Currents

Keith Martin, partner at Norton Rose Fulbright, joins us to unpack the tax extenders bill that cleared Congress on Monday night. We discuss how the bill affects solar, wind, and other renewable energy projects, the immediate impact on the market, who the biggest beneficiaries are and more.

Nick Merricks, head of UK smart electricity meter products at Landis+Gyr, joins us to discuss smart technology in the energy industry. We discuss how COVID-19 has affected the market, the growing need to invest in infrastructure that will support the energy transition, how vital smart meters are to reaching net-zero carbon emissions, how regulation affects energy digitalization, what technologies Landis+Gyr is developing to support deployment of EVs and more.

Steve Vavrik, chief executive officer, Josh Prueher, chief financial officer, Mark Klein, chief operating officer, and Doug Moorehead, chief technology officer of Broad Reach Power, join us to discuss their investment strategy in solar + storage. We get into why they are so heavily concentrated in ERCOT and California, how they are different from other developers, the new battery projects they are developing in ERCOT, the changes they have seen in battery projects over the last decade and what they think we will see in the next five years and more.

Reid Spolek, energy lead at Google, Chris Hansen, vice president of origination and renewables at TVA, Spencer Sessions, senior manager of economic development at TVA and Johan Vanhee, chief commercial officer and chief procurement officer at Origis Energy, join us to discuss the role of clean energy in rural America’s economic rebound. We discuss how the organizations are involved with solar and energy storage in rural American communities, how the projects affect low-revenue-base communities, the challenges and lessons learned from the recently announced Skyhawk project, a 100-MW solar installation in Tennessee, how large corporate energy buyers like Google are viewed and much more.

Jonathan Yates, associate principal with Arup, joins us for an update on the district energy space. We discuss why district energy is getting a lot of attention right now, what activity Arup is currently seeing in the market, how COVID is affecting the outlook for new projects, factors to consider when looking at how to procure energy for projects, the future of technology in the space, how to assess when a district-energy system is the right solution for a project, key issues for sponsors and lenders to pay attention to and more.

Dr. Angela Wilkinson, secretary general of the World Energy Council, joins us to discuss the Council’s mission. We get into the differences between the Council and other organizations, the impact that COVID-19 will have on the industry, the Council’s “Humanizing Energy” theme and what it is looking to achieve, why the energy transition is important, the “Energy Plus community” and how it relates to the transition, the Council’s immediate priorities and much more.

Kimberlee Centera, CEO of TerraPro Solutions, joins us to discuss her company and how it is handling risk management during this unprecedented year. We get into what TerraPro Solutions does, some of the risks involved in developing utility-scale energy projects, challenges developers are facing, how delays related to COVID-19 are being managed, how to build trust among stakeholders and much more.

Five veteran Washington observers talked about what changes to expect for renewable energy and the project finance market as a result of the election. John Gimigliano, principal in charge, federal tax and regulatory services at KPMG, Brandon Hurlbut, partner at Boundary Stone Partners and co-host of the “Political Climate” podcast, Joe Mikrut, partner at Capitol Tax Partners, Christine Tezak, managing director at ClearView Energy Partners, and Eric Wolff, an energy reporter at Politico, joined Keith Martin, partner at Norton Rose Fulbright in Washington.

Chris Leary, investment partner at Orion Energy Partners, joins us to discuss how the company invests in energy innovation. We get into how Orion defines energy innovation, what it has already invested in, why it believes this approach is important, the drivers of acceleration in ESG investing, who else is active in the space and much more.

Kathy Hannun, president and co-founder of Dandelion Energy, joins us to discuss residential geothermal heating and cooling. We dive into her background, why she decided to form Dandelion Energy, how geothermal heating and cooling is an efficient, clean alternative to fossil fuel heating, the challenges and opportunities in the industry, what innovations are needed in order for geothermal to go mainstream and more.

JohnPaul Baric, CEO of Aurum Capital Ventures Inc., joins us to explain the relationship between bitcoin mining and the energy industry. We dive into what bitcoin mining is, why bitcoins are scarce, how bitcoin mining is a new way to monetize energy, how miners interact with the power grid, who is currently funding miners operations, where he sees the bitcoin space going in the next five years and more.

The November elections carry significant potential upside for renewable energy companies. The election is factoring into construction-start strategies. A FERC order involving Broadview Solar has many solar developers up in arms. More than 3,400 companies have filed suit against the Trump administration to get back duties paid on Chinese products. A test case involving COVID-19 claims under business interruption insurance policies was decided in September. The tax equity market remains a tale of two cities. Keith Martin, partner in Washington, gives a lively half-hour update on what is new in the market.

Yuri Horowitz, CEO of Sol Systems, joins us to discuss the convergence of social and environmental impact principles on solar energy infrastructure. We talk about what motivates corporations to take action, the challenges of implementation, how corporations are integrating ESG into their solar procurement strategies, Sol Systems’ recent groundbreaking solar power community investment agreement with Microsoft and more.

Richard Matsui, CEO and founder of kWh Analytics, joins us to unpack a new kWh study that found US utility-scale solar projects are underperforming P50 production estimates on average by 6.3%.

Brian Callaway, vice president, structured finance at sPower, and Conor McKenna, managing director at CohnReznick Capital Markets, walk us through the Highlander transaction, sPower’s 620-MW solar project and the largest solar plant east of the Mississippi. The pair discusses the developer’s vision for the project, how they were able to bring together so many high-profile counterparties, the challenges they faced to get it across the finish line, how they handled ESG and NIMBY, the complex financing structure and much more.

Christen Blum, vice president, renewables advisory and analytics, and Emily Williams, vice president, strategy and sustainability at Edison Energy, join us to discuss vPPAs, PPAs and Edison’s entrance into the European market. They get into the difference between vPPAs and PPAs, which model is used more widely in Europe, how COVID-19 is affecting corporate interest in renewable energy and much more.

Norman Crowley, serial entrepreneur and founder and head of Cool Planet Group, joins us to discuss his entrepreneurial adventures in renewables and what his nonprofit foundation, The Cool Planet Experience, was created to address. We journey from the first company he created at 16 to his retirement at 28, the energy efficiency company he founded in 2010, Crowley Carbon, Electrfi, his electric car company that creates world-class hypercars, the solar company he launched last year, his foundation addressing the fun side of environmental responsibility and more.

Raquel Bierzwinsky, partner in Norton Rose Fulbright’s Mexico City and New York offices, joins us to discuss the renewables market in Mexico almost two years into AMLO’s term in office. She goes over the shift in government policy and what it means for project developers and lenders.

Jan Smutny-Jones, chief executive officer of the Independent Energy Producers Association, joins us to discuss the recent blackouts in California and how the renewables industry is related. Jan explains what has been happening, what could be done to prevent future blackouts and how storage can help, the investigation that is currently underway, the effect the blackouts might have on political support for the state’s high renewable portfolio standard goals and more.

Ralph Cho and Mike Pantelogianis, Power & Infrastructure Finance Co-heads for Investec in North America, join us to discuss the commercial bank, term loan B and project bond lending markets. We get into the different features of each market, how lenders deal with construction risk differently, the speed of execution and ratings as well as the current tax equity market and the group’s picks for this year’s World Series.