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I'm confused. How would adding extra solar panels allow for driving extra miles if you had enough solar to charge a car to begin with? Besides, it's hard to charge a car overnight without a substantial investment in a household battery bank or tapping into the grid.
We almost made it.
SLTD market cap 41M
The biggest coal producer in the world(BTU), 43M
Last year their cap was over a BILLION$
Makes our pain feel less.....
Sorry, I didn't get it... Why 15000 miles?
While this may seem off topic, it isn't
On March 31st Tesla will unveil it's Model 3
$35,000 before tax incentives...($25,000 after)
200 mile range
4-5 passengers...
It means that with 10 extra solar panels you should be able to power your car for 15,000 miles or more.....
You would need bigger storage if you want to charge at night....
More reasons for solar!
Crude $26.65 will have an effect until proved otherwise....
http://www.nasdaq.com/markets/crude-oil.aspx?timeframe=1y
http://www.nasdaq.com/markets/natural-gas.aspx?timeframe=1y
(NV)Governor directs task force to work on rooftop solar policy
http://www.ktnv.com/money/consumer/business-news/governor-directs-task-force-to-work-on-rooftop-solar-policy_80697981
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Gov. Brian Sandoval is asking an energy task force to take up hot-button issues including rooftop solar rate-setting and the Clean Power Plan.
The governor's chief strategy officer, Dale Erquiaga, announced plans Tuesday to reconvene the New Energy Industry Task Force for the next year.
The Nevada Public Utilities Commission set new rates late last year for net metering, the process of people selling excess energy from their solar panels back to the utility.
Rooftop solar companies say the decision prompted them to lay off hundreds of people. Former solar employees have crowded PUC meetings to plead with the commission to reverse course and criticize the decision.
PUC members implement policy but don't create it. The task force would help develop broader policy goals before the 2017 legislative session.
Eventually they learn!
The company behind Australia's biggest coal project is now looking to invest in the country's solar-power sector.
But FSLR has been doing nicely. We need some results.
Does us getting the loan mean that we will be going backwards?
No relationship to the solar industry, and believe me when I say I never want to endure such an event again.
The fossil industry is finally catching on. But investors haven't. They still don't understand how renewables are finally catching on....
Is Australian Coal Finally Having Its “Oh Sh*t” Moment?
February 9th, 2016 by Guest Contributor
Originally published on RenewEconomy
by Sophie Vorrath
http://cleantechnica.com/2016/02/09/is-australian-coal-finally-having-its-oh-sht-moment/
Last week, a senior energy analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists wondered whether the reality of the clean energy transition had finally dawned on the American coal mining industry.
And I thought that I sold early when I sold 20% at 4.44 and 4.30...
And checking my records. I've sold 300% of my original investment..... Weeeee! And still have 345% left.... Weeee!
CHK 1.525 -50.16%
We could be worse!
Chesapeake Energy Corporation is a producer of natural gas, oil and natural gas liquids (NGL) in the United States. The Company operates in two segments: Exploration and Production, and Marketing, Gathering and Compression. The exploration and production segment is responsible for finding and producing oil, natural gas and NGL. The marketing, gathering and compression operating segment is responsible for marketing, gathering and compression of oil, natural gas and NGL. The Company owns interests in approximately 45,100 oil and natural gas wells that produced an average of approximately 729 thousand barrels of oil equivalent (mboe). The Company also own oil and natural gas marketing and natural gas gathering and compression businesses. As of December 31, 2014, the Company held an interest in approximately 45,100 gross productive wells, including 33,600 properties in which it held a working interest and 11,500 properties in which it held an overriding royalty interest.
Yes, transition to solar/wind is great. But the big problem now that when they add clean energy, they are trying to block INDIVIDUALS from taking advantage of the benefit if free energy. With fixed rates they take the benefit of conservation. And if you do try and go off grid, they try to block you from doing it..... Or they will meter your panels anyway......
In light of big business BS maxing as much solar and storage would be a good idea?
Love THIS ONE!
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-le-0204-thursday-solar-fees-20160204-story.html
To the editor: The electrical grid in this country is a benefit to everyone, regardless of how much or how little electricity they consume. It makes possible our security, commerce, entertainment and lifestyle in general.
YOU WERE RIGHT.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/senators-dueling-over-solar-subsidies/article/2000890
They are trying to take Wis -NV law NATIONAL!
This could be the end!
Establishes a new Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act standard requiring state regulatory authorities and non-regulated boards to examine whether new policies would result in cost shifts among customers, where a large customer class ends up cross-subsidizing a technology only used by a few customers. Flake introduced this amendment as a standalone bill (S.2384), and U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) successfully offered a substantially similar amendment to the House energy bill (H.R. 8, Section 1107).
So when do we get our EOY report?
As the Donald would say. STUPID,
Senator Murkowski, does have ties to big oil, need to be careful.
Help me find something favorable to solar.....much about fossil fuels though
And the Senate is working on an Energy Bill.
S. 2012: Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015
http://www.energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=legislation&id=87D9E1CF-1B96-4815-9D05-387798EFAEA7
Mo Money!
Global investors mobilize action in wake of Paris Climate Agreement
http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2016/01/global-investors-mobilize-action-in-wake-of-paris-climate-agreement/
NEW YORK CITY – 27 January 2016: On the heels of the historic international climate agreement in Paris, more than 500 global investors gathered today at the United Nations to begin mobilizing the trillions of dollars needed to catalyze the global clean energy transition.
Speaking just days after scientists confirmed that 2015 was the hottest year on record, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on investors to help achieve a doubling in global clean energy investments by 2020. While those investments hit a record high of $329 billion in 2015, significant gaps remain in growing clean energy at the levels necessary to meet the Paris climate accord’s goal of limiting global temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius.
“Today, I call on the investor community to build on the strong momentum from Paris and seize the opportunities for clean energy growth. I challenge investors to double – at a minimum – their clean energy investments by 2020,” Ban told the crowd of financial leaders, who collectively represented more than $22 trillion in assets. “Sustainable, clean energy is growing, but not nearly fast enough to prevent excessive global warming that would trigger profound economic disruption and human suffering. The investor community is of critical importance if we are to move from aspirations to action.”
Organized by the nonprofit Ceres, the United Nations Foundation and the United Nations Office for Partnerships, the all-day meeting focused on catalyzing a shift in the global economy toward exponentially more clean energy and far less carbon – fast enough to meet the Paris climate accord’s long term objective of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions to zero in order to avoid dangerous climate warming.
“Investors are better positioned than ever before to address climate risks and seize the economic opportunities presented by clean energy,” said Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres and director of its Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), the U.S. network of pension funds and asset managers working to address the financial risks of climate change. “Ultimately, global investment portfolios need to shift far more capital to low-carbon business activity and away from risky high carbon sectors that may perform poorly in the years ahead.”
Lubber called on all investors globally to set ambitious clean energy investment commitments; establish clear goals for reducing carbon risk exposure in their portfolios; encourage regulators worldwide to implement mandatory climate risk disclosure requirements; and to continue advocating for policies such as economically meaningful carbon pricing and ending fossil fuel subsidies.
“Cities and businesses recognize the economic benefits that come with fighting climate change, and they’re setting a great example by establishing clear goals and measuring the impact of their work,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP, three-term Mayor of New York City, United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change, and chair of the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, who joined a discussion on climate risk disclosure. “The more reliable information investors have about climate change, the easier it is for them to make informed decisions, and that will help drive more financing to projects that reduce carbon pollution and promote sustainable economic growth.”
While acknowledging that stronger, more comprehensive actions are needed, dozens of investors speaking at the Summit touched on progress they are making in these areas and innovative climate solutions already underway.
“Changes in the marketplace and the worldwide commitment to address global warming are creating enormous opportunities in low-carbon industries that can’t be ignored,” said New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, who last month launched a new $2 billion low-carbon index fund as part of a $5 billion commitment to sustainable investments. “The climate threat we all face puts our investments at risk and makes the creation of the low-carbon future critical to our environment, public health and the global economy.”
“On the heels of our 2014 commitments to double clean energy investments to 2 billion euro, we now want to raise the bar even further by quadrupling that increase, to 5 billion euro, by 2020,” said Erik van Houwelingen, board member of ABP, a major Dutch pension fund. “We’re also aiming to reduce the carbon footprint of our 100 billion euro listed equity portfolio by 25 percent and doubling our investments in high sustainable companies that deliver solutions to social and environmental issues like climate change. We encourage others to also set ambitious goals in contributing to the transition towards a low carbon economy.”
“We are committed to working to drive up corporate demand for clean energy by putting pressure on big listed corporations to set clear targets for switching away from fossil fuel dependent energy sources and towards 100% renewable electricity supplies,” added Philippe Desfossés, CEO of French public sector pension fund ERAPF. “ This kind of shift is fundamental and must be accelerated if we are to secure a future business model that fits within a 1.5C pathway. We have also measured the carbon footprint of our stocks portfolio since 2014, from which we know that last year our portfolio was 16% less carbon intensive than our own benchmark.”
A key focus of the Summit was exploring the types of capital flows necessary and increasingly available to actualize the carbon-reducing commitments made in Paris by 187 countries – commitments that the International Energy Agency estimates would require investments of $16.5 trillion by 2030. Last week, Standard & Poor’s predicted the global market for renewables and green finance – especially in countries like India and China – will accelerate dramatically in the next 15 years as investors respond to the dual incentives of a renewed focus on climate polices from national governments and the rapidly falling price of clean technologies.
Among the most significant investment opportunities in the coming years is the electric power sector which – according to a study released today by Ceres and Bloomberg New Energy Finance (Mapping the Gap) – presents a $12 trillion opportunity for renewable energy alone over the next 25 years, with the biggest opportunities being solar and wind power in emerging markets.
Michael Liebreich, chairman and founder of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, says the report makes clear that renewable energy such as wind and solar are poised for a takeoff due to declining costs that often make them fully competitive with fossil fuels, even without subsidies. “The clean energy industry could make a very significant contribution to achieving the lofty ambitions expressed by the Paris Agreement,” he said. “To do so, however, investment volume is going to need to more than double, and do so in the next three to five years. That sort of increase will not be delivered by business as usual; closing the gap is both a challenge and an opportunity for investors.”
The study details how the global renewable energy buildout in the power sector can be financed, and estimates that investment in new renewable energy projects in the electric sector are expected to surge in the next two decades by nearly $500 billion per year above current investment levels. The study also highlights near-term investment needs in clean energy – specifically, global clean energy investment in the electric sector should more than double from current levels by 2020 in order to achieve COP21’s temperature goals.
Ceres’ Investor Summit on Climate Risk builds on the growing momentum from the financial community, including dozens of investors attending the Paris climate talks to call for a strong climate agreement and 400 global investors calling last fall for a meaningful carbon price and the phasing out of fossil fuel subsidies.
The Summit is being live-streamed at webtv.un.org/ and followed on Twitter with @CeresNews and #InvestorSummit. For more information, visit http://www.ceres.org/investor-network/investor-summit.
Media contacts:
Peyton Fleming, 617-733-6660, fleming@ceres.org
Aaron Pickering, 508-951-0919, apickering@conecomm.com
About the 2016 Investor Summit on Climate Risk
Held biennially at the United Nations since 2003, the Investor Summit on Climate Risk is the preeminent forum for institutional investors to discuss the implications of climate change for capital markets and their portfolios. The 2016 event convenes investors, business leaders and others seeking to accelerate the shift to a clean energy future, and tackle the risks posed by climate change. Ceres, the United Nations Foundation, and the United Nations Office for Partnerships are co-hosting the Summit.
About Ceres
Ceres is a nonprofit sustainability organization mobilizing business leadership on climate change, water scarcity and other global sustainability challenges. Ceres has helped organize seven Climate Investor Summits at the UN, the first in 2003, and introduced the term “climate risk” into the financial lexicon in 2002. Ceres directs the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), a network of more than 110 institutional investors with collective assets totaling more than $13 trillion. Ceres also directs BICEP, an advocacy coalition of 36 businesses committed to working with policy makers to pass meaningful energy and climate legislation. For more information, visit www.ceres.org or follow on Twitter @CeresNews.
January 27th, 2016|Climate change, News, Press material
PUC delays solar power reimbursement decision; NV Energy proposes keeping lower rates
By Craig Fiegener Monday, January 25th 2016
http://news3lv.com/news/local/nv-energy-proposes-keeping-lower-rates-for-solar-customers
LAS VEGAS (KSNV News3LV) — The debate over increasing solar power reimbursements, for early adopters in Nevada, will be decided next month.
The Public Utilities Commission will revisit the question of "grandfathering" about 30,000 home solar customers. A new law, approved Dec. 23, 2015, substantially reduced payments they receive for power they sell back to NV Energy.
Later Monday, NV Energy announced it wants to allow customers who already have solar panels to keep more favorable rates for up to 20 years.
The company issued a statement on its plan Monday, just after regulators at the Nevada Public Utilities Commission voted to further discuss the possibility of "grandfathering" existing customers into lower rates.
A total of 41 homeowners told the PUC that they're losing money under the new law. Many of them invested in solar with their own money, and spoke before the PUC on Monday.
Steve Benton said he's losing money after budgeting to pay $40,000 for his own solar system and banking on selling power back to NV Energy at a certain price.
"I want my $20,000 back. At least $20,000 dollars, because you've effectively halved what I'm getting out of this system. And I think that's wrong to the citizens," said Benton.
Many homeowners who spoke at the meeting believed the law cutting solar reimbursements was designed to curb the growth of companies such as SolarCity. It also had the effect of removing the financial incentive that led many people to install solar systems year ago, they said.
The PUC indicated it will make a final decision on "grandfathering" existing solar homes on Feb. 8. An estimated 13,500 homes that have applied for solar may also receive the benefit of the "grandfathering."
I think NV Energy is getting nervous....
Nevada Utility To Propose Compromise in Solar Fee Fight
http://fortune.com/2016/01/25/nv-energy-nevada-solar/
Looks like the voices of the angry Nevada solar customers were heard.
After angry protests, a class action lawsuit, and growing opposition from high profile advocates, Nevada utility NV Energy has extended Nevada’s solar customers an olive branch.
On Monday, NV Energy, which is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy, announced that it would submit a proposal to the state regulator that would let customers that already own solar panels avoid new fees over the next 20 years. The new fees, which went into effect this year and are the subject of intense controversy, would still apply to new solar customers.
Utilities across the country have been struggling to figure out how to manage and pay for the influx of home-owners buying solar panels and generating their own power in sunny states like Nevada, Arizona, and California. At the end of 2015, Nevada’s Public Utility Commission approved new rules that added extra fees for solar panel owners and lowered the compensation they received for producing and selling their solar power to the grid.
Nevada’s Governor, Brian Sandoval, NV Energy, and the PUC all took the position that electricity customers who don’t own solar panels were unfairly overpaying for grid maintenance and interconnections while the solar customers were reaping the benefits. Utilities in others states, like Arizona, have taken similar steps.
However, that the ruling also applied to customers that bought solar panels years ago—some having spent tens of thousands of dollars—angered many people. With the added fees, many of the solar customers say they would never have bought panels. Two solar customers filed a class action lawsuit against NV Energy claiming the utility provided false information to the state’s regulator.
If the 100% goals of many areas really come to place, their predictions of 18% growth will be blown out of the water.
Green energy goals have a history of being beaten very early...
Some goals for 2020 have already been beaten...
http://www.sierraclub.org/ready-for-100
Another Utility finally waking up?
Xcel lays out sweeping plan for Colorado's energy future
http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/earth_to_power/2016/01/xcel-energy-lays-out-sweeping-plan-for-colorado-s.html
Jan 25, 2016, 4:15pm MST Updated Jan 25, 2016, 4:29pm MST
Xcel Energy Inc. on Monday launched the first element of a sweeping new plan that executives say will upgrade the state’s power grid and give customers more choice in how they source and use energy.
The plan, which Xcel is calling “Our Energy Future” involves dramatically boosting the amount of renewable energy — both wind and solar power — on Colorado’s electricity grid
California may be changing its solar energy incentives
State is being encouraged to further extend its solar energy incentives
http://www.hydrogenfuelnews.com/california-may-changing-solar-energy-incentives/8527101/
California officials are being encouraged to extend incentive initiatives that support the adoption of solar energy throughout the state. The California government has offered financial incentives to thousands of homeowners and businesses in order to encourage the expansion of the state’s solar energy capacity. Backed by these incentives, California has some 450,000 solar units installed, which were put in place over the past few years. Without incentives, clean power advocates fear that the growth of the solar energy sector will slow considerably.
Net metering has become a successful way to promote the adoption of solar power
California has a net metering system in place. Under this system, utilities are obligated to purchase excess electrical power that is being produced by rooftop solar energy systems. This has become quite popular among homeowners, but utilities have a longstanding grudge against the system. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has often complained that the net metering system is overly generous, at times supporting failed solar energy projects for the sake of grid stability. Utilities also suggest that net metering forces consumers without solar energy systems to indirectly subsidize those that do have such systems.
Public Utilities Commission proposes changes to net metering system
The California Public Utilities Commission may have a solution to this problem. The agency recently introduced a proposal to change the way net metering works in the state. Per the proposal, homeowners who have solar energy systems would pay a one-time fee of as much as $150. This fee will allow the homeowner to connect their new energy system to the state’s grid. The proposal would also have these homeowners pay an extra $5 monthly to offset the cost of electrical power for those without access to solar energy.
Solar market likely to continue thriving in the coming years
While advocates of solar energy have expressed disfavor for the proposal from the California Public Utilities Commission, the solar industry does not believe that the proposal would have a significant impact on the growth of the solar market. As long as incentives are in place, consumers and businesses alike are likely to continue supporting solar energy.
Better power lines would help U.S. supercharge renewable energy, study suggests
By Puneet KolliparaJan. 25, 2016
Analysts have long argued that nations aiming to use wind and solar power to curb emissions from fossil fuel burning would first have to invest heavily in new technologies to store electricity produced by these intermittent sources—after all, the sun isn’t always shining and the wind isn’t always blowing. But a study out today suggests that the United States could, at least in theory, use new high-voltage power lines to move renewable power across the nation, and essentially eliminate the need to add new storage capacity.
This improved national grid, based on existing technologies, could enable utilities to cut power-sector carbon dioxide emissions 80% from 1990 levels by 2030 without boosting power prices, researchers report today in Nature Climate Change.
The findings come on the heels of the Paris climate agreement, in which the U.S. pledged to cut its national emissions by up to 28% from 2005 levels by 2025. About 40% of U.S. emissions come from the power sector, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently released rules that task states with reducing power-sector emissions. States can choose from a menu of strategies, EPA says, such as boosting renewable energy use.
But some observers wonder whether the U.S. power grid can rise to the renewables challenge. The grid is divided into several regional grids or “interconnections,” which contain smaller subdivisions. Since regions experience both sunless and windless periods, energy planners and experts have long believed that a wind- and solar-dominated grid would need to store some power for later use. The problem is that large-scale storage technologies haven’t been commercially realistic.
Alex MacDonald, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) researcher, was familiar with that problem. But he realized that researchers hadn’t explored all the potential solutions. For instance, meteorological data suggest that wind is always blowing somewhere in the U.S., MacDonald says. So, although renewable energy output might be intermittent on a regional scale, it would have a more constant flow at a national scale. MacDonald wondered if the U.S. grid might be able to overcome intermittency problems if it added high-voltage, direct-current (HVDC) transmission lines—which suffer less energy loss than do traditional alternating-current transmission lines—to connect regional grids, so that power could be moved to where it was needed.
To test the idea, MacDonald and a number of NOAA colleagues built a computer model to analyze different configurations of a weblike network of interregional HVDC lines plus renewable energy installations. The model divides the U.S. into a grid of 152,000 squares that are assigned to regional grids. In order for the program to evaluate the potential for solar and wind power in each square, the researchers inputted data on sunlight and wind speeds between 2006 and 2008 (but the program excluded areas, such as national parks and mountain slopes, that typically can’t host windmills or solar panels). Then, using forecasts for power prices and demand, the program could calculate where it would be economical to build wind and solar projects, and move renewable power from region to region. Finally, the researchers told their program to find the lowest-cost way to achieve certain emissions cuts while still meeting future power demand.
By 2030, with HVDC lines meeting at 32 nodes between regional grids, the U.S. could add enough wind and solar power to cut power sector emissions by up to 80% from 1990 levels, the researchers concluded. And they calculated that power prices would be lower, on average, than a business-as-usual scenario. And “these results are the minimum of what we could get to,” MacDonald tells ScienceInsider, explaining that the researchers used very cautious assumptions.
Stanford University energy researcher Jonathan Koomey, who wasn’t involved in the work, agrees that the NOAA team’s assumptions are generally cautious. U.S. power demand may rise less than the team’s projections, for instance, as a result of new energy-efficiency measures. And the team gets its rosy results even though it didn’t add in the health and environmental costs of the pollution created by burning fossil fuels. But Koomey also offers major caveat: The study doesn’t consider the potential for electricity demand to rise more than expected should electric vehicles catch on, he notes. If that happened, the U.S. would need more renewable projects to achieve the same emissions cuts.
The bigger hurdle to realizing the study’s vision of a national grid, however, may be persuading policymakers, utilities investors, and landowners that it’s a good idea, says Susan Tierney, a former U.S. assistant secretary of energy under President Clinton who’s currently an energy consultant at the Analysis Group in Boston, Massachusetts. “The problem is not rooted in technology, but rather in the way that the U.S. power system is organized legally, politically, economically, and culturally,” she says. Utilities and politicians are sometimes loath to depend on distant power producers, for example, and communities often fight the construction of large power lines.
Koomey notes that the researchers aren’t necessarily advocating a totally storage-free, national system or trying to bash storage technology. “They’re just saying, ‘Let’s just explore a system without storage and see if it’s possible.” The answer, he says, is that it’s more possible than many people might think.
The world is waking up!
Solar Power Now Cheaper Than Coal In India, Says Energy Minister
January 22nd, 2016 by Giles Parkinson
Originally published on RenewEconomy.
The latest auction of solar energy capacity in India has achieved a new record low price of 4.34 rupees/kWh, prompting the country’s energy minister Piyush Goyal to say that solar tariffs are now cheaper than coal-fired generation.
The results of a reverse auction tender of 420MW of solar capacity conducted by the Rajasthan government revealed this week that Finnish group Fortum Energy bid the lowest price of 4.34 rupees/kWh for a 70MW solar PV plant.
It is the lowest price obtained so far in India, which aims to install more than 100GW of solar by 2022, and was hailed by Goyal as a sign that solar power is now cheaper than coal power.
“Through transparent auctions with a ready provision of land, transmission and the like, solar tariffs have come down below thermal power cost,” Goyal said in a tweet.
In a later tweet, Goyal said: “We are moving rapidly towards realising the clean energy vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
In a week in which it was revealed that China’s coal consumption for electricity had slumped 3.5 per cent last year, it is a further bad sign for Australia’s coal exporters.
The Fortum bid betters the previous low of 4.63 rupees/kWh made by the US-based SunEdison, the world’s biggest developer of renewable energy power plants, for a 500MW plant in Andra Pradesh last November.
Like many such auction results, the Sun-Edison bid was dismissed as irrational. But it was matched a month later in a different auction in December by SkyPower.
Fortum’s offer was also no outlier. The bid was nearly matched by Rising Sun Energy (which bid 4.35 rupees for two blocks), France’s Solairedirect (also two blocks for 4.35 rupees a unit) and Yarrow Infrastructure ( a 70MW plant for 4.36 rupees).
“This (Rs 4.34 a unit) is the lowest solar tariff so far in India. This has happened because of confidence in the balance sheet of NTPC and solar parks that come with all clearances and confidence in the market,” new and renewable energy joint secretary Tarun Kapoor said.
The bids are also not subject to price indexation. Tim Buckley, from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) wrote last month that this means a potential 5 per cent annual real price decline is contractually in place for the next 25 years, a significant long tail advantage of renewable energy.
Fossil fuels by comparison offer prohibitive price variability and currency devaluation risks.
“India currently has over 4.4GW of installed utility solar capacity, and solar consultancy Bridge to India estimates another 16GW of tenders have been allocated or are in the process of tendering, much which we expect to be operational by 2017 at the latest. Rooftop solar is also on a steep upward trajectory in 2016,” Buckley wrote.
“After only 1GW of solar installs in each of 2013/14 and 2014/15, IEEFA estimates 2015/16 installs will more than double to 2.5GW, double again in 2016/17 to 5-6GW and then 9GW by 2017/18. By 2021/22, we forecast cumulative installs of solar to exceed 80GW – close to the Indian Government’s target of 100GW set one year ago.”
Reprinted with permission.
This will help!!!!!
Federal appeals court: Clean power plan can proceed
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/01/21/clean-power-climate-change-obama-appeals-court/79134944/
WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court refused Thursday to block Obama administration regulations aimed at reducing power plant pollution while a legal battle wages on.
The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was a victory for environmentalists and a defeat for states challenging the Environmental Protection Agency regulations in court.
The so-called Clean Power Plan is a cornerstone of President Obama's climate change initiative, now incorporated into the recently signed United Nations climate agreement. It aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants 32% from 2005 levels over the next 15 years.
We are pleased that the court has rejected petitioners' attempts to block the Clean Power Plan from moving forward while litigation proceeds," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement. "We are confident that the plan will reduce carbon pollution and deliver better air quality, improved public health, and jobs across the country."
Twenty-four states are seeking to have the regulations overturned in court and had sought to block implementation in the meantime. Their lawsuit, filed in October after the new rule went into effect, says it is "arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and not in accordance with law."
The appeals court's ruling Thursday said the states "have not satisfied the stringent requirements for a stay pending court review." But the court did set an ambitious timetable for the case, with oral arguments slated for June 2.
Obama last month vetoed two congressional resolutions of disapproval, aimed at rescinding different sets of regulations on new and existing power plants.
Environmental groups hailed the ruling. “Today’s decision is a wonderful victory for all Americans across our nation in red and blue states alike that are working to protect our children and our communities from the clear and present danger of climate change,” said Vickie Patton, general counsel at the Environmental Defense Fund.
Karen Harned, executive director of the National Federation of Independent Business' small business legal center, called the ruling "disappointing."
"It allows the EPA to turn the screws on states even though the regulation may be ultimately invalidated," Harned said. "They’ll have to start planning and investing resources now in order to be in compliance. So even if they eventually prevail in the Supreme Court and the regulation is thrown out, it will be impossible to recover their investment and nearly impossible to reverse the damage."
SLTD is now higher in PPS than SUNE.. just sayin..
Solar3D, Inc. Presents at Source Capital Group's 2016 Disruptive Growth
I LOVE that word! Disruptive!
I'm working with a group to create an URBAN totally sustainable, OFF THE GRID community.
We have 3 blocks to work with.
A utility that you can almost love....
http://host.madison.com/ct/opinion/column/tyler-huebner-visionary-energy-ceo-headlines-summit-to-shape-the/article_59d4ecf7-c3a3-5f9c-b8dc-ff968e2078d1.html
Tyler Huebner: Visionary energy CEO headlines summit to 'Shape the Utility of the Future'
TYLER HUEBNER | RENEW Wisconsin executive director Jan 14, 2016
Throughout the nation and in Wisconsin, an evolution in where we get our electricity is well under way.
Solar and wind resources are providing more energy than ever before, and their growth outlook looks more promising every day. In Wisconsin, we also have tremendous resources from biomass sources — namely our state’s dairy herds — that we can tap to clean up our power grid and our water bodies at the same time.
How will Wisconsin’s electricity providers adapt to ever-changing technology, and the evolving desires of our citizens, as the cost of the clean power continues to fall?
We’ll answer that question and more on Thursday, Jan. 21, at RENEW Wisconsin’s fifth annual summit, “Shaping the Utility of the Future.”
We will hear from one of the nation’s utility leaders, CEO Mary Powell of Green Mountain Power in Vermont, who is seven years into creating what she calls the “Energy Company of the Future.”
Mary’s formula includes solar on rooftops, solar on old landfills, wind power, “cow power” and clean lakes initiatives, electric vehicles, a smarter grid, partnering with Tesla to offer home battery storage, and offering financing to customers to upgrade the energy efficiency of their homes and appliances. Along the way, her company has decreased electric rates twice in the past three years.
It’s a formula Wisconsin’s utilities can follow, and some are already.
We’ll also hear from three Wisconsin utilities who are investing in more renewable energy: Dairyland Power Cooperative, Xcel Energy, and River Falls, which represent different types of electric providers in Wisconsin.
At lunch, we’ll recognize the largest and best renewable energy installations from 2015.
The afternoon will feature James Tong, a national thought-leader in how the electric grid itself will need to adapt over time to enable more technologies to flourish. Mimicking the concept of “net neutrality” for the Internet, he is calling for “grid neutrality” for the electric grid, where technologies like solar and batteries can be more readily integrated.
Finally, we’ll hear from experts in Wisconsin’s wind, solar, and biogas industries on the opportunities for their success in the future, and what barriers need to be removed to enable continued economic growth in these industries.
Registration is open through the day of the event. You can find out more information, view our fantastic list of speakers, and register at http://renewwisconsin.org/2016_Summit/.
Tyler Huebner is executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a nonprofit organization that works statewide to expand renewable energy.
'Renewable energy is limitless and will last forever,' says Ban at global debate
Credit: UNEP
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17 January 2016 – Everyone involved in energy—governments, the private sector, investors and financial institutions, cities, and people everywhere–has understood that we can no longer burn our way to global prosperity, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared today at a debate hosted by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the Financial Times.
“We all know that renewable energy is limitless and will last forever,” Mr. Ban said in the United Arab Emirates capital, Abu Dhabi.
“It offers us great security and peace of mind,” he added. “Costs have come down so quickly that it is now often the cheapest option. And the more renewable energy facilities we build, the cheaper they will become.”
The UN chief noted that since his last visit in 2012, enormous changes have occurred—with the springing up of solar panels and wind turbines. He also highlighted the landmark agreements reach last year by the international community on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and on climate change.
“Renewable energy is central to both,” he stressed. “It will help provide solutions to the climate challenge, and to poverty, food security and many other challenges. Clean, renewable energy will act as a catalyst and a force-multiplier for the SDGs. If we achieve it well before 2030, it will vastly improve our chances of achieving the other SDGs.”
The Secretary-General urged leaders to maintain the momentum and redouble efforts on all their initiatives, insisting that access to clean energy is essential to leave no one behind in the move to zero carbon emissions.
“Events like this are vital to spread the word and spur other companies and institutions to examine their energy consumption and take part in the transition,” he said. “One of the highlights in Paris [COP21] was the wave of announcements from the private sector, investors and financial institutions, cities and governments on their commitments to renewables.”
Recalling that in 2011 he launched Sustainable Energy for All, as a global platform for all partners to come together across issues of energy access, renewables and energy efficiency, Mr. Ban underlined that thousands of actors from all sectors and regions of the world have stepped up to the challenge.
Lawsuit Launched Against NV Energy Following PUC's Rooftop Solar Ruling
in News Departments > New & Noteworthy
by SI Staff on Monday 18 January 2016
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http://solarindustrymag.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.16067
Two Las Vegas residents, John Bamforth and Stanley Schone, have filed a class action lawsuit against Nevada Power Co., a part of NV Energy, over the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada's (PUC) move to eliminate retail-rate net metering for both new and existing solar customers.
The lawsuit, filed on Jan. 12 in Clark County District Court, alleges that NV Energy "conspired to unlawfully reduce the incentives provided via the Solar Program, increasing base rates or service charges only for solar customers in order to reduce competition and increase their own revenues."
Specifically, the charge seeks restitution for "anticompetitive actions, deceptive and unfair trade practices resulting in a restraint of trade, monopolization and maintenance of a monopoly over the electric utility in Nevada, price discrimination between different buyers, artificial price inflation, conspiracy to cause the aforementioned results through illegal means, and negligence."
According to the lawsuit, net metering customers are looking at a 40% increase in their base rate or service charge, jumping from $12.75 to $17.90. These increases are scheduled to continue until Jan. 1, 2020, when the rate will have reached $38.51. The rate applies to all rooftop solar customers regardless of when their systems were installed.
The rate schedule also reduces the amount of credits for excess energy that customers can receive from about $0.11/kWh to $0.09/kWh. These rates will continue to decrease until Jan. 1, 2020, when the credits will be capped at a measly $0.026.
The plaintiffs contend that the utility provided false and/or incomplete information to the PUC on the net metering matter. Further, they claim that they would not have invested in their PV systems if they were aware that they would not receive the promised rebates, discounts and rates.
As previously reported, the PUC's ruling has been met with immense opposition from the start and even forced SolarCity, Sunrun and Vivint, three of the largest solar companies in the country, to cease operations and sales in the state of Nevada.
Last week, the PUC rejected a request to stay the new rate until the regulation and all of its effects could be fully considered.
Commodities open today.
Crude down $2 to $29 and Natural gas down .06 to 2.08
Affects the stock...
http://www.nasdaq.com/markets/commodities.aspx
Now it's sooo cheap, it's more and more like a lottery ticket....
$2 to buy a million shares... LOL!
It gets worse than that.
They increase the fixed charges. So any investment in energy savings goes to the utility.
If you use batteries and go off the grid. The utility meters your panels and charges you. That is REAL.
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So if you make dinner tonight you owe McDonalds a fee.
If you have a garden. You have to send money to the grocery store for a free.
Go to the gas station and reset the pump and it starts at $10.00 before you start pumping. Pumps cost you know.
THey put solar panels on a church, and Duke Energy asked to fine them $1,000 per day, because Duke Energy is THE ONLY ONE allowed to deliver electricity.
That is what they call free market capitalism?
https://tvbetch.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/exxon_flag.jpg
https://www.changingworld.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/800x800/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/A/D/AD-03_2_1_1.jpg
Good, I hope it gets Warren's attention.