[BETA] Fortnightly

James Rogers grabs CEO position at Duke-Progress; FirstEnergy promotes executives; JEA names Belechak CEO; ConEdison Solutions hires sales execs; Atlantic Power names new CFO; plus executive changes at Copano Energy, DTE, Entergy, and others.

Some of the key policy mechanisms and market factors that triggered the boom in renewable energy development have weakened in the face of one of the most severe economic downturns in modern history. In some ways, though, the renewables sector is richer and more dynamic today than when the boom began. A shakeout might be coming among renewable power players, and those that survive will strengthen their capabilities, hone their strategies, and take advantage of industry consolidation to build scale.

When Pacific Gas & Electric broke the news six weeks ago that it had signed a deal with Solaren Corp. to buy 200 MW of solar energy from satellites launched into geosynchronous orbit, the idea seemed almost laughable. Solaren’s plan is to catch unobstructed sunlight falling on arrays of photovoltaic solar panels deployed in the crystalline void of outer space, and then to convert the generated electricity into radio-frequency energy for transmission to Solaren’s ground-based receiving station outside Fresno. Welcome to the new renewable reality.

Utilities are turning to natural gas as a bridge fuel, and to support non-dispatchable renewables.

The province’s renewable program was vastly oversubscribed. But was it successful?