> investing in a hypothetical public utility that intends to make all its electricity from solar panels?
Is this something I can do as a retail investor? What sort of minimum investment is needed?
Is this something I can do as a retail investor? What sort of minimum investment is needed?
We are different from investing in a utility for two reasons. First, you'll own simple direct ownership in a panel, not in an entire organization and all its bureaucracies and stakeholders. I want it to be as close to a consumer product as possible, to feel personal, not like an investment. Second, you panel will slowly depreciate over time and eventually be liquidated where a utility is hypothetically perpetual.
Aside from that, utilities typically pay $.04 or so for power generated. We'll likely have a behind-the-meter arrangement with a commercial power purchaser (like a factory or hospital), which can boost the return but be somewhat more risky.
None of them, to the best of my knowledge, are currently planning on being 100% solar. It's unlikely, although a 100% renewable company is pretty likely to either now exist or happen shortly. Hydro-Quebec is, courtesy Wikipedia:
hydroelectricity (96.78%)
wind (2.16%)
biomass, biogas and waste (0.75%)
nuclear (0.19%)
thermal (0.12%)