Our Solar Social Network Grows Stronger, Join the Dialogue and the “Club”

Yesterday’s announcement of Patrick Crane as our new Chief Marketing Officer seems to have started a conversation – both online and off – about solar energy and social networks.

One voice in that conversation was Osha Gray Davidson, who wrote on Forbes.com that “solar power is a social network. The people involved, both consumers and providers, see themselves as part of a club.”

We couldn’t agree more. If you’re part of our solar “club,” let us know. Leave a comment telling us about your solar experience. We want to hear from everyone – from the solar veterans, to those who are still contemplating making the switch.  We’re all part of the Solar Social Network.

We can’t wait to hear from you.

Rocky Mountain Blues

Our first “blomic” on the very unfunny issue of the gutting of the residential solar rebate in Colorado. (To view far right panels, click and hold the white arrow and drag the comic strip to the left).

Rocky Mountain Blues: Episode 1, posted with vodpod

A mere seven months ago, lured by sunny skies and hefty utility-sponsored solar rebates, Sungevity began offering the Solar Lease to homeowners in Colorado. Then came the one-two punch: First, Black Hills Energy, which serves southeastern Colorado, pulled the plug on its solar rebate program. Then, last week, the state’s largest utility, Xcel Energy, slashed and burned its Solar Rewards program, cutting the rebate from $2/watt to 25 cents/watt.

The announcement came as a sledgehammer in the darkness–no one outside of Xcel saw it coming, and the Colorado solar industry is reeling from the blow.

When a renewable energy company enters a new market, there’s a mind-blowing amount of paperwork that must be done in order to comply with local requirements and procedures: Not only does every state and every municipality have its own set of rules & regs; each utility has its own procedures that renewable energy providers must learn and adopt. Entering a new market is a big investment, but one that we expect will be worth it over the long term.

For Sungevity, navigating the byzantine bureaucratic maze is a labor of love. But when a utility abruptly and without warning drops the rebate, the love affair is over. Solar leasing companies have only been able to access the Xcel rebate since September, 2009, less than a year and a half ago. Just as solar leasing companies like ours were beginning to establish ourselves in Colorado, Xcel pulled the plug, destabilizing the solar market just as it was ramping up. We’re mighty peeved and, if you live in Colorado and were hoping to get control of your electricity bill, you probably are too.

Neal Lurie, executive director of the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association(CoSEIA), said Xcel’s move could be extremely damaging to an industry just getting its start. “This is absolutely devastating to the solar industry,” Lurie told the Denver Post. “No industry can survive this kind of shock.” CoSEIA warns that the suspension of the rebate could result in the loss of 3000 jobs over the next three months. More job cuts, just what we need!

I asked regional energy planning expert Bill Powers of Powers Engineering why he thinks Xcel is cutting the rebate. Powers says that most utilities are “hanging on with a death grip” to the conventional business model: Build a power plant, and sell the juice. When people start generating their own power, the utility effectively loses them as customers. Also, in order to get approval for building a new power plant, utilities must demonstrate that increased demand for electricity will soon outstrip supply; but if an increasing number of homeowners go solar, demand on the grid decreases. In other words, all its greenwashed PR aside, Xcel doesn’t actually want its customers to go solar. Grrr!

The Colorado Public Utility Commission (PUC) has the power to approve or block Xcel’s attempt to gut its solar rebate. And that’s where you come in: Give the PUC a piece of your mind using the online comment form. And, if you live in Denver, turn out for a big rally at the State Capitol (200 E. Colfax Ave.) on February 25 at high noon.

As a giant utility, Xcel cannot be permitted to make a snap decision with enormous consequences for businesses and ratepayers. Any change in the Solar Rewards program should be the final outcome of a transparent public process in which all stakeholders are given notice and consulted.

We’ll keep you posted on developments in Colorado. Don’t give up hope..we’re not!

–Erica Etelson

Solar is a social network

Sungevity is excited to announce our new Chief Marketing Officer – Patrick Crane.

Patrick comes to us from LinkedIn via his very own solar roof. That’s right, Patrick was a Sungevity customer before he was an employee.

Today he gets to work developing innovative ways to deepen Sungevity’s relationships with its customers, as well as the solar relationships our customers have within their own networks.

In other words, Patrick is creating a Solar Social Network for us.

“When you become a Sungevity customer, like I did, you also become an ambassador for solar energy, and an active advocate for Sungevity’s service,” Patrick says. “As Sungevity continues to grow, its customers will become part of a passionate online community, sharing how much money they save and how much CO2 they continually suck out of the air. It’s all about growing the network through word-of-mouth from current users.”

Those are just a few of the ideas Patrick is working on – all of which promise to make going solar with Sungevity even easier and cooler.

You can see Patrick’s Sungevity panels – and watch him and Sungevity founder Danny Kennedy discuss creating a Solar Social Network – here.

How many bloggers does it take to change a light bulb?

GE and Blogher.com are co-sponsoring an Energy Smart giveaway. All you have to do is post your bright idea about how you conserve energy in your home (hint: Solar Lease) on one of the blogs in the Blogher network. GE will randomly select 36 people who posted their ideas and reward them with a cutting edge $50 LED light bulb that will save you $85 in energy costs. Read the official rules here and post your idea (hint: Solar Lease) by February 28.

Shoot for the sun

Nobody likes red tape, present company included. Read Danny Kennedy’s latest City Brights blog about how the federal government can drive down the cost of going solar by streamlining and standardizing the process throughout all cities and utility districts. It’s a big part of the Department of Energy’s “Sunshot Initiative” to drive the cost of solar down to $1/watt. Keep an eye on the Sunshot–it could just herald a golden era for solar.

Congratulations, anti-coal campaigners!

Image courtesy of Sierra Club

A decade ago, the coal industry was sitting pretty; lax environmental regulation, lackluster enforcement of worker safety rules, and generous government subsidies allowed companies to mine coal on the cheap. Then came the backlash: In the past ten years, coal moratorium activists have stopped 150 coal-fired power plants from being built. Just last week, Purdue University in Indiana scrapped plans to build a coal-powered boiler for one of its campuses.

The amazingly successful grassroots movement against coal is led by groups like the Sierra Club, Rainforest Action Network, the Alliance for Appalachia and dozens of local and regional grassroots organizations directly impacted by the horrors of coal mining.

Not a single new coal-fired plant has been built in the past two years. And the industry has announced plans to phase out 50 old plants, bringing to 200 the number of coal plants killed by grassroots pressure.

Congratulations, beyond-coal campaigners. We look forward to seeing how many more of the nation’s 600 coal plants you can shutter. And, in honor of Valentine’s Day, we’d like to take a moment to say, “We love you!’

How to save PACE

If you lease panels from Sungevity, you know that the ability to put solar on one’s roof without huge upfront costs is key.  Unfortunately, the Solar Lease is not yet available in all parts of the country.  That’s where the PACE program comes in.

In the last couple of years,  local governments in 25 states have set up Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs as financing mechanisms to help their residents go solar or make major energy efficiency improvements.  The PACE program fronts homeowners the money to install solar and the homeowner pays back the city over 15-20 years through a special assessment on their property tax bills.

Sounds pretty good, right? But here’s the problem: Last July, the Federal Housing Finance Agency told Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to stop underwriting mortgages with PACE assessments. Since Fannie and Freddie own or guarantee half of all U.S. mortgages, their policy struck a crippling blow to PACE.

PACE advocates have organized a Congressional policy briefing on February 10: Ask your representatives to attend. Until Sungevity serves all states, homeowners and the planet need PACE.

Like solar? You’re far from alone!

Sometimes I hate Gallup polls–like the one last year that found a 10% decrease in the number of Americans who believe that the effects of climate change are already being felt.  But sometimes Gallup polls make me smile, like the one that came out last week showing that a whopping 83% of Americans think Congress should pass an energy bill that provides incentives for using solar and other forms of renewable energy.

Such widespread support for federal policy is rare indeed. There’s more of a consensus around solar than around the seven other potential Congressional actions Gallup polled, including getting the heck out of Afghanistan (72%), approving a free trade agreement with South Korea (53%), and expanding drilling and exploration for oil and gas (65%).  There’s still a depressing amount of support for fossil fuels but considerably less than for renewables.  Dare I say the tide is turning?

So if you thought that your conservative Uncle Elroy or your apathetic cousin Fran would never in a million years go solar, think again. What if Uncle Elroy or Cousin Fran knew that they could save money by leasing solar panels? According to Gallup, now’s the time to spread the gospel of the Solar Lease. How many homeowners do you know?

–Erica Etelson

Help renewables get to one third

Last year, California came close to passing legislation that would have increased its Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) from 20% to 33%. The RPS is the percentage of electricity utilities must generate from renewable resources like wind and solar. The California Public Utilities Commission is still trying to force utilities to shoot for 33%.  (After all, Governor Schwarzenegger signed an Executive Order calling for a 33% RPS by 2020). But PG&E and Southern California Edison have filed a lawsuit claiming that they don’t have to go beyond 20%.  Oy veh!

The only way to ensure that every investor-owned utility in California reaches 33% by 2020 is to pass legislation making the requirement crystal clear. Contact your legislators and let them know that 20% isn’t good enough for California and isn’t good enough for the planet.

–Erica Etelson

There’s still time to save

If you’re a PG&E customer, you may not have even realized that PG&E has been monitoring your winter gas usage and giving you a credit on your bill if you’re using less gas this winter than you used last winter.  February is the last month of the Winter Savings program which works like this:

If you use 10% less gas than you did last February, PG&E will take 20% off your March or April bill. For example, if your April gas bill is $100, you’ll only have to pay $80.

If you can’t quite hit the 10% benchmark, don’t worry–any amount you can reduce your consumption will earn you a one-to-one credit (eg. reduce by 5%…get a 5% credit).

Here are some of the big ticket ways to curb your gas usage:

1. Turn the heat down a degree or two.

2. Wash your clothes in cold water.

3. Hang dry your laundry or, if you don’t have enough space, clean out the lint trap in the dryer after every load.

4. Take shorter showers, or take cold showers — the choice is yours.

5. Wash your hands with soap and cold water — studies show that it’s the friction of hand washing that kills germs, not the hot water.

And remember, the PG&E credit is a bonus on top of the money you’ll already be saving by using less gas. Last year, PG&E handed out $37 million worth of credits–be sure to get your piece of the pie.