Growth of home solar power leads Barclays bank to downgrade utility bonds

British banking giant Barclays downgraded the whole electricity-generating sector of the U.S. high grade corporate bond market even before the Obama administration unveiled its plan to reduce power plant emissions by 30 percent. The bank sees big challenges to the traditional utility sector from fast-growing renewable energy, and the market is not yet pricing in those challenges, according to reports. The Barclays credit team believes that, over the next few years, the “confluence of declining cost trends in distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation and residential-scale power storage is likely to disrupt the status quo.”

Read more