Teslarati: Tesla Gigafactory Will Host ‘Investor Event’ on Jan. 4, Same Week as CES 2017

As big names in consumer electronics and automakers gear up to debut their self-driving technology at next week’s CES 2017 from Las Vegas, Tesla is preparing for an event of its own just a few hundred miles away at the Gigafactory battery plant in Sparks, Nevada.

Tesla will be holding an invite-only “investor event” on January 4 at the Gigafactory where CEO Elon Musk and CTO JB Straubel will be on site and made available to analysts attending the exclusive event. “Everyone is converging in Nevada for CES, which starts the next day. There have been tons of requests for Gigafactory tours.” said Dougherty & Co. analyst Charlie Anderson who plans on attending the investor event, according to Bloomberg. The event is seen as a strategic move by Tesla that’s aimed at putting the company in good graces with analysts and investors, ahead of plans to spend heavily and reach a production level of 500,000 vehicles annually by 2018. 

New York Times: Weak Federal Powers Could Limit Trump’s Climate-Policy Rollback

With Donald J. Trump about to take control of the White House, it would seem a dark time for the renewable energy industry. After all, Mr. Trump has mocked the science of global warming as a Chinese hoax, threatened to kill a global deal on climate change, and promised to restore the coal industry to its former glory.

So consider what happened in the middle of December, after investors had had a month to absorb the implications of Mr. Trump’s victory. The federal government opened bidding on a tract of the ocean floor off New York state as a potential site for a huge wind farm.

Up, up and away soared the offers -- interest from the bidders was so fevered that the auction went through 33 rounds and spilled over to a second day. In the end, the winning bidder offered the federal Treasury $42 million, more than twice what the government got in August for oil leases -- oil leases -- in the Gulf of Mexico.

Who won the bid? None other than Statoil, the Norwegian oil company, which is in the midst of a major campaign to turn itself into a big player in renewable energy.

The Hill: Why Tillerson and Perry May Fuel the Uranium, Nuclear Sectors (opinion)

In a world anxious about notable political shakeups, but hopeful about new paths for public policies both here at home and abroad, the U.S. nuclear sector may be re-energized under President-elect Trump through his nomination of Rex Tillerson (CEO of Exxon-Mobil) for secretary of State, and Rick Perry (former governor of Texas) as Energy secretary.

We all know that two major platforms of Trump’s campaign were U.S. energy independence and jobs. It follows that Trump and his team can greatly promote both of these interests through nuclear energy and uranium mining.

Utility Dive: Hawaii Electric Aims to Hit 100% Renewables 5 Years Early With New Power Supply Plan

Hawaiian Electric Co. has filed its latest Power Supply Improvement Plan (PSIP) with the state's Public Utilities Commission, outlining how it intends to reach 100% renewables by 2040 -- five years ahead of the state's mandated goal.

The plan calls for HECO to provide 48% renewable power by 2020, without the use of imported liquefied natural gas. The PSIP aims for the addition of 360 MW of grid-scale solar, 157 MW of wind energy, and 115 MW from demand response programs by 2050.

The new PSIP is HECO's third attempt at a 100% renewable energy plan. Regulators rejected the first in 2015 for a lack of specificity, and the second version, filed in April 2016, was rendered moot when the PUC turned away NextEra Energy's bid to buy the utility.