Kevin Haley

Kudos to Duane Highley and the team at Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc. for seizing the benefits of the #InflationReductionAct to accelerate its transition to cleaner and lower cost #renewables. Power supply to its distribution coop members will hit 50% clean next year en route to a 89% reduction in #GHG emissions by 2030 ... with new resources additions focused on #windpower, #solarpower and #batterystorage with a small amount of #gas for peaker/reliability purposes. This is very much in line with the trajectory envisaged by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) #CleanPowerRules and shows that those rules do not force a "major" change in the industry, rather they run totally with the grain of what makes economic sense, and what is happening on the ground, while of course reducing harmful pollution at the same time. A win all around for coop members and the planet. #climatecrisis #stopburningstuff c Dave Munk Alex DeGolia Keith Klesner, PE Kristen Bertuglia NRECA Jim Matheson Kent Singer Colorado Rural Electric Assn. Mark Jacobson Leah Stokes Michael E. Webber Holly Metzler Sonja Macys Will Toor Chris Hansen Lisa Tiffin Amy Robertson Alana Miller Jeffrey McManus Kendra Foley

20

5 Comments

🌞 Exciting News for Solar Manufacturing! 🌞 The Biden-Harris Administration has announced a new tariff exclusion process aimed at bolstering domestic solar manufacturing. This move is set to protect U.S. manufacturers from the upcoming tariff hikes on goods from China, including critical solar equipment. By focusing on specific machinery used in the manufacturing process, this initiative aims to strengthen the U.S. solar supply chain and support the growth of renewable energy industries. 🌱🔋 Read more about this significant development here: https://conta.cc/4fc86jH #SolarEnergy #RenewableEnergy #Manufacturing #BidenHarrisAdministration #Tariffs #Sustainability

2

Canary Media with an article on how rural electric cooperatives are tapping into the IRA to fund the shift from fossil to renewable generation. "How $7.3B will help rural co-ops build clean power—and close coal plants This Inflation Reduction Act program is offering 16 rural electric co-ops financing to overcome the up-front costs of shifting from dirty coal to clean power. Rural electric cooperatives, which bring electricity to the most sparsely populated parts of the country, are getting their biggest federal investment since the New Deal — and this time around, the money is going to help fight climate change. Last week, the Biden administration announced $7.3 billion in financing for 16 rural co-ops serving about 5 million households across 23 states. The money will be administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which implemented the Rural Electrification Act, the 1936 law that financed the buildout of the grid in more remote areas of the country. It will also be matched by more than $29 billion in private investments with a goal of building more than 10 gigawatts of clean energy. That’s a big jump from the nearly 16 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity co-ops have today." Read more at https://conta.cc/4d4kLmE #solar #energy #solarenergy #renewables #renewableenerg

3

The New York Times put out a great article today by Brad Plumer and Nadja Popovich on the growing role of energy storage in maintaining grid reliability. The article notes that battery energy storage capacity has increased 10x nationwide in just three years. In California, which has the most storage capacity, batteries are used primarily to shift the availability of solar energy to the peak. In other markets, like Texas, batteries are still mostly providing short-duration grid balancing services, but that will change as Texas adds both more solar and storage capacity. After explaining that California regulators hope to triple energy storage capacity by 2035, the article quotes Andrés Gluski, the CEO of California Energy Storage Alliance member The AES Corporation, saying "The future is bright for energy storage." This is undoubtedly true in California and across the US. The authors explain that although lithium-ion batteries are competitive for replacing gas peaker plants, longer-duration storage will be necessary to wean the grid from fossil fuels more deeply. While several CESA members are working on these next generation technologies, the article specifically mentions ESS, Inc. and Form Energy, two companies developing iron-based batteries. See the linked article for more info.

38

Massachusetts’ 2023/24 legislative session closed in the morning of Aug. 1 without any significant climate or clean energy legislation despite broad agreement on proposed clean energy permitting and siting reforms. The legislative failure after nearly two years of work was a significant disappointment for climate activists and clean energy organizations. Massachusetts has so far failed to pass any meaningful climate legislation in the first two years of the Healey administration, despite a Democratic trifecta in state government which nominally supports strong action on climate. The most significant sticking point in the negotiations appeared to be over gas reforms. The top Senate negotiators were pushing for changes to the state law that would allow the gas utilities to start decommissioning portions of the natural gas pipeline network, while the House negotiators appeared to oppose the gas reforms and indicated that they were willing to pass a bill strictly focused on the previously agreed upon permitting and siting reforms for clean energy infrastructure. You can read the full story below at RTO Insider LLC: https://lnkd.in/emD4S7em If you're interested in this type of thing, it's also worth flagging this recent story from the Boston Globe about the concentration of power in the Massachusetts legislature. The House speaker and the Senate president control an extensive system of "leadership stipends" which make up a large portion of many legislators' salaries. This appears to stifle dissent and prevent members of their party from stepping out of line, since their salaries depend on maintaining their relationship with party leadership. https://lnkd.in/ePh5mCSB This also may be part of the reason why so little has been accomplished this session, and why widely agreed-upon proposals failed to pass. We'll see where this goes from here — the legislature may return for a special session in the fall, but this is probably unlikely to solve the underlying issues in Massachusetts' deeply undemocratic Statehouse.

11

1 Comment

Wind generation in 2023 declined in the US for the first time despite capacity addition. The drop was driven by a 33.5% capacity utilization (vs 35.9% in 2022). More efficiency is always the answer. For instance, tools that identify better wind spots, avoid downtime, prevent cyber attacks, improve maintenance routines, batteries coupled to store energy, etc. Of course 100% utilization rate is not achievable, but is 1/3 utilization rate a number we should table on? https://lnkd.in/d8eQn4e9

11

DOE proposes ten “national interest” transmission corridors (my latest for PV Magazine USA) Eight of the ten transmission corridors proposed by the U.S. Department of Energy would facilitate transmission between grid regions; one would expand transmission within the Mid-Atlantic’s #PJM grid region; and one would expand transmission in the Northern Plains.

16

2 Comments

The bipartisan Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024 released by U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (I-WV) and John Barrasso (R-WY) takes a much needed step in accelerating the permitting process for critical energy projects in the U.S. As the legislation spornors's state (shared here), our outdated permitting system is stifling our ability to move clean energy projects forward, which in turn has adverse economic effects and inhibits our ability to reduce emissions. I'm glad to see these bipartisan efforts are moving toward fixing a broken permitting system that has shackled American energy production for far too long. #EnergyProduction #EnergyPermitting

11

What a great program from GridLab. Taking the plunge into entrepreneurship can be daunting. Don’t let the fear win out. Support like this in the beginning is a great way to help with the transition. Kudos to GridLab

6

1 Comment

It’s really a shame that the complexity of #regulatoryfinance can be used to confuse and misdirect the general public’s perception of #renewableenergy. But big thanks to Canary Media Inc. for a simple explanation on the lunacy of ‘cost-shift’ argument that was used by regulators in dismissing the Net Value Billing Tariff that would have facilitated the deployment of #communitysolar in California. Valuing benefits to the grid is challenging. I acknowledge that some in the renewables industry can oversimplify the impact of adding standalone solar to a load profile in California that already has ‘duck curve’ shape to it. 🦆 That being said, I find it mind-boggling how far the #utility industry goes in undercounting the benefits of distributed #solar in their efforts to discredit renewables. I didn’t realize quite how much the numbers were loaded with questionable assumptions until it was broken down here. “If you’re growing vegetables in your garden, you don’t pay the grocery store the retail rate for those vegetables… you own those vegetables — and you own the solar you generate.” Uhh… yeah. https://lnkd.in/gW_pwNHs

6

3 Comments

This Friday will mark two years since the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act, and its impact is clear. A new report by E2 highlights that these projects will drive over $126 billion in investments and create more than 100,000 jobs across 40 states. The IRA is proving to be a powerful catalyst for growth, especially in regions new to the clean energy sector. Curious about the impact? https://lnkd.in/eKAypnjB #CleanEnergy #Sustainability #InflationReductionAct #EconomicGrowth E2

7

Solar developers take note: this analysis shows "connect and manage" or "flexible interconnection" results in revenue gains for community solar projects, especially in constrained areas of the grid. Many thanks to the team at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for their good work.

5

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) released their new report, Collaborative Enhancements to Unlock Interregional Transmission, providing an assessment and solutions to challenges faced by regulators and other energy stakeholders. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eyV-8Q72 #interregionaltransmision #transmissionreform

2

There is something for everyone in the #InflationReductionAct including tax exempt and governmental entities. With Direct Pay provisions, those entities can get money back on their investments in solar, wind, battery storage, and other #cleanenergy related projects. This is a big change from the solar tax credit structure in the past where non-profits or government agencies could not get direct value on those investments. The project pipeline is already growing: https://lnkd.in/gDKWdp7F

3

📈 Corporate PPA activity in the ERCOT market has reached 1.8 GW, YTD 2024. Data from the Enerdatics Energy Transition PPA database indicates that ERCOT has seen ~1.8 GW in corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs) since the start of 2024, constituting over 60% of the U.S. total. 💡 Tech giant Microsoft leads the way, having secured ~800 MW across three deals. Meanwhile, new entrants such as UnitedHealth Group, Sonoco, and AdventHealth are also stepping up their sustainability efforts. 🏆 Key Suppliers Making Waves: > Regional Leaders: Primergy, Leeward Renewable, Scout Clean Energy > International Players: Orsted, ENGIE 🤝 Positive PPA negotiations in ERCOT are driven by the market's lower land and interconnection costs, which help mitigate higher interest rates and supply chain issues. 🌟 Top Deals to Note: > Microsoft and Primergy Solar: 408 MW from Ash Creek solar project > Hyundai and Matrix Renewables: 147 MW (Hyundai’s first U.S. PPA) > RTX and ENGIE: ~38 MW from Priddy wind project #CorporatePPA #ERCOT #RenewableEnergy #Sustainability #Microsoft #Hyundai #RTX #ENGIE #Orsted #Primergy #LeewardRenewable #ScoutCleanEnergy #UnitedHealthGroup #Sonoco #AdventHealth

26

This week on Cleaning Up! Jenny Chase Lead Solar Analyst at BloombergNEF joins Michael Liebreich to talk about the second edition of her book “Solar Power Finance Without the Jargon”. If you would like to know more about clean energy and climate finance then subscribe to Cleaning Up! https://buff.ly/3WNEfaw #cleaninguppod

6

The ongoing feud between Connecticut utilities and their regulators has spilled over into the state’s efforts to implement performance-based regulation (PBR) for its electric utilities. PBR essentially covers to efforts to better align the profit incentives for utilities, which have regulated monopolies, with state policy goals. PBR mechanisms can be used to better-incentivize affordability, resilience, distributed energy deployment, and electrification. I spoke with a whole bunch of people about what the fight in Connecticut could mean for the state's clean energy transition, and whether it will influence PBR in other states. While the utilities are concerned that they will not be able to recover a reasonable rate of return on their investments in the new proposed framework, consumer and environmental advocates have argued that these concerns are overblown. Read the full story here at RTO Insider LLC https://lnkd.in/eYgeCEWN

13