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Paving the Way for More Renewables Investment and Deployment
In early May, I had the unique opportunity to host not one but two industry experts live in a fireside chat style conversation from the stage of the Midwest Solar Expo in Chicago. In a wide-ranging conversation, we cover how we can work more effectively with corporate investors, policymakers, and utilities when growing solar and storage beyond the few strong markets we’ve all been focused on the last few years.
First I speak with Dr. Priscilla Lu, Managing Director at Deutsche Bank DWS Asset Management Sustainable Investments Group, to glean what industry leaders can learn about meeting the needs of corporations investing in sustainable solutions. Then I connect with Zaid Ashai, CEO of Nexamp, one of the country's largest solar and storage developers, to discuss exactly how we can more effectively forward solar deployment through targeted discourse and political engagement.
Make it easier for corporates to invest in renewables in America
Dr. Lu reminds us that many corporations are interested in decarbonizing their carbon footprint and that our industry can help them channel investments that accomplish and support the expansion of renewable energy. Not only are they showing strong interest, but many have established mandates that are driving their decarbonization efforts.
But it’s not just internal corporate mandates forcing more sustainable decision-making with these corporate halls. Outside the US, the impact of stringent global policies on local solar and energy storage development is palpable, especially in Europe. There, suppliers are required to disclose energy consumption associated with fossil fuels, and these policies force action and compliance throughout the supply chain, not just in the EU, but also those who supply those EU companies from the US and elsewhere. Dr. Lu highlights that this reality is “creating an opportunity for corporates to channel investment in the US.”
And Priscilla doesn’t want us to miss out on these opportunities.
As leaders in the industry, we can push our government to take a more proactive role in actually helping developers, financial bankers, and leasing companies report the valid and verifiable data needed to determine the investment viability of large-scale renewables projects. Currently, Priscilla explains, investors and asset managers are having trouble gaining access to information in a uniform and accessible manner.
Specifically, she urges developers to qualify and “tokenize” their assets so they can be more accessible to financial investors. This includes securitizing an asset in a blockchain so that it's immutable. In essence, she’s asking developers to commoditize the accessibility and transparency of these projects to investors.
Build a groundswell of support for solar
Zaid Ashai of Nexamp urges developers and advocates to fight the fights around how renewables are viewed by the public. We must have better talking points about how we are delivering value, particularly to government officials on all levels. Go beyond creating jobs, tax revenue, and securing returns, to focus on how solar and storage are creating long-term value and resiliency and impacting national security.
He also talks about taking proactive action as an industry. Zaid describes developers who don’t call out misinformation from utilities about solar and storage because they are afraid to antagonize utilities when they have projects in the queue. There are numerous ways we, as an industry, could improve our collective voice and strengthen the messaging around the value solar and energy storage provide on a local level. We simply must do more, lest our voices get drowned out by those who wish to see renewable energy delayed and stalled.
Zaid points to community solar as a great model for driving value to each customer and therefore building that support in a very concrete way. He explains that this powerful, custom-centric “fourth vertical” is one that energy subscribers love, corporates can embrace, and innovators and entrepreneurs can use to begin their decarbonization journey.
Build a business that promotes effective engagement and equitable solar deployment
“Have a great mission that your employees can be a part of and feel passionate about,” Zaid tells me. For Nexamp it’s about serving customers, doing the right thing, and promoting social equity in their marketing, hiring, subscribership, and more.
Also, “reshape the dialogue so that utilities are partners.” Spend time at the C suite with utilities asking, where can we help? Help them perceive DERs as a boon and learn to work with new business models so we can move the distribution level past its current choke point. Zaid urges industry companies and associations to host utility leaders of the future and teach them fluency in technology like smart inverters, storage, and demand response.
Zaid also talks about working on political engagement on a local level to push past state and federal level loggerheads and find those broader, nuanced talking points that appeal to a more vast electorate, like red districts.
“Because most of us are here to create a better future.”
Check out my entire interview with Priscilla and Zaid to learn more about what we can do to clear the way for renewables investment and deployment.
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ABOUT THE HOST OF SUNCAST:
Nico Johnson is the creator and host of SunCast, consistently rated a top solar podcast in the clean energy sector. The content of the show is geared towards listeners looking for insights on where the markets are headed, how to position themselves or their companies, and what today's market leaders do to stay ahead of the pack.
Nico is an Investor, Executive Coach, and 16-year veteran of the solar industry, having led development in the US and Latin America for global companies like Trina Solar and Conergy.
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If you’ve been second-guessing your work decisions or maybe trying to reconsider how you "fit" in the renewable energy industry -> grab 20 minutes on Nico's calendar and discuss whether having him as Your personal coach might be the right next step.