Category Archives: Renewable Energy

Does Georgia Power own the sunshine?



While

opening a solar site in Richmond Hill last Friday, Dr. Sidney Smith said Georgia Power thinks it owns your sunshine:

It’s a personal freedom issue and a personal rights issue.
And also it’s an issue of our future generations.

But I know that we’re going to come out on top….
The reason we’re going to come out on top.
You’re going to choose a higher power bill, or a lower power bill?
Now, I know you’re going to say I want a lower power bill.

Here’s

the video:




Does Georgia Power own the sunshine?

South Eastern Pathology Associates,

Selling Power, Lower Rates for Customers LLC (LRCLLC),

Richmond Hill, Bryan County, Georgia, 17 February 2012.

Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

As Dr. Smith

told the AP a few days later:

We have a property rights issue: Who owns the sunshine, and does a
property owner get to do anything he wants with it?” Smith said.
“Georgia Power says he can use it to grow grass, get a sunburn, but
he’s not allowed to change it to electricity. That’s not correct.”



And it goes beyond just generating your own power for
lower rates for yourself as a customer.
Why not be able to sell it to somebody else who wants it, too?

This is just the first step.
In a way and a process that we’re ultimately going to be able
to sell power out of Bryan County back to Atlanta,
bringing dollars back from Atlanta to Bryan County.

And Lowndes County can do the same.
Atlanta wants our water?
Sell them sunshine instead!

SB 401 can help with that.
If you want it to pass,
you can

sign the petition
or

call your state senator.

-jsq

2/3 of new European electrical capacity comes from solar and wind

If Europe can deploy mostly solar and wind for new electricity,
we can do the same here, especially in sunny south Georgia.

Stephen Lacey wrote for Climate Progress 12 Feb 2012,

More than 68% of New European Electricity Capacity Came From Wind and Solar in 2011,

That’s almost a 10-fold increase over deployment in 2000, when only
3.5 GW of renewable energy projects were installed. Last year, 32 GW
of renewables — mostly wind and solar — were deployed
across European countries.

If Europe can change its energy strategy that quickly, so can we.

-jsq

PS: Owed to William House.

Georgia Power opposes SB 401 and Lower Rates for Customers

Is anyone surprised that Georgia Power has come out in opposition
to Georgia SB 401, which will let you generate solar power and sell
it to whomever you like?
If you do want to do that, you can call your state senator today.

Errin Haines wrote for AP 18 Feb 2012,

Georgia Power balks at Senate solar power proposal,

“The power company ought to be doing this, but they don’t want to
buy it from anybody that produces it,” said state Sen. Buddy Carter,
the bill’s main sponsor.

The state’s main electricity provider, Georgia Power, is opposing
the legislation, pointing to the state’s Electric Service Act.


Created nearly four decades ago, the law established assigned
territories for the power company, along with 42 electric membership
cooperatives and 52 cities with municipal systems, all competing for
customers.

Spokeswoman Christy Ihrig said in a statement that the proposed bill
would illegally infringe on the company’s territory and that the
introduction of a new supplier could drive up rates for customers
because utilities would be required to hike costs. She added the
company is supportive of solar power and is working to provide solar
as an option to customers.

Ah, the old territoriality law!
“Competing” through assigned territories.
Does that seem right to you?

You know, it’s not illegal if the legislature changes the law….

If you want lower rates for customers, call your state senator today.
Around here, that would be

Senator Tim Golden,
tim.golden@senate.ga.gov



Capitol Office:




121-A State Capitol

Atlanta, GA 30334

Phone: (404) 656-7580

Fax: (404) 463-4226


District Office:


110 Beacon Hill

Valdosta, GA 31602

Phone: (229) 293-0202 (O)

(229) 241-1284 (H)

(229) 241-7732 (F)

-jsq

Solar thermal for Moody AFB

Moody AFB helps USAF lead the military and the country in solar installations
by adding solar thermal.


Did you know?

Federal mandates require that 25% of Air Force facility energy use
comes from renewable energy sources by 2025 and Moody will help….

It’s a shame we have to go to Binghamton and Ithaca, New York, to get the equipment.
You’d think we could build solar thermal hot water heaters right here
in sunny south Georgia, and install them, too.
The architect, however, was local.
Congratulations to Moody AFB and Slone Associates for installing solar hot water!



The installer, Intelligent Green Solutions (IGS) of Ithaca, New York,

has the details:

The installation is a large solar thermal system that includes:

  • 20 TitanPowerPlus 2.0 Flat Plate Solar Collectors
  • 512 Gallon Solar Hot Water Storage Tanks

The completion target date was end of December.

SunMaxx Solar press release of 29 Jan 2012,

SunMaxx Solar and Intelligent Green Solutions Install Solar Thermal System at Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Georgia,

Continue reading →

Stop Georgia Power from stopping you from affording solar

Why can’t you do this?



Say you own a coffee shop. You’d like to install solar panels on
your roof but can’t afford them. A company offers to install and
lease you the equipment, provided you sign a long-term contract. The
company will sell you energy at a cheaper rate than you already pay
Georgia Power. No longer would you be so susceptible to spikes in
electricity prices. Nor would your money be helping to support
burning coal or nuclear power.

Georgia law says you can’t do that.

That’s why

SB 401 is in the Georgia Senate.
It’s

a common-sense measure that would put people to work, create a new
sector in Georgia’s economy, and promote clean energy. In addition,
the legislation would help shield people from increases in
electricity rates, which, according to the U.S. Department of
Energy, have risen nearly 50 percent over the last seven years.

Why would Georgia Power not like that?

Continue reading →

Help pass GA Senate Bill 401 to facilitate distributed power cogeneration

SB 401 intends to modernize Georgia law to make distributed power generation
easier.
You

can help.

Drs Sidney Smith and Pat Godbey
not only

have started Tabby Power, which sells solar power directly to customers.
They also have an outfit called

Lower Rates for Customers,
which is about generating solar power in one place and selling it in another.
There are various legal impediments to doing that.

Charlie Harper wrote for the Courier-Herald and Peach Pundit 9 February 2012,

A Little Sunshine On A Battle To Expand Renewable Energy,

Essentially, customers with solar panels meter not only power coming


into their house from the existing grid, but also the amount of
power returned to the grid. The generating company — Georgia Power
in most of the state — is required to buy surplus power back based
on their state granted regulated monopoly status. Currently,
projects are limited in size to 10 Kw for residential customers and
100 Kw for business customers. SB 401 removes these caps.

More intricate details of the bill provide for private ownership of


these systems, as opposed to current law which requires the owner of
the property to also own the attached grids. This will allow for
manufacturers of solar grids or interested third parties to enter
into financing or lease agreements which pay for the systems long
term out of cost savings for the customer. By allowing for these
arrangements, many customers can access these systems with no money
up front, as opposed to the high initial capital costs which would
take years to recover.

Here are the

details and text of SB 401.
It has six cosponsors:

  1. Carter, Buddy 1st
  2. Chance, Ronnie 16th
  3. Carter, Jason 42nd
  4. Williams, Tommie 19th
  5. Rogers, Chip 21st
  6. Stoner, Doug 6th

We’ve seen Doug Stoner before,

at last June’s Southern Solar Summit,
talking about renewable energy.
It looks like he and others are actually trying to do something about it.

You can help, by

signing this petition.

-jsq

Georgia Power doubles solar capacity in Dalton, GA

Dalton, the place that

had a solar plant bigger and earlier than Valdosta’s.
Did

Mayor Fretti’s brag about this location being competitive
go out with him?
Crawford Powell is still a County Commissioner.
The Industrial Authority is still supposed to be bringing in industry.
The Chamber of Commerce is still supposed to be promoting jobs.
If

Dublin
and Dalton do this, it seems like Valdosta and Lowndes County could….

Dave Williams wrote for the Atlanta Business Chronicle Thursday,

Georgia Power tees up next phase of solar plant,



Georgia Power Co. will begin construction soon on a project that
will double the generating capacity of the utility’s solar plant in
Dalton, Ga., the company announced Thursday.

The first phase of the plant went on line last March and is
operating with a capacity of 350 kilowatts.

Construction of the second phase, due to be completed in about two
months, will bring the plant up to 700 kilowatts, on its way to a
full capacity of 1 megawatt of electricity. One megawatt of solar
photovoltaic panels produces enough energy to power about 135 homes.

Let’s see some local leadership!

-jsq

Solar surging in Savannah

Near Savannah a couple of doctors are pioneering ways
for everyone to profit from solar now.


Yesterday, the Driftaway Cafe started serving up with solar.

WJCL and WTGS wrote yesterday,

Solar Power Surges in Savannah

A ground breaking project is underway in the coastal empire that
harnesses the power of the sun and hopes to pave the way for the
future of clean energy. One main part of this project is for
everyone to be able to supply their own power.

Clean, sustainable energy has been a hot topic for some time now,
especially, energy that doesn’t send our money overseas.

“We need to develop every available source of American
energy,” says President Obama.

The problem is that until now alternate sources have been out of
reach or too expensive for most of us.

“It’s very important we learn how to harness our own power and
how we structure that today is important for future
generations,” says Dr. Sidney Smith, co-owner of Lower rates
for Customers.

“Lower Rates for Customers” is hoping to do just that.
The plan is to make solar power the way of the future and affordable
for everyone. They have an all encompassing plan that can have
anyone generating their own electricity within 45 days, even if you
don’t have the land to put up solar panels.

“We provide you with the place, the hook up, the technology
and Georgia power will send you a check to supplement your power
bill,” says Dr. Pat Godbey, co-owner of Tabby Power.

Business like the Driftaway Cafe jumped on the chance to get
involved.

“Their financial model for the future just struck a nerve with
me and I wanted to be a part of it,” says Driftaway owner,
Robyn Quattlebaum.

Cheaper, cleaner, and accessible: that’s good business sense!

-jsq

Farmers and other people own most of Germany’s reneable energy production

Power companies aren’t the only possible owners of solar power farms,
and centralized isn’t the only power distribution model.
In Germany, most renewable energy production is owned by
people, not power companies.

Matthew McDermott wrote for Treehugger 6 January 2011,

Over Half of Germany’s Renewable Energy Owned By Citizens & Farmers, Not Utility Companies

Germany’s promotion of renewable energy rightly gets singled out for


its effectiveness, most often by me as an example of how to do
things well versus the fits and starts method of promotion common in
the US. Over at Wind-Works, Paul Gipe points out another interesting
facet of the German renewable energy saga: 51% of all renewable
energy in Germany is owned by individual citizens or farms, totaling
$100 billion worth of private investment in clean energy.

Breaking that down into solar power and wind power, 50% of Germany’s
solar PV is owned by individuals and farms, while 54% of its wind
power is held by the same groups.

Not only is that more distributed, but it also may be a faster
way to get solar deployed:

In total there’s roughly 17 GW of solar PV installed in
Germany—versus roughly 3.6 GW in the US (based on SEIA’s
figures for new installations though the third quarter of 2011 plus
the 2.6 GW installed going into the year).

Remember, Germany now produces slightly over 20% of all its
electricity from renewable sources.

Nothing prevents Georgia Power or Colquitt Electric
or any of the other power companies operating in Georgia from
leading the solar pack.
For example, power companies concerned that solar doesn’t produce
at night could still deploy solar peak load generation,
thus dispensing with natural gas peak load generation.

While the power companies are not leading,
private organizations such as
Tabby Solar,
founded by a pair of doctors,
are forging ahead anyway.

-jsq