WSGS


“No more Solyndras!” may make the headlines but money is continuing to be deployed in the green energy sector each year. It is a global phenomenon. According to an analytical service, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the first trillion dollars was invested at the end of 2011 and the next trillion will be invested in five years. This is occurring because renewable energy technologies and clean energy are beginning to scale globally, due to cost reductions and wider deployments. Added to this reality is the phenomena of impact investing as younger people with money are more engaged in clean energy solutions. This factor is significant, with 52% of the world’s population being under 30 and generational wealth being transferred to the young.

Another factor in this rising green financial milieu is the nascent impact of crowd funding. Solar Mosaic, a photovoltaic solar play in New York and California, was able to raise $1.1 million in one day for several projects in multifamily housing. The projects are expected to generate 4.5% returns for many years. More capital will be flowing into US clean energy as community solar takes off and smaller investors, who are not accredited at $ 1million in net worth, begin deploying their capital in this sector. It is the law of large numbers and it is opening a flood gate
in innovative financing. The SEC has yet to write the rules of the game in this emerging arena catalyzed by the Jobs Act. Keep reading →


If you were interested, you could probably go to a conference discussing some aspect of the energy business every single day of the year. From huge halls to intimate boardrooms, the complexity and scale of the energy business makes meeting with competitors, partners and stakeholders compulsory.

While events continue throughout the year, there are two “rush” seasons when energy executives spend as much time in the air as on the ground. Starting in late January, financiers and policy experts seeking to firm up budget and regulatory priorities for the year ahead begin gathering in warm-weather destinations to discuss terms and seal deals. Keep reading →


As some of the most tempting government financial incentives begin to fade from the renewable energy space ahead of deadlines at the end of 2012, bankers and project developers specializing in renewable energy projects are reworking their models.

The 1603 program that gave cash grants in lieu of tax credits and the production tax credit that underpinned the wind industry are both on the sidelines as financiers review upcoming projects still in the pipeline. The pipeline of proposed projects is flush, but shifting priorities, transmission limitations and near-invisible overall power demand growth are weighing on a sector already struggling to compete with low natural gas prices. Keep reading →


A new midstream service complex in Ohio is the subject of a recent deal that underpins a wider resurgence activity in the industrial sector driven by shale gas discoveries across the country, but particularly in the states underlying the Utica and Marcellus Shales.

An unexpected but common theme at the Wall Street Green Summit going on this week in New York is how unconventional natural gas development is strengthening the US manufacturing sector. Keep reading →

Unexpected focus on central role of manufacturing in driving recovery, green investing at #wsgs #energy petergardett

General view of the Samsung stand at the Mobile World Congress taken on February 27, 2012 in Barcelona.

A merging of major cultural and business trends is driving change in energy consumption patterns and in product design at major international manufacturers, with energy efficiency, consumer concerns about environmental impacts and shifting investor perceptions of corporate transparency all playing a role. Keep reading →

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on February 17, 2012 in New York City. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 46 points to close at its highest level since May 2008.

Growing awareness of the ways data, technology and the power of investors can transform industries has lent new purpose to the Wall Street green movement and broadened the sector’s appeal to areas the original environmental investors might never have recognized. Keep reading →