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California's New Solar Public Works Law (AB 2143): An Example of California’s Recent Leadership Failures on Solar and the Climate Posted on Jun 18, 2024
It appears that California’s prior solar policies were too successful. California's policymakers have been rushing to stop a solar industry that they helped create. The solar industry that California helped to create through policies supporting pr...
Grid-Connected Blinders Removed from California's Distributed Energy Racehorse Posted on Dec 29, 2023
Guest Blog Post By Angela Lipanovich, Attorney & Founder of Estriatus Law There can be no doubt – California is, and has been, the world’s leader among states and countries in distributed clean energy. This leadership role is thanks to grassro...
Solar + Storage + Energy Controller = Microgrid Posted on Oct 10, 2023
The U.S. military understands the importance of microgrids. That’s why the official Department of Defense policy’s stated goal is that all bases be "power resilient." The need to have resilience in the case of a disaster that impacts the power gr...
Independently Owned Microgrids are Critical in the Era of Climate Change Posted on Apr 28, 2023
Biden’s climate agenda cannot be met unless policy approaches to energy supplies start dramatically supporting independently owned clean energy supplies. Our country is built around outdated methods of energy supplies dependent upon over 160,000 m...
Staff Opinion: NEM 3 Decision Could be Our Carpe Diem Posted on Dec 16, 2022
California energy regulators have the power to make, kill and stifle energy markets, and consumer choices. At a time when individual energy resiliency has never been more important, and will become increasingly so, that is what the California Publ...
Could Texas Take the Solar Lead? Posted on Apr 22, 2022
Texas is a powerhouse in distributed PV, and could become the number one state in the U.S., especially depending on how California’s NEM-3 proceeding turns out. In Q1 to Q3 of 2021, distributed PV in Texas grew by 23% compared to California’s 14%...
The Public Does Not Understand How Distributed Solar in California Works, or Is About to Change Posted on Dec 27, 2021
Guest Blog Post By Angela Lipanovich, Attorney & Founder of Estriatus Law Right now, a lot of misinformation and, simply a lack of understanding, exists among the public about distributed solar (often simply referred to as, "rooftop solar")....
Opinion - STAFF ESSAY Posted on Dec 14, 2021
What is Politics? Recently, a person asked us whether we think wind turbines are “a good technology.” The person had seen a video claiming that wind turbines cause massive amounts of wildlife deaths and was adamant that the video was not “pol...
Five Reasons Why Governor Newsom Should Stand Up to the Utility Attack on Solar Posted on Nov 10, 2021
The following is a guest post from Cinnamon Energy Systems: The battle between rich monopoly utilities and the “behind the meter” solar industry is coming to a head right now in California. The three biggest utilities are lobbying the Public Utili...
Energy Retrofit Policy Spotlight: Interview with Barry Cinnamon Posted on Oct 12, 2021
Last month, we began a series exploring policies that would solve the problem of the excessively high costs and long timelines required to retrofit existing buildings to become “net zero emission” properties. In this article, you can read our fir...
"Net Zero Emission" Energy Retrofits: A Critical Policy Issue to Solve Posted on Sep 24, 2021
One thing most experts in the cleantech industry agree on is that it is cheaper to build “net zero emission” buildings from scratch than to retrofit existing buildings to become net zero emitters. Although perhaps not invariably true across the U....
Recommended podcast by David Roberts of Volts with Adam Browning Posted on Sep 17, 2021
As many of you know by now, Adam Browning decided to step back from running Vote Solar and move into an advisory role for the group. Adam is definitely worthy of holding a place among those in top leadership positions who have helped the solar ind...
Energy Show Podcast - Insights on Battery System Safety Posted on Aug 10, 2021
As storage continues to take a leading position in the cleantech landscape, battery safety and knowledge is key. Listen to this recent podcast on the Energy Show to hear an industry expert's insights and experience on battery safety: Podcast: Ba...
Ideas for CleanTech Contractors to Protect Against Material Cost Increases Posted on Aug 09, 2021
A recent post by the California Construction Law Blog includes some excellent suggestions on ways that contractors can protect against risks from rising material costs. These ideas include using Time & Materials Contracts that make the owner ...
Excellent New Podcast from Cinnamon Energy: Stop the Utility Profit Grab Posted on Jul 07, 2021
6/30/21 News Story: “PG&E just asked regulators for a $3.6b rate hike to reduce fires from their own power lines.” Listen to the Cinnamon Energy weekly Energy Show to learn more about the specific changes monopoly utilities want, the falsehoo...
Webinar: Local clean energy generation or remote — who wins the battle? Posted on Jun 24, 2021
Check out this excellent webinar hosted by the Clean Coalition on the true components underlying electricity costs from Distributed Generation and remotely located power plants: Webinar: Local clean energy generation or remote — who wins the battl...
Community Choice Aggregators (“CCAs”) and the California Solar Rights Act Posted on May 18, 2021
This guest blog by Angela Lipanovich, President of Estriatus Law, PC, is also posted on Estriatus Law’s Legal Review. Does the California Solar Rights Act (“Act”) limit actions that can be taken by Community Choice Aggregators (“CCAs”)? Argua...Utility Business Models Are Outdated; Public Utility Commissions Should Update Them Posted on Mar 25, 2021
Our public utility commissions should support the private cleantech industry demanded by voters in the form of laws that protect the right to own private clean energy sources, such as solar and microgrids (“Distributed Energy Resources” or “DERs...
Globally and Locally, California Energizes Energy Storage Market Posted on Nov 25, 2020
Linda F. Hersey Senior Contributor* The U.S. clean tech sector is on pace in 2020 to regain its status as the world’s largest energy storage market. California, which has surpassed a half-million jobs in the clean tech economy, leads the nation i...
Our Conversation with a Climate Change Denier, Lessons Learned Posted on Oct 05, 2020
This article was co-authored by Angela Lipanovich, Esq., Founder of Estriatus Law, PC and Jan Freiwald, PhD, Executive Director of Reef Check. Ms. Lipanovich is a cleantech attorney with decades of experience in the renewable energy industry. D...
Welcome 2020: Let's Focus on How to Make Our Biggest Impacts Posted on Jan 07, 2020
In case you are also starting 2020 with the goal of making your biggest impact on stopping a climate catastrophe, here is some data on how to have the biggest potential impact. Project Drawdown’s ranking of the 80 solutions with the greatest po...
What Energy Upgrades Should Homeowners Do First? Posted on Jun 03, 2019
Do homeowners get more cost benefit from purchasing energy efficiency retrofits or solar energy generation systems? According to a white paper titled “Reducing Home Energy Costs by Combining Solar and Energy Efficiency”1 after “low hanging fruit”...
This Earth Day, Look Inward. Posted on Apr 22, 2019
Every moment of our lives on this precious Earth is a gift. But, we are all in this experience together. There is no escaping that one person’s decisions will affect the whole, and the collective’s impact will affect each individual. This past y...
Consumers Should Not Be Penalized From Buying Less Power From Their Utility Posted on Apr 11, 2019
An important bill just cleared its first major hurdle to becoming law in the State of California. The Solar Bill of Rights (SB 288), a bipartisan bill co-authored by State Senators Weiner (D) and Nielsen (R), was the brainchild of a fairly new no...
How Will PG&E’s Bankruptcy Impact the CleanTech Industry? Posted on Jan 22, 2019
On January 14, 2019, California’s largest utility, PG&E, filed a bankruptcy notice stating that it plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy by the month end on January 29th. Given its business situation, PG&E must proceed with the bankrupt...
Lack Of Government Action Could Make Our Planet Uninhabitable From Climate Change Posted on Oct 24, 2017
As cleantech and renewable energy markets fight for market share, climate change and extreme weather events surge ahead. Climate change, our most pressing problem with the potential to wipe out all life on earth, is becoming more evident every day...
Hedge Funds Should Not Be Able to Utilize US Trade Laws to Harm the Solar Industry Posted on Sep 01, 2017
The solar industry is on edge as two hedge funds behind the foreign-owned, bankrupt companies, Suniva and SolarWorld, try to play the administration to recover their bad investments. In this article, we will provide a summary and history of this t...
How Will The Eclipse Affect Electricity Generation? Posted on Aug 16, 2017
This guest blog by Angela Lipanovich, President of Estriatus Law, PC, is also posted on Estriatus Law’s Legal Review (August 08, 2017). As the majority of the country prepares to experience darkness mid-day for the first time in nearly a century,...
Why Is Solar So Bad At Lobbying? Posted on May 23, 2017
As some of the people who have fought for solar for the past decade or more, we know the answer to this question. First, even within the industry's national solar trade organizations there is fighting between the commercial, utility and residentia...
Button Up The Hatches: A Storm Is A-Brewin' Posted on May 05, 2017
Trump has put together the most anti-enviromental administration in history. He just picked Daniel Simmons, a renewables critic, to head the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). Now with Sco...
A Solution To Inadequate Solar Policies: Energy Storage Posted on Feb 18, 2017
How should the solar industry navigate political climates uncertain and hostile to supporting its goals? Pivot its focus to energy storage. As most people in the industry know, the main issues negatively affecting the solar industry over the past ...AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE
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