SolarCity (SCTY)

[jhm]

How/will electricity retailing be disrupted?

Nice comparison.

 

[doggusfluffy]

Starting to see some more political fallout from the Petrobas mess...26 Billion in debt and low oil revenue is the new normal.

Brazil sees some of the largest antigovernment demonstrations in its history

"If Car Wash continues and goes all the way, the political caste will fall," she wrote, referring to "Operation Car Wash," the name given to the corruption investigation into bribes and kickbacks at Brazil’s partly state-owned oil giant, Petrobras.

 

[Jack6591]

Sandoval aide: Nevada’s clean energy reputation is damaged | NevadaAppeal.com

It sounds like political pressure is starting to set a new agenda in Nevada. Perhaps the meeting with Musk at the Gigafactory may be bearing some fruit as well. Governor's staff is starting to frame this as an economic imperative. Yes, it is.

Energy task force taking up solar, other hot-button issues

Another article on the "Task Force".

 

[jhm]

Starting to see some more political fallout from the Petrobas mess...26 Billion in debt and low oil revenue is the new normal.

Brazil sees some of the largest antigovernment demonstrations in its history

Interesting. 11 quarters of declining GDP. I guess the oil collapse could expose alot of political corruption and lead to regime changes.

Perhaps this would go better under the shorting oil thread, but it's good to see how these things are connected. Thanks.

 

[TheTalkingMule]

Everybody is experiencing these early stages of the Information Age differently. In the US it's facilitated deeper corruption via disinformation, Brazil has it even worse, the Middle East is flipping between full on revolution and whip-saw repression.....some European nations are leveraging it to the advantage of the people. We'll all eventually end up more enlightened and it's positive effects should grow exponentially.

 

[doggusfluffy]

Interesting. 11 quarters of declining GDP. I guess the oil collapse could expose alot of political corruption and lead to regime changes.

Perhaps this would go better under the shorting oil thread, but it's good to see how these things are connected. Thanks.

I thought about the short oil thread but decided it fit how I've been thinking about SolarCity lately. Political squabbles, utilities, NEM or macro market conditions have seemingly been moving the stock more than anything SolarCity has done either way. The Riverbend factory is coming online and Powerwalls are coming soon too in quantity so it's mostly watching these external forces effecting the stock lately. Happy to move it as well if anyone cares enough to do the paperwork.

 

[jhm]

I thought about the short oil thread but decided it fit how I've been thinking about SolarCity lately. Political squabbles, utilities, NEM or macro market conditions have seemingly been moving the stock more than anything SolarCity has done either way. The Riverbend factory is coming online and Powerwalls are coming soon too in quantity so it's mostly watching these external forces effecting the stock lately. Happy to move it as well if anyone cares enough to do the paperwork.

No need to move it. I see your connection here. It is indeed frustrating to see SolarCity defined by the political struggle that surrounds it. We need to need to work through that.

 

[jhm]

Everybody is experiencing these early stages of the Information Age differently. In the US it's facilitated deeper corruption via disinformation, Brazil has it even worse, the Middle East is flipping between full on revolution and whip-saw repression.....some European nations are leveraging it to the advantage of the people. We'll all eventually end up more enlightened and it's positive effects should grow exponentially.

Right. We are struggling to move from the Age of Oil to the Information Age. The later derives wealth and power from controlling extractive resources and the means of distribution of extractive resources.

Consider the music industry. It used to be about scouting talent. Locking that talent up in contracts, producing and distributing its recording. So music was an extracted resource embodied in physical media, a record, a royalty, a tee-shirt. But the Information Age totally upended that whole extracted resource business model. Artists no longer need to be mined and produced. Music is no longer controlled and distributed by physical media. So the music industry shows this this sort of transition. In the end music creators and their listeners are in much closer relation with much few economic opportunities for business to mediate the relationship.

 

[Ukland Wombat]

I've stayed with SolarCity while the price went down (no options, just common stock).
I wanted to buy more in the recent lows, but held back.

What worries me somewhat is the CFO story. Brad Buss leaving so soon, then Tanguy taking the job.

Tanguy may have been a totally wonderful and competent COO, but when I have heard him speak on conference calls, my mind conjures up the image of a character who might not be best suited to the roll of CFO.

Any thoughts on the CFO position in general?

 

[SBenson]

I've stayed with SolarCity while the price went down (no options, just common stock).
I wanted to buy more in the recent lows, but held back.

What worries me somewhat is the CFO story. Brad Buss leaving so soon, then Tanguy taking the job.

Tanguy may have been a totally wonderful and competent COO, but when I have heard him speak on conference calls, my mind conjures up the image of a character who might not be best suited to the roll of CFO.

Any thoughts on the CFO position in general?

My sympathies to anyone taking that position. Particularly Tanguy because apparently he doesn't even get a pay hike for the dual role. What a pity.

 

[doggusfluffy]

Rooftop Solar Booms in Japan as Market Moves Beyond Rich Nations

Because of the change, Japan may not remain the No. 2 solar market behind China beyond next year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance forecasts. Developing nations such as China, Brazil, Egypt and India will pick up the slack as photovoltaics move beyond a toy of rich industrial nations into a competitive power source for places where it’s costly to import fossil fuels.

 

[TheTalkingMule]

I've stayed with SolarCity while the price went down (no options, just common stock).
I wanted to buy more in the recent lows, but held back.

What worries me somewhat is the CFO story. Brad Buss leaving so soon, then Tanguy taking the job.

Tanguy may have been a totally wonderful and competent COO, but when I have heard him speak on conference calls, my mind conjures up the image of a character who might not be best suited to the roll of CFO.

Any thoughts on the CFO position in general?

I'm not as concerned about the CFO role as I am the role of managing institutional capital sourcing. Now that Radford Small has been bumped up to that role as EVP Global Capital Markets, I'm all good. CFO needs to be someone who can articulate on the quarterly calls and see the short attacks coming, that's it.

 

[Ukland Wombat]

I'm not as concerned about the CFO role as I am the role of managing institutional capital sourcing. Now that Radford Small has been bumped up to that role as EVP Global Capital Markets, I'm all good. CFO needs to be someone who can articulate on the quarterly calls and see the short attacks coming, that's it.

I am a little reassured by what you say about Radford Small. But I have little to go on, other than a few good things happening with his name on them.

BTW, I share your concerns expressed a long way upthread about the public 'voice' of the company.

SolarCity needs a spokesperson who can deliver two or three hard punches all in one 30 second soundbite...that's the art of a politician, though, and not just an ordinary politician, but a really really artful one.

 

[TheTalkingMule]

SCTY down 10% today solely on a potential SUNE bankruptcy? I guess that makes sense.....a little sense.

 

[drinkerofkoolaid]

It's disgusting how those reporting about SpaceX and SolarCity don't seem to understand how bonds work.

 

[TheTalkingMule]

It's disgusting how those reporting about SpaceX and SolarCity don't seem to understand how bonds work.

They know exactly how bonds work, they just know how to manipulate stock valuations works too.

 

[doggusfluffy]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-exelon-pepco-approved-20160323-story.

Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh "remains fundamentally opposed to the merger, because he believes it does not benefit consumers and it stifles efficiency, innovation and the adoption of alternative energy sources," spokesman David Nitkin said in an email.

D.C. regulators green-light Pepco-Exelon merger, creating largest utility in the nation

And it is widely expected that those customers will see higher electric rates — possibly as soon as this summer — as has happened in Baltimore and other cities after Exelon acquired energy distributors. Pepco has not sought annual rate increases since 2014, when Exelon first proposed its takeover of Pepco, despite having made capital improvements.

 

[doggusfluffy]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/24/b...-an-industry.html?ref=energy-environment&_r=0

Energy Department officials acknowledge as much, saying that the United States must significantly upgrade its transmission and distribution system to meet both the needs of the information economy and clean energy goals, an effort that would require an estimated $900 billion in investment by 2030.

But some energy officials and executives say there is a more dynamic and resilient alternative to these sprawling networks. Instead, they are promoting the development of less centralized systems that link smaller power installations, including rooftop solar, storage and electric vehicles, an approach known as distributed generation.

 

[JeffnReno]

The drop in price of SCTY made me buy more shares. If it keeps dropping I may just feel compelled to buy alot more...as long as they are still a viable company I can't see a down side.

 

[doggusfluffy]

It's hard to imagine how SolarCity + Tesla Energy wouldn't remain a viable company with the vast amount of work that needs to be done globally... for the foreseeable future at least.

Venezuela Rations Electricity Amid Energy Crisis

Venezuela shut down for a week as its government struggles with a deepening electricity crisis. President Nicolas Maduro gave everyone an additional three days off work this week, extending the two-day Easter holiday. The ruling socialists have blamed the shortage on the El Nino weather phenomenon and “sabotage” by their political foes, while critics cite a lack of maintenance and poor planning.