Clean Energy Deal Tracker: Utilities want in on growing demand for renewables

After a significant uptick in corporate renewable energy deals in 2018, the pace of new transactions slowed during the first quarter of 2019. The total capacity of corporate contracts disclosed in the first three months of the year amounted to about 756 gigawatts, about a third of the amount that were announced in Q4 of 2018 based on research by GreenBiz with support from the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance. Although the rate of corporate renewables procurements cooled during the quarter, the announced deals show that the strong appetite for renewables among corporate energy buyers may be inspiring the creation of more options for corporates beyond the power purchase agreements (PPAs) that have made headlines over the past several years. The first three months of 2019 brought a substantial increase in utilities supporting corporate clean energy buyers. In contrast, 2018 was marked by the explosion of PPAs and innovative financing structures signed by corporate customers. It seems utilities have taken note of the corporate demand, and want to be a bigger part of the action.