Art Baker

𝘼𝙧𝙞𝙯𝙤𝙣𝙖 𝙐𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙅𝙤𝙞𝙣 𝙍𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙀𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙮 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙩, 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘾𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙂𝙧𝙞𝙙 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 Four major Arizona utility companies—Arizona Public Service - APS, Salt River Project, Tucson Electric Power, and Unisource Energy Services Inc are set to join the 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒔+ 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕, expected to launch in 2027. This initiative aims to enhance grid reliability across the Western U.S., optimize energy resources, and lower costs for customers. Markets+ will operate as both a real-time and day-ahead market, matching cost-effective energy resources with demand, facilitating the integration of clean energy, and enabling utilities to trade electricity efficiently across states. This system supports collaboration during extreme weather, where regions with excess resources can assist others experiencing high demand. Arizona Corporation Commission's Nick Myers highlighted the market's balanced governance structure, fair resource adequacy calculations, and greenhouse gas policy cost management provisions as key benefits. This step reinforces the role of regional markets in shaping a resilient and sustainable energy future. #EnergyInnovation #GridResilience #ArizonaUtilities #CleanEnergy https://lnkd.in/gsmEa5tB

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State Treasurer Fiona Ma announced a $30 million partnership with the California Energy Commission (CEC) to expand GoGreen Financing, a program for home energy efficiency upgrades. The funds will support heat pumps, solar panels, battery storage, EV chargers, and more for over 7 million customers of publicly owned utilities. GoGreen Financing helps Californians upgrade to clean energy by offering lower loan rates and longer payback terms. It mitigates lender risks, making it easier for more people to access energy-efficient technologies. As loans are repaid, the funds are recycled for future projects. "This partnership helps bring affordable clean energy upgrades to millions of homes, advancing California’s goal of 100% clean electricity by 2045," said Treasurer Ma. With the support of programs like the CEC’s Equitable Building Decarbonization initiative, California continues to lead in reducing carbon emissions and promoting energy equity across communities. #cleanenergy #gogreenfinancing #california #sustainability #homeupgrades #solarpower #evchargers #energyefficiency #solarpowered #solarinstallation #rooftopsolar #communitsolar

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Three CEOs are leading efforts to reduce California’s wildfires by innovating the power grid. Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s Patti Poppe, Edison International’s Pedro Pizarro, and Sunrun’s Mary Powell are tackling the challenges posed by aging infrastructure and climate change. Since joining PG&E in 2021, Poppe has focused on building a more resilient grid, investing in AI and EVs, and implementing preventive power shut-offs. Pizarro highlights Edison’s unique approach, using smart meters and insulated covers to protect their grid, especially in grassland areas. Meanwhile, Powell at Sunrun is driving a consumer-led revolution, promoting solar panels and energy storage solutions to create a more resilient and affordable energy future. As #wildfires and power demands grow, these leaders are reshaping California’s energy landscape, demonstrating that innovation and adaptation are key to addressing climate risks. Their efforts highlight the need for widespread investment in infrastructure to combat climate change. #california #energysecurity #energyindependence #solar #solarpowered #energyinnovation #wildfiresafety #californiapowergrid #cleanenergy #resilientinfrastructure

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👀 Great news for EV charging interconnection! “Utilities such as Entergy, Hawaiian Electric, Pacific Gas & Electric, and Southern California Edison are already using Grid Unity’s software to increase the speed and efficiency of connecting solar, wind, and battery systems to their grids.”

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Attention California businesses! Big changes might be in store for the state's community solar program. Here's what you need to know: 📄 The California Public Utilities Commission has issued a Proposed Decision (PD) that, if approved, will have drastic consequences. 🔌 Siding with utilities, the PD favors a community solar program based on existing wholesale-market distributed energy programs, despite clear evidence these programs don't work. ☀️ The PD rejects the proposed Net Value Billing Tariff that would've generated 8 GW of community solar paired with battery energy storage and provided benefits to hundreds of thousands of households. To learn more about the Proposed Decision, when it might be approved, and what California businesses should know about the future of community solar in the Golden State, read our blog post: https://lnkd.in/dyx4BiDV

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💰 $6M grant funding opportunity! 💰 The California Energy Commission's (CEC) Reliable, Equitable, and Accessible Charging for Multi-family Housing 2.0 (REACH 3.0) has been released, aiming to demonstrate replicable and scalable models for large-scale deployment of EV charging infrastructure for multi-family housing residents. 🏘️ https://lnkd.in/g9gP8jia 🚗 A minimum of 120 Level 2 charging ports is required (more recommended), with at least 50% in a low-income or disadvantaged community, for at-home or near-home charging locations.   💵 Maximum award: $6 million  🗓️ Deadline: Jan. 22, 2025 Our team at Climate Finance Solutions has won over $70 million in funding from CEC and would be thrilled to help support your proposal to the program. Contact us to get started! #ClimateGrants #EV #EnergyTransition #ClimateJustice

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As California phases out gas infrastructure, even utilities are recognizing the need for home electrification. Jeff St. John outlines these zonal electrification efforts in a recent piece for Canary Media Inc. Since the article was published, Governor Newsom signed SB 1221 into law, laying the groundwork for 30 neighborhood electrification pilot projects. But utilities want homeowners to electrify and continue to source their electricity from the grid, leaving them vulnerable to rising and increasingly volatile electricity prices. At Balto, we know there is a better way. Homeowners can save significantly by embracing electrification through solar-first solutions—a strategy utilities continue to resist. As the grid accelerates its shift toward electrification, staying ahead with Solar-Led Electrification is the smartest path to energy independence and long-term savings. Contact us to learn more about SLED, and how you can electrify and save.

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I am excited to announce the launch of California Community Power's 2024 RFP. We are seeking proposals from wind, geothermal, small hydro, solar + storage, and long duration storage projects. This RFP is the first foray for CCAs into utility-scale ownership of energy assets via a build-transfer mechanism, with a focus on solar + storage or long duration standalone storage. CCP intends to enter into a build-transfer agreement, finance asset purchase via bond issuance, and pursue the direct pay provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act for realization of the ITCs/PTCs from the project(s). Note, projects must be able to meet domestic content requirements to be eligible. We are also interested in exploring diverse long duration storage technologies' continued maturation and cost reductions, and encourage dispatchable tolling agreement bids for pumped hydro, flow batteries, gravity, compressed air, thermal, hydrogen and other storage technologies. Our members are interested in the availability of large scale wind projects, including from out-of-state, delivered to CAISO, and of geothermal projects, which can meet their RPS and RA procurement targets. CCP is uniquely positioned to support our members' procurement of these technologies with our ability to aggregate members' demand to achieve larger scale procurement and to take a long-view that can accommodate later-dated projects. For QC15+ projects that have not yet received interconnection studies, we are proposing to allow either for bids for a binding contract with a termination clause for excess network upgrade costs / extended timing (subject to CCP buydown/extension rights) or for projects to provide RFI-like information to inform the potential execution of exclusivity agreements and other commercial arrangements relating to our members' allocation of commercial interest points for the interconnection process. Please review our RFP instructions on the TEA Marketplace (https://lnkd.in/gC6dfrDZ) for more information and on how to bid into the RFP / RFI. Bids are due on September 20, 2024.

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Read the article at CalMatters, “California hits milestones toward 100% clean energy — but has a long way to go,” by Alejandro Lazo—August 19, 2024. “California has given America a glimpse at what running one of the world’s largest economies on renewable energy might look like. The state recently hit a milestone: 100 days this year with 100% carbon-free, renewable electricity for at least a part of each day, as tracked by Stanford University engineering Professor Mark Z. Jacobson… ‘California has made unprecedented investments in our power grid in recent years — and we’re seeing them pay off in real time,’ Gov. Gavin Newsom said… California, under state law, must run on 60% renewable energy by 2030, ramping up to 100% by 2045. Signs of progress are emerging… California may need to more than double its energy generation capacity by 2045 to meet the 100% clean energy target while adding electric cars, appliances and other technologies, said Siva Gunda, who sits on the California Energy Commission… State officials and private investors aim to create an entirely new industry — giant floating ocean wind platforms — to produce 13% of California’s power, enough to power 25 million homes, by 2045…” Read the full story below and at this link. https://lnkd.in/dmnVkK7N #offshorewind #floatingwind #cleanenergy #renewables #climate #offshorewindca #pacificoffshorewindsummit

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Real Estate Forecast Next 5 Years California Contact me to discuss the latest scoop in real estate! #realestate #realtor #dreamhomes #homebuyers #realestateagent #homesofinstagram #properties #homesearch #realestateinvesting #housingmarket

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NEWS: UC Davis Health Breaks Ground on California Tower -- UC Davis Health broke ground in July of 2024 on the $3.75 billion California Tower in Sacramento. Designed by SmithGroup, the 907,000-sf complex will add a 14-story structure and a five-story pavilion to the existing medical center. The transformative development will provide 12 hybrid operating rooms, a state-of-the-art imaging center, and two helicopter landing decks. Ensuring comprehensive healthcare delivery in the region for the next 50 years, the resilient facility will supply 334 private inpatient rooms. In the event of a public health emergency, over 250 of these rooms can be easily converted to support intensive care functions, with accompanying air isolation. McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is constructing the sustainable complex using a progressive design-build methodology, with Cambridge CM acting as project, cost, and construction manager. Targeting LEED Gold certification, the California Tower will utilize advanced systems to improve indoor air quality, reduce emissions, and promote water conservation and reuse. A high-performance façade with unitized curtainwall panels, metal fins, and structural glazing will ensure patient privacy and comfort while generating significant energy savings. Completion is expected in 2030. https://lnkd.in/eZCi7_7W #EmergencyResponse #EnergyUseReduction #Sustainability #AcademicMedical #Healthcare #HealthcareEmergency #HealthcareHospital #HealthcareImaging #HealthcareInpatientAcuteCare #HealthcareIntensiveCareUnit #HealthcareSurgery

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Conventional wisdom is that the biggest deal in the IRA for the trucking industry is the 45W clean commercial vehicle tax. This latest project from Forum Mobility, which is really exciting, has me thinking maybe the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund is just as important. While subsidies can help activate a market, it is private capital that sustains it. The GGRF approach of mobilizing and derisking private capital is helping the market reach that next stage. There has long been a concern that the combination of high capex of EVs and the inability of small fleets to finance those expensive vehicles renders the opex savings of electric trucks inaccessible to all but the large fleets. Large fleets that control their own real estate also may be able to access electricity at better prices (especially in high-cost markets like California) through rooftop solar PPAs and smart charging. That combination of factors makes the transition to electric trucks very difficult for small businesses. Truck-as-a-Service companies have been seeking to overcome those dynamics but, as risky startups themselves, their cost of capital isn't cheap either. If the transition to electric trucks uses public capital and results in consolidation and risk to small businesses, it will not survive. Rolling out cost-effective financing and charging is key to keeping the playing field level and maintaining the will to continue. Using public-private capital to procure 500 electric trucks plus chargers for small fleets under pressure from ACF helps to untie that knot - and it is an existential knot for many small businesses. Moving large sums of patient, risk-tolerant government capital into this market at preferential interest rates completely changes the risk and return profile of the private capital that is likely coinvesting into this effort. I wasn't very good at my banking job in my 20s but if I learned one thing it's that modifying the risk/return relationship to suit the needs of capital can be transformational in inducing investment. The market structure of drayage isn't so different from the market structure of trucking as a whole - with a few big fleets and many, many small and medium fleets competing with each other. Drayage, truck leasing and hub-based charging is a good place to start, but it can't be where things end. We need to apply these types of solutions to an array of duty cycles, charging approaches and vehicle ownership arrangement. But I believe that the concept applied here is transferable and what the market needs. Thanks to folks like Lori Collins and Ashley Allen Jones and many others for the hard work they put in to make these types of projects possible. https://lnkd.in/g2v9FpjU

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