open on August 14, 2020. The filing reads: “The Amendments extended the borrowing availability date under the Warehouse Agreements from August 16, 2019 to August 14, 2020 and extended the maturity date of the Warehouse Agreements from September 2020 to September 2021. The aggregate lender commitment, which is shared between the Warehouse Agreements, remains unchanged at $1.1 billion.” Source: Tesla

CNN to host climate change “town hall” on Sept. 4 for Dem. presidential candidates – That’s right, mark you calendars for September 4th, because eight democratic candidates for president have already signed on to CNN’s climate-focused town hall. So far the list of candidates attending will be Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O’Rourke, Pete Buttigeig and Andrew Yang. Kamala Harris was invited but will not be able to attend. The event will be moderated by Erin Burnett, Anderson Cooper, Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo. Source: The Hill

Silicon Ranch promotions – “Silicon Ranch Corporation today announced the promotion of two of its own to fill senior roles on the company’s executive team. Chief Corporate Development Officer David Vickerman has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Marketing Officer Matt Beasley has been promoted to the role of Chief Commercial Officer. Reagan Farr, who served as Silicon Ranch’s COO since the company was formed in 2011, was promoted to CEO on July 1, 2019. Farr says the promotions of Vickerman and Beasley further strengthen the leadership team of the Nashville-based renewable energy company. Silicon Ranch is the U.S. solar platform for Shell and one of the largest independent solar power producers in the country.” Source: Silicon Ranch

Duke GSA approved in N.C. – Duke Energy’s Green Source Advantage (GSA) program in North Carolina has been approved by state regulators. The application window for the 600 MW program opens Oct. 1 at 9 a.m. Of this 600-MW capacity, 100 MW will be set aside for military installations and 250 MW set aside for University of North Carolina institutions. The rest of the capacity will be awarded to Duke’s large nonresidential customers in the state. 160 MW will be made available for Duke Energy Carolinas and the last 90 MW will go to Duke Energy Progress. Source: Duke Energy

Aubuchon Hardware and Relay Power community solar partnership – “Aubuchon Hardware and Relay Power have entered into a partnership agreement to get the word out to Aubuchon customers and employees about the opportunity to sign up for Relay Power Community Solar.  Those who participate will receive guaranteed savings on their electricity, while supporting and facilitating clean energy production here in Massachusetts. Participants will also receive a gift card to use at any Aubuchon Hardware location.  The solar farms are all located in Massachusetts. All National Grid electricity and Western Massachusetts Eversource electricity customers are eligible to participate.” Source: Relay Power

SolarEdge appoints new COO – Employment news, here! Get your employment news here! In the second part of today’s employment news, SolarEdge has appointed Uri Bechor as Chief Operating Officer. “Bechor brings to SolarEdge over twenty years of experience serving in both senior vice president and GM level roles at Flextronics International Ltd. In his last position, Mr. Bechor served as Senior Vice President, Global Operations, Europe and the Americas where he oversaw more than forty manufacturing sites and was responsible for revenues of more than $10 billion.” Source: SolarEdge

Arizona considering allowing independent power producers to compete with utilities for customers – “Arizona Corporation Commissioners recently spent two days discussing energy deregulation, alternately referred to as “re-regulation” or retail competition. The state regulators are crafting rules that would allow independent power producers to compete for customers with the big electric companies like Arizona Public Service Co. Proponents of the concept say that having electric companies compete for customers would drive down prices and improve customer service and reliability. They contend that electric companies have little reason to improve their operations because they have no threat of losing unhappy customers, unlike other businesses.” Source: AZ Central