Events

There was a time when solar energy was only accessible to those with cash on hand to buy a system outright. Then financing for solar became common place and middle income people with decent credit scores could go solar without paying up front. Now, there is finally a focus on making solar accessible for low-income residents as well. San Antonio’s electric utility – CPS – has launched an innovative new program called Solar Host that allows customers to benefit from solar without making any investment.

At the same time, CPS has rolled out its first community solar program. The program – called Roofless Solar – is ideal for customers who want go solar, but don’t have a suitable roof or other space on their own property. With community solar, a shaded roof or a roof in need of repair is no longer a barrier to going solar.

WHEN: Tuesday, March 28 (5:30 – 8:00 p.m.)

WHERE: Scholz Garten, 1607 San Jacinto Blvd, Austin

RSVP: Please RSVP and make a donation, if you wish to support our work.

SPEAKERS: CPS is working with a private developer to implement the Solar Host program, so both Rick Luna from CPS and Tuan Pham from PowerFin Partners will speak at our happy hour.

Rick Luna is Sr. Manager, Product Development for CPS Energy. Rick oversees a program portfolio that includes a variety of solar, demand response and energy efficiency offerings for residential and commercial customers. Rick’s team is instrumental in achieving the Save for Tomorrow Energy Plan (STEP) goal of reducing demand by 771 MW by 2020. Rick’s work has included account management, rate design and economic development. He holds a B.A. in economics from Columbia University.

Tuan Pham is the head of PowerFin, a solar development, financing, and operating company, with offices in Austin and San Antonio. Throughout his career, Tuan has focused on areas where energy and finance converge. Prior to his role in business development at HelioVolt, a thin-film solar company, Tuan covered energy and chemical companies at Morgan Stanley and Banc of America Securities in New York. Tuan’s experience also includes time at the Austin Clean Energy Incubator and Strategic Value Partners, a $5 billion hedge fund, where he served as a Director overseeing energy and industrial investments. Tuan also served on the Austin Local Solar Advisory Committee, a City Council-appointed committee to devise a plan for citywide solar development.

In honor of this year’s election season, and given that the election falls 10 short days later, we have chosen to focus on the body politic with a party based panel on:

TEXAS ENERGY POLICY

October 25, 5:30 – 8:00 pm
Scholz Garten
1607 San Jacinto St.
Please RSVP.

Some knowledgeable and good-natured persons have agreed to take up the mantel of their political party, wear a partisan hat in public & discuss energy policy – remarkable and appreciated.

When Solar Austin talks energy, we typically mean the optimally distant nuclear fires of the Sun and a quiet panel on your roof. But when in TX one should be ready to talk knowledgeably about oil and gas, its regulatory body – the Texas Rail Road Commission, as well as the many renewable options with which Texas is blessed. All these energy sources will be important to TX for decades to come and become more interesting and intertwined as transportation becomes more electrified and the means and the materials of these systems become more highly engineered and dependent on our chemical, manufacturing and design prowess. The speakers we have lined up are capable of covering much of this ground.

Democratic Party – Lon Burnam is an experienced 9 term (1997-2015) TX Representative from District 90 in Ft. Worth and we are honored to have him join us. He was considered the top candidate in his primary run for the TX Railroad Commission this year. Despite endorsements from many national organizations and several of Texas’ major newspapers he was defeated in the Democratic primary to the surprise of many Texas Observers but has many earned insights to share.

Green Party – kat gruene, is a current candidate for TX Representative District 51 but is joining us principally to share a decade of experience as a Co-chair and at-large State Executive Committee member of the Green Party of Texas. She has dedicated herself to expanding access to the Texas electoral process for the past fifteen years.

Libertarian Party – Dr. Mark Miller is joining us in his capacity as Vice-Chair of the Libertarian Party of Texas. He is steeped in TX energy matters as he has indeed written the book on the Texas RailRoad Commission (see the book cover below), had a varied career in the oil and gas industry, and been a petroleum engineering faculty member at UT. He is also a 2016 candidate for Texas Railroad Commissioner, the top statewide office in contention this year, and leads in endorsements from the state’s major newspaper editorial boards, including the Houston Chronicle and Dallas Morning News.

Republican Party – ?? (we are still working on it…..we will accept suggestions) – The Republican party has dominated state wide offices for over 20 years so we may simply credit the party with the status quo and let that stand as everyone’s favorite straw man for good or ill – to the degree that policy has been responsible.

The intent is to focus on state policy, but as an introduction to our topic and acknowledgement of federal policy’s importance to Texas, we recommend a short reading assignment; an editorial by UT Austin’s Dr. Michael Webber in the Houston Chronicle from Oct.1st:  “Webber: Where the candidates stand on U.S. energy policy matters a great deal to Texas.”

With questions, good humor and magnanimous nature at hand, we look forward to you joining us.