Tag Archives: Economy

Southern Company downgraded because of coal and nukes –two analysts

It’s not like they weren’t warned,

about coal


and

about nukes.
It’s not Standard & Poor’s this time,
but that could happen soon, too.
SO’s biggest part, Georgia Power, is neck-deep in nukes,
as

Edison Electric Institute’s warning
about

the disruptive challenge of distributed solar
starts to affect its parent’s stock price.

Zacks.com wrote 21 June 2013,

Southern Company Slips to Sell – Analyst Blog

On Jun 20, Zacks Investment Research downgraded electric utility
firm, Southern Company ( SO ), to a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Why the Downgrade?

Continue reading →

Clean Green Metro Florida by Brookings Institution

Amy Liu spoke about globalization last week in Orlando,

Leaders will seize the clean economy
about clean industries leading economic growth.
Even though she was talking linear growth,
her Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings Institution
has some interesting points that mesh with the exponential growth like compound interest

Georgia can get on with in solar and wind power.

The Florida Economic Development Council

2013 FEDC Conference 26-28 June 2013
was the venue for Amy Liu’s

A Globally Competitive Florida: Regional Opportunities in the Next Economy.
To summarize her slides (which are

in a format not easily linkable,
she bashes Congress to motivate cities leading.
In particular, Florida’s 20 metro ares have 61.75 of land area,
94.1% of population, and 95.9% of output.
Nothing surprising there: cities are densely populated.
Two of the biggest in Florida are in our Floridan Aquifer:
Orlando and Jacksonville.
(She didn’t mention the aquifer; I did.)

The national economic
recovery is slow, the middle class has been hard-hit,
and Florida is recovering faster, except on unemployment.
The U.S. population is rapidly getting older and by 2050
53.7% will be minorities, each of which have very different
educational achievements, and much of this is happening
in metro areas.



Her solution is Continue reading →

Ready, willing, and able for wind –Jill Stuckey for Georgia Southern @ GA PSC 2013-06-18


Jill Stuckey spoke for wind power for economic development on behalf of
the College of Engineering and Information Technologies at
Georgia Southern University.
She said with its experience in solar and wind Georgia Southern
is willing, able, and ready to help
at

the Georgia Public Service Commission meeting Tuesday 18 June 2013.

Here’s

the video:



Ready, willing, and able for wind –Jill Stuckey for Georgia Southern

Georgia Power proposed closing of coal plants,

Administrative Session, GA Public Service Commission (GA PSC),

Doug Everrett (1: south Georgia), Tim Echols (2: east Georgia), Chairman Chuck Eaton (3: metro Atlanta), Stan Wise (5 north Georgia), Bubba McDonald (4: west Georgia),

Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), 244 Washington Street SW, Atlanta, GA, 30334-9052, 18 June 2013.

-jsq

The cloudy day doesn’t last for an entire month –John S. Quarterman @ GA PSC 2013-06-18

The disruptive challenge electric utilities face
is like

1: Solar power
telephone companies faced years ago, as Edison Electric Institute recently pointed out.
Circuit switching 20 years ago is like distributed solar power and
the smart grid it needs now;
this is what I described
at

the Georgia Public Service Commission meeting Tuesday 18 June 2013.

Hi, I’m John Quarterman, I’m from Lowndes County, down near the Florida line.
These videos I’ve been taking are with Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange
and you’ll find them on YouTube later.


Two things

Now I’d like to commend Georgia Power for helping fund our Industrial Authority
down in Lowndes County to do a strategic plan.
And in the focus groups they did with that, they discovered there’s
at least

two things everybody wants: business, education, health care, the
people in general: Continue reading →

Brother and sister students speak truth to Georgia Power’s PSC

It’s elementary, they said:


Our future is in your hands.

Please approve Georgia Power’s coal plant retirement.
Encourage them to move further beyond coal,
investing in clean renewable energy that can drive our economy
and save our generation.

Jim Ries wrote for One More Generation 23 June 2013,

Please Switch to More Renewable Energy,

Carter and Olivia were invited to speak during the Georgia Public
Service Commission IRP Hearing. Our friends from the Sierra Club and
from Greening Forward asked Olivia and Carter to speak and to share
their concerns with regards to the fact that GA Power is still
focusing on burning more coal as opposed to switching to alternative
power solutions like wind and solar.

As a monopoly, Georgia Power is Continue reading →

L.A. rooftop solar sprawling power plant

The L.A. Times’ online poll is currently running 92% yes on
“Is distributed generation the future of electric grids?”
And Los Angeles is doing something about distributed rooftop solar power.
Something we could be doing right here in south Georgia.
If Georgia Power won’t do it, local governments could.
After all, if the Industrial Authority can float bonds to buy
land for business parks that sit vacant, it could float bonds
to fund rooftop solar.
Or maybe sell some of that land to pay for solar.

John Upton wrote for grist 27 June 2013,

L.A. launches nation’s largest solar rooftop program,



The first small shoots of what will grow into a sprawling solar
power plant have sprouted in Los Angeles.

L.A.’s Department of Water and Power is rolling out the country’s
biggest urban rooftop program, which will pay residents for solar
energy they produce in excess of their own needs. That will give
residents a reason to install more solar capacity on their roofs
than they can use in their homes.

According to
Catherine Green in the L.A. Times yesterday,

L.A. program lets DWP pay customers to generate solar power:
Clean L.A. Solar’s goal is to add 150 megawatts, or enough to power 30,000 homes, to the city grids. Continue reading →

My input to the budget “hearing” tonight @ LCC 2013-06-25

I recommend people go to

tonight’s budget “hearing”


and see what’s said, and maybe even try to ask some questions.
I’m staying home; here’s why.

Since



Ashley Paulk is apparently still running the County Commission,
I’m going by

Ashley Paulk’s stated theory
that citizens provide input to the budget process at every meeting.
I already provided mine
14 May 2013: Continue reading →

Budget Telling Tonight @ LCC 2013-06-25

Tonight you can go be told what the county’s budget will be,


5PM at the county palace.
If you want to see the proposed budget,
you’ll have to go their beforehand and view the one paper
copy they are

required by law to show you.
They say they’re short of money,
so why are they

wasting taxpayer funds suing a legitimate business?

On the county’s online calendar:

Budget Public Hearing (6/18/2013)



PUBLIC NOTICE

The Lowndes County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing for the purpose of considering

the Fiscal Year 2014 proposed budget on the following dates:

June 18, 2013 at 5:30 p.m.

June 25, 2013 at 5:00 p.m.

Location:

Lowndes County Commission Chambers

327 N. Ashley St.

Valdosta, GA

A copy of the proposed budget is available for public review in the office of the County Clerk.

For questions please call 671-2400.

Kay Harris wrote for the VDT 19 June 2013,

Lowndes County facing budget woes,

Continue reading →

Paul Alvarado, Attorney, for ZBOA @ LCC 2013-06-10

Another board, another incumbent reappointed. Paul Alvarado, Attorney for ZBOA @ LCC 2013-06-10 Now
I’m not saying that’s a bad thing: experience and continuity can be
useful. But I do think applicants could say more about why they
want the job and Commissioners could ask a few questions about
their experience on the board. At least applicants are mostly
showing up to speak; that’s an improvement.

5.c. Valdosta/Lowndes County Zoning Board of
Appeals

At the

10 June 2013 Work Session, Zoning
Administrator Carmella Braswell introduced applicant Paul
Alvarado. He said he had been serving since 2007, and was not only
a voting member of ZBOA, but also had been providing legal
advice.

Now I have used Alvarado as an attorney, and have Continue reading →

Library Board candidates set an example @ LCC 2013-06-10

Three unscheduled candidates for the Lowndes County Library Board
set examples for informative applications to an appointed board.



At the

10 June 2013 Work Session
the Chairman did clearly say library board appointments were not on the agenda
but would be at their next meeting.
He didn’t define “next meeting”, but he meant two weeks later,
when it is indeed

on the agenda for this morning and tomorrow evening.


Back two weeks ago,

South Georgia Regional Library Director Kelly Lenz
said two nominees were present for two vacant positions.
Then she named three people: Jack Hartley, Linda Most, and Matt Lawrence.

Jack Hartley’s

LinkedIn profile
says he is “Franchsie Owner of Home Instead Senior Care, Valdosta, Georgia”.
He said: Continue reading →