Dive Summary:

• Competition from distributed generation (DG) will make it tough for utilities to cling to big solar projects, argues Haresh Patel, CEO of Mercatus, a solar asset diligence and acquisition platform.
• The number of utility-scale solar projects has declined and game-changer utilities such as Duke, NextEra, and PGE are rapidly developing distributed solar generation.
• “But acquisition alone does not solve the cost of diligence, project acquisition and financing. New business models require different templates,” Patel writes.

From the article:
“A handful of the most progressive utilities -- Sempra, Duke, PGE, SMUD, Integrys -- are already embracing the change and finding ways to make a profit from generating their own electricity through their unregulated subsidiaries. No longer mandated passive players, solar gives them chance to compete.”