“’The [Sunnova] summit [last November] was really part of the swindle,’ said Chris Pélissié, chief executive at Senga Solar, which is owed more than $680,000 by Sunnova. ‘None of us dealers knew we were playing chess until it was just too late’…” (below)

Previous posts at MasterResource (below) have chronicled the government-enabled rooftop solar industry, which is now in distress. Bankrupt Sunnova Energy heads the list, with others either bankrupt or struggling.

• Sunnova Declares Bankruptcy June 10, 2025
• Sunnova EVP’s Exit: Self-adulation Within a Taxpayer Bubble June 4, 2025
• Sunnova Hype pre-Bankruptcy May 8, 2025
• Sunnova’s Net Zero for Stockholders (last ESG report of a ‘second-hander’ company) May 7, 2025
• John Berger: “Lifetime Achievement Award” for Sustainable Energy Future April 1, 2025
• Sunnova Going Solyndra? (Enron-ex John Berger owes taxpayers a bundle) February 12, 2025
• Sunnova’s Rooftop Solar: Selling a Bad Product Requires ….

Editor’s Note: This book review was published just short of 20 years ago in The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics [Vol. 8, No. 3 (FALL 2005): 93–95] by Pierre Desrochers of the University of Toronto.

“Austrian economists have so far contributed very little to energy studies…. This book could therefore go a long way in providing a new set of concrete economic examples and principles for use in classroom discussions.”

Despite its obvious economic and social importance, energy (broadly understood) is an understudied field. True, among academics, one can find several engineers and geologists, along with some economists, geographers, legal scholars, and political scientists, who devote much of their research efforts to devising and/or analyzing various energy-related technologies, supply sources, markets, and institutions.

By and large, however, very few individuals have tried to understand how all the various parts of the energy puzzle fit—or not—together, and much—if not most—of the public discussion of the issue is agenda-driven and ignorant of basic physical and economic principles.…

Ed Note: The solar industry is in “a fight for our lives,” in the words of the head of the Solar Energy Industries Association. (Fifteen extensions of the Investment Tax Credit are not enough.) But the narrative has long been that solar is “competitive,” or almost so. The news story posted below, from 1994, is part of this false narrative.

“Federal officials, aware that solar power breakthroughs have shined and faded almost as often as the sun, say the Enron project could introduce commercially competitive technology without expensive Government aid.” (- Allen Myerson, New York Times, November 15, 1994)

Thirty-one years ago, the ‘newspaper of record’ excitedly reported atop the business section that a breakthrough with solar energy had occurred with the business genius of the upstart energy company Enron.…

“It is ironic that Jason Grumet of the American Clean Power Association argues for continued taxpayer subsidies for wind power…. In 1986, a predecessor organization to ACPA, the American Wind Energy Association, testified, ‘The U.S. wind industry has … demonstrated reliability and performance levels that make them very competitive.’ False.” – Tom Pyle, IER (below)

Here they are–the crony capitalists who seek wealth from the political means (special government favor) rather than consumer demand in the market with taxpayers neutral.

The list comes from a recent letter from “clean” energy trade groups, led by Jason Grumet of the American Clean Power Association, to Senator John Thune and Representative Mike Crapo, urging them “to be thoughtful when phasing out clean energy tax credits.”

Advanced Energy United (AEU)
American Clean Power Association (ACP)
American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE)
American Public Power Association (APPA)
Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA)
Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA)
Edison Electric Institute (EEI)
Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA)
Fusion Industry Association (FIA)
Large Public Power Council (LPPC)
National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED)
National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)
National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA)
National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)
National Hydropower Association (NHA)
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)
Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI)
Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)

Of the above “dirty 18,” perhaps the worst is the Edison Electric Institute (EEI).…