Duke, Pacific Gas, Nuvve. What to do?
While you slept, the net-metering power market likely took several steps forward. What is net metering? You’ll be glad you asked.
If you generate more green energy than you use during your monthly bill cycle, you might not have any kilowatt-hour charges on your bill. Instead, you’ll receive kilowatt-hour credits that can be used for future electric bills. This process includes EVs, retail and fleet, homeowners, and production factories. And the market is just starting to grow.
One of the primary advantages of net metering is the potential for significant cost savings on electricity bills. By earning credits for excess energy generation, homeowners can offset their energy costs during periods of lower solar production And discharge back into the grid.
Common examples of net metering facilities include solar panels in a home or a wind turbine at a school. These facilities are connected to a meter, which measures the net quantity of electricity you use. When you use electricity from the electric company, your meter spins forward.
Let’s have a look at some companies, huge and not. The smallest that might tickle your investment gene.
A battery energy storage solution offers new application flexibility. It unlocks new business value across the energy value chain, from conventional power generation, transmission & distribution, and renewable power to industrial and commercial sectors. Energy storage supports diverse applications, including firming renewable production, stabilizing the electrical grid, controlling energy flow, optimizing asset operation, and creating new revenue by delivery.
This change to energy generation and consumption is driven by three powerful trends: the arrival of increasingly affordable distributed power technologies, the decarbonization of the world’s electricity network through the introduction of more renewable energy sources, and the emergence of digital technologies.
GE’s broad portfolio of Reservoir Solutions can be tailored to your operational needs, enabling efficient, cost-effective storage distribution and energy utilization where and when needed. Expert systems and applications teams utilize specialized techno-economic tools to help optimize the lifetime economics of a project The approach results in an investment-grade business case that provides the basis for project planning and financing future.
- Annual revenue: $24.7 Billion
- Number of employees: 27,605
- Headquarters: Charlotte, NC
DUK (NYSE)trading at USD117 Market Cap 91.2 PE 20x
Serving 8.2 million customers across the south and central United States, Duke Energy is another one of the biggest energy companies in the country. Duke is one of the utility companies leading the way towards eliminating carbon emissions, intending to be net zero by 2050. In addition, they’re constantly investing in the exploration of zero-emission power generation technologies, including hydrogen and advanced nuclear.
- Annual revenue: $20.6 Billion
- Number of employees: 26,000
- Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
PCG (NYSE) trading at USD34 Mkt Cap USD35 billion) PE 14x
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is one of the oldest electric supply companies, having been around for over a century. They serve 5.5 million electric customers on the West Coast and have nearly as many gas accounts as well. PG&E buys and produces energy and distributes it throughout its Smart Grid, which helps it limit its carbon footprint.
Unless an investor has been living under my oft-mentioned rock of ignorance, the two behemoths are at the vanguard of electrical storage and distribution technology. And one day they were Teenie weenie. I bring them up to show the difference between a steady growth, dividend-paying portfolio and a utility company that are both portfolio bedrocks. What’s the more exciting play? Particularly for net-metering, energy discharge and several steps toward a deeper shade of green? (apologies to Procol Harum. If you get that reference, you’re likely old).
Nuvve Holdings
NVVE NASDAQ Trading USD2.79 Mkt Cap USD3.4m (Best for Last?)
The issue with the behemoths is that other than dividends and modest growth—with some decent volatility-seem limited on the upside unless you want to hold for 20 more years. Nothing wrong with that, but the odd great opportunity is always relevant. Why?
You’re dead a long time.
Nuvve Holding Corp. engages in the provision of a commercial vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology platform.
NVVE’s premise is simple: an EV, car, school bus, or industrial equipment, for example, charges overnight and also fills the reserve power batteries. At the end of the day, any unused reserve power is sent back to the grid for a credit, making the power more efficient, cost-effective, and, dare I say, Greener.
So, the extra power, rather than sit there, is returned to the grid for a credit.
Its V2G technology, Grid Integrated Vehicle (GIVeTM) platform, enables users to link multiple electric vehicle (EV) batteries into a virtual power plant to provide bi-directional services to the electrical grid. The firm also enables electric vehicle (EV) batteries to store and resell unused energy to the local electric grid and provide other grid services.
The power and potential of NUVVE should not be discounted. As hard as I tried, I could not find any big stocks in this space. Maybe there are, but they eschew discussion.
This brings me back to the company’s growth and takeover potential. I’d have a look. There are lots of moving parts: energy, storage, net metering, energy storage, and a whole lot more.
Bob Beaty
For over 30 years, Bob Beaty has been explaining concepts and companies to the global investment community. One of the original writers for Jim Cramer’s Thestreet.com, he also wrote for AOL (Can/US), the Globe and Mail, and the Huffington Post. Over that period, he illuminated small-cap companies to investors with wit and pith but mostly opinion and facts. Investing should be fun. Pedantic, staid content is no fun.
Before embarking on his writing career, Bob had a successful international journey in the finance industry. He served as a broker, derivatives product manager, and a Director of London's Credit Suisse subsidiary. His career spanned across major financial hubs including Toronto, Vancouver, and the UK, giving him a unique global perspective. (He is still fondly remembering those English client lunches.)
Other than everything Groucho Marx and George Carlin ever said, Bob lives by a simple credo;
‘Never do anything the person standing in front of you can't understand.’ Hunter S. Thompson.
Let’s go.
