Assertion Not checkable as stated
McCauley: There is "essentially unlimited capital" trying to invest into ESG
“There is essentially unlimited capital right now that's trying to get into ESG. It's amazing. It's a wonderful thing to see. So much capital from all around the world is trying to pour into renewable energy.”
Assertion Supported
McCauley: Renewables performed better than gas during Texas power outages
“And even in some of the Texas outages, in general, the renewable, renewable energy assets tended to perform better than the gas or thermal assets.”
Insight
McCauley: Counterparty risk, not technology risk, holds back distributed energy financing
“All of these distributed assets that are so exciting are generally sold on long-term contracts, And so even once we've rung out the technology risk, there are still counterparty repayment risks that are holding back financing for those projects.”
Insight
McCauley: Shifting risk to insurance balance sheets lowers project capital costs
“If you can shift risks to That are not efficiently allocated to an insurance balance sheet that may allow the total cost of capital to fall for the project. And that directly impacts LCOE, that expands the market, that potentially lowers costs, potentially acc…”
Insight
McCauley: Distributed generation financing creates a virtuous cycle of storm resiliency
“So if we imagine now that there's more accessible financing for distributed generation, That increases the resiliency of those homes and businesses, which reduces the damage due to those storms. So we can see that this is actually a virtuous cycle on multiple …”
Assertion Supported
McCauley: Insurers are pulling coverage from coal mines and power plants
“There are insurers sending the signal, for example, that they're not going to insure coal mines or coal power plants anymore.”
Insight
McCauley: Cost of capital is a primary lever in renewable energy LCOE
“One of the key enabling insights for me is really seeing the LCOE calculations for renewable energy which is levelized cost of electricity. One of the biggest levers is actually the cost of capital.”
Assertion Supported
McCauley: kWh Analytics, Omnidian, and New Energy Risk underwrite cleantech performance
“When it comes to performance risk, there are folks like KWH or Omnidian who actually, you know, take on that risk of asset performance. New Energy Risk, which focuses on some of the technology risk for earlier stage technologies”
Assertion Supported
McCauley: DFIs are launching geothermal drilling insurance projects in Kenya
“There are emerging insurance projects out there
That are focused on this kind of drilling success coverage.
I think it's primarily in Kenya at the moment, where this is being launched in collaboration with some of the DFIs.”
Assertion Supported
McCauley: Standard insurance policies commonly exclude nuclear risk
“So in general insurers are very afraid of nuclear risk.
There's a common nuclear exclusion in in many policies.”
Assertion Supported
McCauley: Tech underwriting by Munich Re and New Energy Risk enabled Bloom
“In particular, you know, Munich Re is very much a technology underwriter. AXA, and as I mentioned before New Energy Risk Also on, on larger scale projects, I think Bloom Fuel Cells is a key example where that's been really a success story.”
Insight
McCauley: Energy efficiency gains consistently trigger consumer rebound effects
“There's definitely a rebound effect. I'm aware of that across multiple industries, whether it's, you know, miles driven in a more efficient car. Or thermostat control in a more efficient house.”
