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Read our latest email newsletters below. We cover trends related to the renewable energy industry.
Misconceptions about Renewables Job Creation
Most developers get the economic impact of their renewables projects wrong.
I see far too often that developers want to use a benchmark for all of their projects. They want to know, “How many jobs does a typical utility-scale solar or wind project create?”
The problem is, there’s too much variation between projects for a benchmark to be particularly helpful.
A robust economic impact study will not only look at the direct jobs created by your project, but also the indirect and induced impacts of the project - which is highly dependent on the county effects.
Here are some of the questions that you should get answers for in a thorough study:
Yellow Wood Solar and Other Project Updates
Josh Hrera recently went before Clinton County commissioners to discuss Invenergy’s proposed Yellow Wood Solar development.
Cited in the article are a few numbers I prepared for Invenergy in their Economic Impact study, including 800 construction jobs expected and $4.5 million annually in tax revenue for the county.
Here are some other SER projects that have been featured in the news recently:
MISO Projects the Future of Renewables
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s planning committee recently released projections for energy expansion and retirements.
MISO expects its generation portfolio to include major increases in solar, wind, and combined-cycle natural gas plant additions.
Here are the highlights from the projections:
Solar generation to increase between 13.8 GW and 17.4 GW by 2025
Wind generation to increase between 9.2 GW and 27.3 GW by 2025
Combined-cycle natural gas plant additions between 11.3 GW and 17.3 GW by 2025
26.5 GW and 33.5 GW of coal-fired generation retired by 2025
Anywhere from 0-2 GW of battery storage before 2025
Path to 100 Act Economic Impact Report
A new piece of legislation in Illinois will result in 53,298 construction jobs and over $8 billion in increased economic output by 2033, according to an economic impact report published by Strategic Economic Research, LLC and Power Up Illinois.
How Transmission is Poised to Remove Bottlenecks in Wind and Solar Projects
While wind and solar have exploded in the past ten years, interregional transmission has not (to say the least).
Consider this: there is 7x more energy produced now from wind and solar developments than there was in 2009.
Yet Jon Wellinghoff, the former FERC chairman, says that "we have not seen any significant interregional transmission projects since I was chairman of the FERC in 2009."
What do Big Tech's Increasing Investments in Renewables Mean for the Market?
Last month, Facebook announced another 806 MW investment in solar and wind power in their aim to be 100% powered by renewables.
And they aren't alone in this aim - they will join Microsoft, Apple, and Google.
What does this mean for the future? As these large purchasers hit 100% renewables, will the market dry up?
Quite the opposite.
June’s great unemployment numbers (well, great relative to expectation) signal good things for the renewable energy sector.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 11.1% unemployment for June, less than expected given May's 13.3% unemployment rate.
In addition, where the BLS had a misclassification error in May where “overall unemployment rate would have been about 3 percentage points higher than reported” had the error not occurred, in June, the degree of misclassification declined to about 1 percentage point higher on the upper bound.
That would make June’s unemployment rate between 2 and 4 percent better than May.
So what does this mean for the renewable energy sector?
Stressing Job Creation in COVID’s Wake
While funding renewable energy projects is sure to be more challenging in the coming months, it isn’t all downside for renewable energy developers. That’s because local and state governments will be more eager than ever to approve projects that create jobs.
As national unemployment surpasses 14%, developers should highlight the job creation that wind and solar projects can provide to local communities. In general, a wind project will produce 200-600 construction jobs for a 200MW project, while a solar project will produce 300-1,000 construction jobs (also for 200MW).
Another perk for permitters? The tax revenues a renewable energy project will provide. With a tanking economy, tax revenues are drying up, which has left local governments scrambling for new opportunities to balance the budget.
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