My very long term goal is to have no money in fossil fuels at all. To that end I have 15% of funds in renewables, but just can't justify more until the picture becomes more clear. I have already completely divested from oil producers. I have no idea yet how to slot ENB and TRP into this discussion, they are very large, somewhat multifaceted companies.
Interesting. We have quite a bit in common. I have also sold off all my oil producers. Last year, I recommended divestment to a relative, not for ethical reasons, but because I feared a divestment movement would hit some oil stocks hard. She followed my advice, to her benefit. But I never foresaw the total meltdown in the energy sector, and I was a little slow myself in acting. I now have no producers, and just one pipeline---ENF. I bought the latter partly because it was Canada's largest solar power utility. The recent drop-down has made liquids transport a much bigger part of the business, and renewables relatively small. I have held. I also have positions in AQN and RNW. The former has been brilliant; the latter, meh. As you said, the picture isn't clear. Altogether, I'd say about 10-12% for renewables.
I would steer clear of the smaller pipes for now, for the reasons you mentioned, and what AltaRed has added. ENB and TRP are different stories. They are huge, diversified, and both have renewable divisions, including nuclear (TRP). So long as the changes aren't too sudden or unexpected, I imagine both could slowly move portfolios in "cleaner" directions, whatever politics and the market demand. And I don't see oil disappearing at any time within our lifetimes. I guess I would just be cautious of oil sands exposure.
Renewables is slightly off topic here, but what worries me is the cost of solar panels has fallen so much that individual ownership is now relatively cheap, and cheaper battery storage won't be long. Homes and businesses may become self-powering mini-utilities, or get off the grid altogether. This will leave traditional utilities with huge capital costs but falling demand---stranded assets? Customers who are still connected will be asked to pay higher and higher rates to cover costs, pressuring them to get off the grid, too. It all sounds very speculative and remote. But here in Japan due to the government's feed-in tariff programme to promote solar energy, panels on houses are appearing everywhere; mini-solar farms are popping up in every unfarmed field, on hillsides, even offshore
http://www.kagoshima-kankou.com/for/wha ... plant.html In fact, the feed-in programme was so successful, that major utilities have had trouble integrating all the systems into their own, and I understand government has now cut back the generous subsidies and is looking to promote wind. Cars still largely run on gasoline, but hybrids are very common, and I've seen a few electric cars.
From an investment point of view, I see tremendous opportunity in the change, but for the moment it is not easy to find those good solid dividend growers among the smaller speculative start-ups. As mentioned, I bought ENF, AQN and RNW both for the renewable exposure and for dividend growth. I owned NFI for a while but sold it too soon. I also bought some GRC--Grenville Strategic Royalty--which invests in private equity, because the CEO has a lot of experience in the cleantech sector:
http://www.grenvillesrc.com/about-grenv ... anagement/ Any other suggestions would be most welcome--most Canadian companies in the renewable or cleantech space are on my watchlist.