700+ Solar Companies Ask For Stronger Solar Legislation From Congress
Solar power keeps getting cheaper and keeps growing year after year, now accounting for nearly half of new power capacity in the United States. But coal and fossil methane (also deceivingly called “natural gas”) power plants need to be retired more quickly than they have been. We need to cut emissions more quickly than we have been cutting them or else we’re going to face climate catastrophes beyond what we can imagine and human society as a whole will be hurt and tested like never before.
With that in mind, 700+ solar companies would like to see stronger action from Congress in support of solar power (and, naturally, solar companies would rather make more money, not less). They sent a joint letter to Congress asking for 6 specific things to provide a boost to the solar industry. The first thing on the list: extend the federal solar tax credit (Investment Tax Credit), which provides a 30% reduction in the cost of a solar project.
Second on the list is “Address financing challenges and shortfalls by adding direct pay provisions to the ITC and help the industry reach ambitious deployment targets.”
They also now want standalone energy storage projects — not just energy storage projects connected to solar power systems — to be eligible for the aforementioned 30% ITC.
Furthermore, they are asking for the federal government itself to invest in solar power projects, as well as transmission, interconnection, and grid resiliency projects.
Last — but not least — on the list: “Support training programs and equitable policies that continue to build a strong, diverse solar workforce.”
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) highlights, “The solar industry is now a $25 billion industry that employs over 231,000 Americans in quality, high-paying jobs across all 50 states. To meet President Biden’s 2035 clean energy goal, the size of the solar workforce must quadruple to more than 900,000 Americans.”
“The science is clear: we must rapidly decarbonize the electric grid to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change, and the solar Investment Tax Credit is the most effective policy we have to drive solar deployment in the United States,” said SEIA president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper. “The ITC is also a proven job creator, and after years of policy whiplash, it’s time that we give clean energy businesses the policy certainty they need to clean up our grid and create the millions of jobs necessary to build an equitable clean energy economy.”
Will the voice of 700+ companies, a $25 billion industry, be enough to push for these solar policy commitments from Congress? Will the industry at least see an extension of the 30% solar tax credit? It’s hard to say. The last extension was supposed to be … the last extension. But that’s not the first time it was supposed to be the last one. At the end of the day, the solar tax credit, and everything else on that list, serves a lot of bipartisan policy goals. That said, Congress is not always logical. It seldom is, in fact — even on issues that are very popular across the US.
If you’d like to ensure a solid tax credit for a rooftop solar project or even ground-mount solar project, you may want to play it safe and make the commitment soon. If you decide to do so, and you decide Tesla is the company you want to go with due to its low pricing and perhaps other factors, feel free to use my Tesla referral code — ts.la/zachary63404 — for $100 of (and a bit of a bonus for me).
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Tesla’s Q2 results are in, and they are way, way down from Q2 of 2024. At the same time, Nissan seems to be in serious trouble and the first-ever all-electric Dodge muscle car is getting recalled because its dumb engine noises are the wrong kind of dumb engine noises. All this and more on today’s deeply troubled episode of Quick Charge!
We’ve also got an awesome article from Micah Toll about a hitherto unexplored genre of electric lawn equipment, a $440 million mining equipment deal, and a list of incompetent, corrupt, and stupid politicians who voted away their constituents’ futures to line their pockets.
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OpenAI is distancing itself from Robinhood‘s latest crypto push after the trading platform began offering tokenized shares of OpenAI and SpaceX to users in Europe.
“These ‘OpenAI tokens’ are not OpenAI equity,” OpenAI wrote on X. “We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it.”
The company said that “any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval — we did not approve any transfer,” and warned users to “please be careful.”
Robinhood announced the launch Monday from Cannes, France, as part of a broader product showcase focused on tokenized equities, staking, and a new blockchain infrastructure play. The company’s stock surged above $100 to hit a new all-time high following the news.
“These tokens give retail investors indirect exposure to private markets, opening up access, and are enabled by Robinhood’s ownership stake in a special purpose vehicle,” a Robinhood spokesperson said in response to the OpenAI post.
Robinhood offered 5 euros worth of OpenAI and SpaceX tokens to eligible EU users who signed up to trade stock tokens by July 7. The assets are issued under the EU’s looser investor restrictions via Robinhood’s crypto platform.
“This is about expanding access,” said Johann Kerbrat, Robinhood’s SVP and GM of crypto. “The goal with tokenization is to let anyone participate in this economy.”
The episode highlights the dynamic between crypto platforms seeking to democratize access to financial products and the companies whose names and equity are being represented on-chain
U.S. users cannot access these tokens due to regulatory restrictions.
Despite the warnings, BYD continues introducing new discounts. On Wednesday, BYD’s luxury off-road brand began offering over 50% Huawei’s smart driving tech.
BYD introduces new discounts on smart driving tech
After BYD cut prices again in May, the China Automobile Manufacturers Association (CAMA) warned that the ultra-low prices are “triggering a new round of price war panic.”
Although they didn’t single out BYD, it was pretty obvious. BYD slashed prices across 22 of its vehicles by up to 34%, triggering several automakers to follow suit in China.
BYD’s cheapest EV, the Seagull, typically starts at about $10,000 (66,800 yuan). After the price cuts, the Seagull is listed at under $8,000 (55,800 yuan).
It doesn’t look like China’s EV leader plans to slow down anytime soon. Fang Cheng Bao, BYD’s luxury off-road brand, introduced new discounts on Huawei’s smart driving tech on Wednesday.
The limited-time offer cuts the price of Huawei’s Qiankun Intelligent Driving High-end Function Package to just 12,000 yuan ($1,700).
Buyers who order the smart driving tech in July will save over 50% compared to its typical price of 32,000 yuan ($4,500).
Earlier this year, Fang Chang Bao launched the Tai 3, its most affordable vehicle, starting at 139,800 yuan ($19,300). The Tai 3 is about the size of the Tesla Model Y, but costs about half as much.
The Tai 3 will spearhead a new sub-brand of electric SUVs following the more premium Bao 8 and Bao 5 hybrid SUVs.
BYD’s luxury off-road brand sold 18,903 vehicles last month, up 50% from May and 605% compared to last year. Fang Cheng Bao has now sold over 10,000 vehicles for three consecutive months.
The Chinese EV giant sold 382,585 vehicles in total in June, an increase of 12% from last year. In the first half of the year, BYD’s cumulative sales reached over 2.1 million, a YOY increase of 33%.
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