Analysis: California’s report on RPS costs and savings needs an update
A new report from the California PUC documents the uneven workings of the state’s 100% renewable portfolio standard — and the need for better data on cost savings.
The financial and social struggles of getting large solar projects financed
The pre-life of the Spotsylvania solar energy project has been riddled with financial and societal difficulties. As much as these issues have made a quagmire of development, it also provides a case study on the logistics of getting such a large project built.
Vivint beats on revenue — but losses widen in Q1 as residential solar hunkers down
Vivint beat estimates with $91.2 million in revenue in Q1, though, like with most other third-party solar companies, that was outweighed by $51.9 million in losses from operations. Installation figures fell during the quarter and are only expected to fall further, as Covid-19 runs its course on residential solar.
Morning Brief: Renewable prices reach record low in California, rural Georgia meets big solar and jobs
Also in the brief: DOE to invest more than $5 million in tribal energy infrastructure
SunPower accesses $1 billion in residential solar and storage loan capital from Tech CU
Despite the pandemic, capital is still pouring into solar.
Investor-owned utilities pay top executives millions — are they worth it?
Energy and Policy Institute has tracked the past three years of CEO compensation at 41 investor-owned utilities across the country. And, while the numbers are eye-popping, a well-paid CEO does not necessarily reflect company success.
Texas could add 3.5 GW of solar this year
Additional solar could help the ERCOT grid region in Texas meet its summer peak, after it faced “tight grid conditions” last summer. New task forces aim to improve ERCOT’s markets for ancillary services and battery storage.
Philadelphia-area transit agency expects six-figure annual savings from 44 MW solar project
The transit agency expects to save “several hundred thousand dollars a year, on average” through its fixed-price contract for solar power. The agency’s sustainability program “is a platform not just for environmental improvements, but for financial improvements,” said an executive.
Morning Brief: Solar and wind are the cheapest new sources of electricity, Appalachian Power halts distributed projects
Also in the brief: Ohio regulators have approved an 80 MW array, Sierra Club responds to Duke’s climate report, Rhode Island funds brownfield projects and more.
Solar beats gas when utilities use all-source procurements
With an all-source procurement, a utility solicits bids to identify the costs of solar, wind and storage, which can be “significantly less expensive than new gas,” as an Indiana utility found. A clean energy group calls for state regulators to require all-source procurements, for the vertically integrated utilities that serve half the country.
