CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

Renewable energy’s gone in the space of a few months from market darling to whipping boy. Shares in solar- and wind-power companies have suffered even more than the market at large. The outlook for new projects is growing increasingly cloudy.

But that’s not because renewable energy suddenly got uglier. It’s because of the fallout from financial-market turmoil, says Andy Katell, head of communications at GE Financial Services, who took umbrage at yesterday’s post. Mr. Katell says “GE has been—and will remain—a significant investor in renewable energy,” with $1.4 billion investment slated for this year. So why is clean tech in apparent retreat? Mr. Katell says:

These problems are centered around the financial markets, not the strong fundamentals of renewable energy or of GE itself. The core issue is the industry-wide difficulty of committing to new investments in a period of high uncertainty about borrowing costs. Such transactions usually involve staged funding, and the market volatility makes forward committing to fundings expensive to developers and ultimately to consumers of renewable energy.

But in recent months, market somersaults have undoubtedly changed the outlook for renewable energy. When fossil fuel prices were soaring, things like offshore wind farms suddenly looked appealing, and guaranteed electricity prices from wind farms looked like a bargain. But with fossil fuel prices headed south and capital getting more expensive, renewables are losing some of their glow. As the NYT notes today:

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