Experts Only CleanCapital

Welcome back to Experts Only Podcast! There’s been a lot of excitement about unleashing a community solar market in California, and the potential to make it one of the most equitable community solar programs in the country.

However, a March 4th proposed decision by the California Public Utilities Commission has put a community-solar plan backed by lawmakers, pro-solar groups, environmental-justice advocates, unions and homebuilders in jeopardy.

This episode, our guest host, Scott Elias, better known as "ScottySolar," welcomes Derek Chernow from the Coalition for Community Solar Access, Matthew Freedman from The Utility Reform Network, and Alexis Sutterman from the California Environmental Justice Alliance to unpack the effort to revamp California's community solar market amidst the CPUC's proposed decision.

Thank you for listening!

For more information:
- Comments of the Coalition for Community Solar Access on Proposed Decision Modifying Green Access Program Tariffs and Adopting a Community Renewable Energy Program: https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Efile/G000/M527/K884/527884666.PDF

- Former FERC Chair and CCSA challenge Proposed Decision on California community solar in opening comments: https://communitysolaraccess.org/news/former-ferc-chair-and-ccsa-challenge-proposed-decision-on-california-community-solar-in-opening-comments

- Our Sun. Our Power. California: https://oursunourpower.com/state/california/

Welcome back to Experts Only for our annual interview about the 2024 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook!

Our host Jon Powers welcomes Lisa Jacobson, President of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE), back to the show for her 7th appearance! He also welcomed Tara Narayanan, Lead Analyst, US Regional Trends at BloombergNEF, for her inaugural interview!

They discuss the Factbook, which is published by the BCSE, in partnership with BloombergNEF. This Factbook is the best compilation of data in our industry in terms of investment, manufacturing, production, mobility, and more.

You can download the Factbook at https://bcse.org/market-trends/.

Thanks for listening!

Happy Women's History Month!

Welcome to the show Lynn Abramson, President of the Clean Energy Business Network.

Lynn and her organization annually release a report on the state of clean energy, which dives into the numbers of how we are impacting states at the local level for jobs, investment, and deployment.

Tune in to hear Lynn and Jon's conversation around advocacy, the industry's impact, and challenges we're facing.

Check out the report at cebn.org.

Thank you Lynn for being on the show, and thank you for listening!

Thank you for being on the show, Kelly Worden, VP, ESG and Investing for Health at IWBI!

Kelly and our host Jon Powers dive into the world of ESG and healthy buildings, a space in which Kelly is an expert. Tune into have a better understanding of the connection between public health and our buildings, as well as the emergence of ESG, and how we measure those things -- both at the portfolio level for investors and the building level so people can demand better buildings to work in.

The progress that we are making in this space is important for all of us. Thank you for tuning in!

Welcome back, Rob Diamond, Partner, Capitol Counsel!

Rob and our host Jon Powers worked together in the Obama Administration. Rob is focused on building an infrastructure practice to help people understand the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, the IRA, and how to access those dollars and get them moving into your community.

Rob and Jon discuss where we are today in terms of the implementation of these generational pieces of legislation.

Thank you for listening!

2023 brought successes and surprises for the clean energy industry. From major impacts on the economy by adding over 20,000 jobs since last year to navigating the challenges deals face due to rising interest rates, the capital and debt markets – renewable energy has been battling to keep the ground gained. Despite these challenges, the clean energy transition continues to progress and our industry remains resilient.

As we look to welcome 2024, the CleanCapital executive team shared what they believe should be prioritized, elevated, and executed to level up the efforts in clean energy and achieve industry-wide goals. In this webinar Jon Powers, President, Melinda Baglio, General Counsel & Chief Investment Officer, Paul Curran, Chief Development Officer, and Zoe Berkery, Chief Operating Officer, discussed:
- How future of deals will be determined by markets
- Why diversifying energy projects will create success
- How the market needs to be prepared to meet demands (both in jobs and power)
- Share stories that matter to the industry, not just marketing

(Please note that this webinar was filmed on December 13th just before the Fed announcement regarding rate cuts in 2024).