Category Archives: Coal

Southern Company Shareholder meeting: renewables more than doubled in one year 2017-05-24

While its natural gas percentage remained flat, and coal and nuclear decreased, Southern Company (SO) more than doubled its renewable energy generation percentage in one year.
Maybe I’ll mention that at the annual shareholder meeting in May.

2017 Mix:


2017 Energy Mix

2016 Mix:


2016 Energy Mix

When:
10:00 a.m., ET

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Where:
The Lodge Conference Center

Callaway Gardens

4500 Southern Pine Drive

Pine Mountain, GA 31822-2593

Event:
Annual Southern Company

Shareholder Meeting

Southern Company has all its

SEC filings
online,
including Continue reading →

Videos: Coal ash, Calles, Val North PD Water Sewer, Habitat CDBG, Sewage Valves, Stone Creek Antenna, Sheriff, Alcohol @ LCC 2017-03-14



Not on the agenda:
Coal Ash
and

Y-Lead from Hahira Middle School and Teen Explosion.
Also

Stone Creek train quiet hours.

In a fifteen minute item, the Commission approved a split rezoning for
REZ-2017-02 Calles,
and they approved the removal of conditions from
REZ-2017-03 Val North Dr, Stewart Circle.
They approved the
CDBG Grant preparation,
but they didn’t mention they can’t actually apply until the resolve
their feud with the local cities about tax allocation.

Below are links to each LAKE video of the 14 March 2017 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission, with a few notes, followed by a video playlist.
See also Continue reading →

Videos: Sewage, Coal Ash, Historic Preservation, a dead cat, and turkeys @ VCC 2016-03-09

The Valdosta City Council heard from citizens about

coal ash,

wastewater,
and

toxic waste in the landfill.
Mayor John Gayle

offered to answer later in his office Eric Howard’s
question about wastewater in his yard.
The Mayor expressed his opinion that he and the council

couldn’t do anything about the landfill,
and read for yourself what he said about

the Florida county resolutions about Valdosta wastewater.
George Boston Rhynes

told a droll tale about a dead cat and turkeys.

The

Historic Preservation appeal was long and contentious,
with the Mayor twice breaking a tie because only four City Council members
were there: the appeal was approved.
A citizen

spoke about that afterwards, as did

Council Tim Carroll.

Council Robert Yost recommended

all the Hospital Authority Board should resign.

They unanimously approved

both
of the

rezoning items; ditto the

right of way maintenance bids.

And

Firefighter Michael Penland is employee of the month.

Below are links to the LAKE video of each item, with a few notes (some drawn from Valdosta’s own
SUMMARY OF ACTIONS),
followed by a LAKE video playlist.
See also the agenda.

Brief agenda plus Water @ VCC 2016-03-09

No water on

the agenda,
but there’s a WWALS event
for those who want to speak about water issues.

AGENDA

REGULAR MEETING OF THE VALDOSTA CITY COUNCIL

5:30 PM Thursday, March 9, 2017

COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL


Valdosta City Council

  1. Opening Ceremonies Continue reading →

U.S. electric power source projections: solar still most by 2023

According to FERC’s own figures from 2012 and 2016,

my solar projections from 2013 (and former FERC Chair Jon Wellinghoff’s) were pretty good,
and more U.S. electricity will still come from solar power by 2023.

LAKE Solar Table 2017
Since coal and nuclear are already crashing, and natural gas isn’t
increasing even as fast as formerly projected, solar could win even faster.

I constructed

table below from the 2012 and 2016 summaries of total U.S. electric
power generation from all sources, by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Look at the 2012 column:
only coal and natural gas generated more than 25% of total U.S. electricity.

But in 2016 it’s only natural gas, because coal’s growth rate actually
turned negative: utilities are shutting down coal plants, not building them.
Back in 2013 I did not predict that to happen so quickly.

Now look at
the growth rates,


both Continue reading →

Pipelines companies don’t detect corrosion or stop explosions

A reminder of why to stop pipeline companies from burying investors’ money in the ground and get on with solar power:
the pipeline that exploded in Texas last week was
half owned by Spectra Energy,



the pipeline company behind
Sabal Trail, AIM, Penneast, and numerous other fracked methane invasions
and behind thirty years of undetected corrosion resulting in leaks, explosions, property damage, and deaths.
The pipeline company didn’t detect it and couldn’t even turn it off quickly.
Want to bet that it,
like Spectra’s Pennsylvania explosion last spring, was corrosion?

A very Texas report said “no people or cattle were injured”
and also notice: “The fire is under control and will burn itself out.” Continue reading →

Southern Company Annual Meeting @ SO 2016-05-25

Road trip to Callaway Gardens for the annual question time with Tom Fanning,
questions provided by environmentalists and Southern Company (SO) stockholders from at least four states.


Energy Mix

This figure from page ii of the meeting Notice illustrates both the problem and the solution for Southern Company.
Natural gas has replaced coal as SO’s top energy source, and Nuclear is still
in there.
But renewables are up to 4%.
And over on the right of the same page:

  • Growth in Renewables

    Approximately 3,800 megawatts of announced
    or added renewable capacity since 2012. This
    includes the development of what is expected to
    be the largest voluntary solar portfolio in the U.S.
    (at Georgia Power Company).

Interesting use of “voluntary”, but never mind that.
If SO keeps that up, it will Continue reading →

Federal court rules fossil fuels violate constitutional rights 2016-04-08

Our Children’s Trust, Press Release, 9 April 2016,

Judge Denies Motions by Fossil Fuel Industry and Federal Government in Landmark Climate Change Case,

Today, U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Coffin of the federal District
Court in Eugene, OR, decided in favor of 21 young Plaintiffs, and


Dr. James Hansen on behalf of future generations, in their landmark
constitutional climate change case brought against the federal
government and the fossil fuel industry. The Court’s ruling is a
major victory for the 21 youth Plaintiffs, ages 8-19, from across
the U.S. in what Bill McKibben and Naomi Klein call the “most
important lawsuit on the planet right now.” These plaintiffs
sued the federal government for violating their constitutional
rights to life, liberty and property, and their right to essential
public trust resources, by permitting, encouraging, and otherwise
enabling continued exploitation, production, and combustion of
fossil fuels.

Full
press release
and court order.

In denying the motions of the federal government and the fossil fuel
industry, the court’s decision framed the issue as follows:

“Plaintiffs are suing the United States … because the
government has known for decades that carbon dioxide (C02) pollution
has been causing catastrophic climate change and has failed to take
necessary action to curtail fossil fuel emissions. Moreover, Continue reading →

Wind and Solar are winning by 2 to 1 over gas and coal

Guess what’s really inevitable, pipeline companies?
Solar and wind power.


Utility scare tactics that no coal means pipelines are so much hot air.
Scare tactics that no pipelines would mean LNG trains are burnt up by solar power.
Stop pipelnes or fracking and stop the other and LNG export along with it.
And we’re winning!

Tom Randall, Bloomberg, 6 April 2016,

Wind and Solar Are Crushing Fossil Fuels: Record clean energy investment outpaces gas and coal 2 to 1. Continue reading →

A clean energy future is already arriving –350.org & LNS

I’m thankful we’re already on the way to a clean energy future,

Big Light bulb
with more jobs, less expense than doing nothing, no new nukes, no coal at all,
much less natural gas, no need for any new pipelines,
better health, clean air and water, and profit.
The COP meeting in Paris can do what it will, and we can still make a better world and profit by it.
We’re already doing it, with solar and wind power, energy efficiency and conservation,


The Clean Energy Future: Protecting the Climate, Creating Jobs, Saving Money,
by Frank Ackerman of Synapse for LNS and 350.org:

[M]eeting the IPCC targets will… create more jobs and save money.

This report, Continue reading →