Biting the Hand that Feeds

Good morning and happy Friday,

In this week’s headlines, Avangrid begins a historic partnership with the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority to bring renewable power to a reservation, Ohio state Republicans introduce a bill to protect climate denial in universities, and utility-scale solar dominates clean energy investments.?

Read on for more.

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Biting the Hand that Feeds

Texas has long been known for a laissez-faire attitude toward project permitting that, when combined with wide-open spaces and abundant wind and solar resources, has led to the state becoming a national – and even a global – leader in clean energy production. Good news? Not so much, say Governor Greg Abbot and Republicans in the state legislature, who are angling to restrict future renewable development. Here’s what’s happening:

• Texas is expected to get 40% of its power from renewables and storage in 2023 – a lower percentage than California’s 52% but backed by almost twice as many GW of installed capacity. Solar in particular is on a tear, with BloombergNEF predicting 16 GW will be installed by 2030.
• The state’s counties and individual landowners receive significant economic benefits from clean energy. Local governments can expect to earn some “$16 billion in tax revenue from existing and planned wind, solar and storage projects over the lifetime of those assets...and property owners could reap as much as $22 billion from leases.”
• In response, the state’s GOP lawmakers, apparently committed to snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, have introduced legislation to tighten permitting requirements for renewables, in addition to vowing to “bar green projects from tapping a new program under discussion that would offer subsidies to businesses in exchange for job creation.”

??? The Takeaway

Slowing renewables’ roll. Republican-backed bills to expand the use of gas-fired power are making their way through the legislature, ostensibly to address concerns about reliability. “Most notable is one that calls for spending taxpayer dollars to build gas plants,” and may cost as much as $18 billion. What ever happened to “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”?

Earth Day Survey

To commemorate Earth Day 2023, the Pew Research Center released the results of recent? surveys that captured Americans’ views on the issue of climate change. Here are some salient findings:

• Nearly 70% of Americans support the U.S. becoming carbon neutral by 2050. The same share of Americans (69%) say the U.S. should prioritize developing renewable energy sources over expanding the production of oil, coal and natural gas.
• Americans are wary of relying exclusively on renewable energy sources, although younger adults are more open to it. 31% say the U.S. should completely phase out oil, coal and natural gas, but more than twice as many (67%) say the country should use a mix of energy sources, including fossil fuels and renewables.
• Two-thirds of the public supports federal incentives for wind and solar energy. However, “views are more mixed on how the federal government should approach other activities that would reduce carbon emissions.”

??? The Takeaway

Spoiler alert. Dispatch readers will probably not be surprised to learn that climate change is a much lower priority for Republicans than for Democrats, and indeed “Democrats and Republicans have grown further apart over the last decade in their assessments of the threat posed by climate change.” Only 54% of U.S. adults describe climate change as a major threat to the country’s well-being. While 78% of Democrats now describe climate change as a major concern, just 23% of Republicans feel the same way.

• Hurry Up & Wait: The U.S. pause on solar tariffs faces a new challenge
• Emerging Trend: Wind turbines paired with energy storage
• Under Pressure: US land bureau under pressure from surging solar

• Majority in support of 200 MW Virginia solar farm
• Michigan's largest wind project is now operational
• Wyoming Supreme Court upholds Albany County approval of 500 MW wind project
• Governor approves two CCR solar projects in Yakima County, Washington
• Clinton County solar moratorium could impact Michigan’s clean energy goals

A New “Erthos” for the Solar Industry?

The concept of “ground mounted” solar panels isn’t new, but startup Erthos is taking this idea to a new, shall we say, “lack of heights” by literally installing panels on the ground. “A fundamental overhaul of how utility-scale solar is constructed,” the company claims this approach can significantly reduce costs (up to 20%) and land use while also speeding up construction time.

These super-low profile installations appear to be very durable, and survived “a wild and wet California winter replete with 12 atmospheric rivers, two bomb cyclones and 80-mile-per-hour wind gusts.” A 617 kW (DC) installation in Central Valley lost no panels to wind this winter, and indeed, the “panel installation scheme has achieved a 194-mile-per-hour wind rating, good enough to withstand a Category 5 hurricane.”

Best of all, the panels can be cleaned by a Roomba. Well, not exactly, but there is a GPS-equipped “cleaning robot that leaves its shed nightly to tidy up the place.” Future generations of the robot may have infrared sensors that can detect defects and facilitate speedy repairs. Sounds like a clean sweep to us!