10 Things Worth Reading This Week (4/16/2021)

Energy storage could help prevent reliability issues seen in CA and TX in 2020 if regulators figured out the issues around compensation and tech viability. Right now having storage on standby means opportunity/capacity cost and there needs to be compensation in place for that.

In an interview FERC Commissioner Christie discussed his thinking behind his dissent on the order to remove state ability to deny aggregated demand response offers under Order 2222, the expansion of the minimum offer price rule, and the ensuring of reliability in the face of extreme weather.

In a webinar Aurora and GTM discussed sales pitches. You should answer three questions: Why does solar make sense for them? (educate, dialogue, data) Why is your company the best fit? (differentiate, build trust) Why should they go solar now? (look at external factors).

Li-Cycle Corp. will build another commercial lithium-ion battery recycling facility in North America. It will be in AZ, joining the ones in NY and Ontario. This “Spoke 3” facility will be able to process 10,000 tonnes of end-of-life batteries and battery manufacturing scrap annually. 

Price drops and tech improvements mean that solar+storage and wind are the least-cost option in America says a new report. The next three years will be transformative and will take a significant bite out of coal and natural gas, something a storage ITC would help.

Report shows an increase in corporations adding environmental and social justice preferences to their RFP processes. This has meant developers are examining their internal practices (and supply chain partners) to increase transparency and promote equality.

Scott Nguyen, CEO of 17TeraWatts, is hosting a webinar: Earth Day Panel – Can words impact the climate? How communication can drive real change on April 21, 12 PM CT. 4 experts in communication will discuss how to persuade the public to take action on climate change. Register here and see the LinkedIn post.

New Texas based venture fund, Energy Transition Ventures, has been launched to invest in North American early-stage startups that specialize in energy transition tech. This includes companies in distributed energy, electrification, mobility, and resource efficiency.

Biden’s bill could generate 1-1.2 million jobs in energy efficiency and renewables. These include directly green jobs and related “infrastructure” ones. Economists differ on the long term numbers of jobs as this depends on what the economic return to public infrastructure would look like.

In the California battles between solar groups and utilities over the cost shift of net metering 3.0, both parties agree that 3.0 must include low-income/disadvantaged customers, fundamental grid needs, support of energy storage growth, EVs and heating electrification.