Obama Saves Solar Stocks

Despite a complete blood bath in the market today, U.S. solar stocks are doing quite well …

Thanks to handful of new executive actions just published by the Obama administration. These actions include:

• Making $1 billion in additional loan guarantee authority available and announcing new guidelines for distributed energy projects utilizing innovative technology and states looking to access this financing;
• Unlocking residential Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing for single-family housing to make is easier for Americans to invest in clean energy technologies;
• Launching a new HUD and DOE program to provide home owners with a simple way to measure and improve the energy efficiency of their homes, by increasing homeowners borrowing power;
• Creating a DOD Privatized Housing Solar Challenge, and announcing companies are committing to provide solar power to housing on over 40 military bases across the United States, while saving military families money on energy bills and making military communities more energy secure;
• Announcing $24 million for 11 projects in seven states to develop innovative solar technologies that double the amount of energy each solar panel can produce from the sun;
• Approving a transmission line that will support bringing online a 485-megawatt photovoltaic facility that will be constructed in Riverside County and produce enough renewable energy to power more than 145,000 homes; and
• Creating an Interagency Task Force to Promote a Clean Energy Future for All Americans; and announcing independent commitments from local governments, utilities, and businesses that are stepping up to drive energy efficiency in more than 300,000 low-income households and investing more than $220 million in energy saving activities for veterans and low-income customers to help decrease their energy bills.
  
  

If you're a regular reader of these pages, you know I prefer free-market solutions to those instigated by the government. However, being that there's never been a free market in the world of energy, folks shouldn't be so surprised to see the president promote this latest agenda. After all, fossil fuels and nuclear have enjoyed enormous financial support in the forms of direct and indirect subsidies for decades.

I'm not saying two wrongs make a right. Truth is, I'd prefer to see the government out of the energy game altogether. In such a situation, I do believe that the economic, environmental and social superiority of renewable energy would put fossil fuels out of business a lot faster than Obama. But that's not the hand we've been dealt.

So, if you're a renewable energy investor, and have chosen to invest in a handful of solid solar stocks, congratulations. Obama certainly cushioned the blow of this latest global market meltdown. At least for renewable energy investors. Now how long will this reprieve from market reality last? That I don't know. But I will tell you this …

Regardless of these latest executive actions, long-term, there is still no greater investment opportunity than renewable energy. It is the future, and any investor unwilling to take part in this energy revolution will forfeit an opportunity of a lifetime.

As of this writing, the following stocks are up …

• SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR) – up 4.56%
• SunEdison (NYSE: SUNE) – up 4.29%
• SolarCity (NASDAQ: SCTY) – up 12.9%
• SolarEdge (NASDAQ: SEDG) – up 8.09%