QUICK NEWS, October 27: NEW ENERGY 60% OF U.S POWER GROWTH IN 2015; RECORD-BREAKING 37% OF TEXAS POWER FROM WIND; THE FINANCIAL STATE OF SOLAR

NEW ENERGY 60% OF U.S POWER GROWTH IN 2015 60% Of New U.S. Generating Capacity In First Three-Quarters 2015 Is From Renewables; Wind Is Largest Source Of New Capacity, Beating Out Natural Gas

Ken Bossong, October 27, 2015 (Sun Day Campaign)

“…[R]enewable sources (i.e., biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind) accounted for…[60.20%] of the 7,276 MW of new electrical generation placed in service in the United States during the first nine months of 2015…[according to the September Energy Infrastructure Update from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission…[W]ind accounted for 2,966 megawatts (MW) of new generating capacity…[and 40.76%] of all new capacity year-to-date…[S]olar followed with 1,137 MW…[N]atural gas contributed 2,884 MW…FERC reported no new capacity for the year-to-date from nuclear power and just 9 MW from six units of oil and 3 MW from one unit of coal. Thus, new capacity from renewable energy sources during the first three-quarters of 2015 is 1,460 times greater than that from coal while new capacity from wind alone exceeds that from natural gas…Renewable energy sources now account for 17.40% of total installed operating generating capacity in the U.S…Renewable electrical capacity is now greater than that of nuclear (9.19%) and oil (3.87%) combined…” click here for more

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RECORD-BREAKING 37% OF TEXAS POWER FROM WIND Texas hits new wind power milestone…

Jordan Blum, October 22, 2015 (Fuel Fix)

“The Texas electric grid hit a new record for wind power use [October 22 when]…the main Texas grid operator reported that nearly 37 percent of demand was met with wind power. The Electricity Reliability Council of Texas, which manages nearly 90 percent of the state’s electric needs, said it used 12,237.6 megawatts of wind power at the time. That bested a previous record set on Sept. 13 of 11,467 megawatts…The new record came the same day as the American Wind Energy Association reported Texas accounted for nearly half of the nation’s wind power growth in the third quarter of the year…Texas now has about 16,400 megawatts of wind power…which is about 10,000 megawatts more than the second and third windiest states, California and Iowa…Texas is expected to exceed 20,000 megawatts next year. Further growth after 2016 may depend on whether Congress extends the production tax credit for wind projects…” click here for more

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THE FINANCIAL STATE OF SOLAR What to Look For When Solar Energy's Big 3 Report; SolarCity, SunPower, and First Solar all report earnings this week. Here's what you need to watch for.

Travis Hoium, October 26, 2015 (Motley Fool)

“…[SolarCity, First Solar, and SunPower, three] of the biggest and most important companies in the solar industry report earnings later this week and what they say will give us an indication of where the industry is heading…[T]he key for SolarCity to remain competitive when the investment tax credit drops in 2017 is to keep cost reductions coming…[and] slow growth spending…so a slower rate of planned growth in the future would be a prudent plan given the current uncertainty in the future of residential solar…First Solar's incredible efficiency improvement and strengthening financials [need to continue and it needs to continue to report a] 21% to 22% gross margin and $3.30 to $3.60 per share in earnings… so any improvements on those levels would be welcome for investors...[SunPower needs to take back its module efficiency lead and continue showing] solid margins on the products it is installing and improving margins in commercial solar…” click here for more

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