Tag Archives: energy efficiency

What Georgia Power is afraid of: GaSU and Dr. Smith; and you

So what is Georgia Power afraid of

that made their CEO Paul Bowers double down on old-style baseload?
Competition, that’s what!
What could be more scary in the power-monopoly state of the

1973 Territorial Electric Service Act?


GaSU sun
On one side, Georgia Power faces

GaSU and its 80 or 90 MW solar plant proposal.
Walter C. Jones wrote for OnlineAthens 24 September 2012,

Proposed solar company could stir up Georgia’s utility structure,

A proposal from a start-up business promises to lower electricity
rates by rebating profits to customers if given a chance to compete
as Georgia Power Co.’s “mirror image.”


GaSU fb profile image
To proceed with its long-range plan of developing 2 gigawatts of
solar power, the start-up, Georgia Solar Utilities Inc., wants to
start by building an 80-megawatt “solar farm” near
Milledgeville as soon as it gets a green light from the Georgia
Public Service Commission. GaSU filed its request last week, and as
of Monday, it’s still too fresh for public evaluation.

So radical is the proposal that spokespersons for Georgia Power and
the Georgia Solar Energy Association said they still were evaluating
it and could not comment.

Groups that normally advocate for customers also are staying quiet.

GaSU executives recognize such a big change won’t come easily.

Continue reading →

A billion people on solar: India


Figure 6: Solar Sheep (Concentrix Solar PV concentrator plant)
Two professors in India have done the math and found that
there’s plenty of available land in India (much of it on rooftops)
to power its billion people on solar energy alone.
And solar uses less water than nuclear or coal, also as we already knew for the U.S.

Today in The Hindu,

India can meet energy needs sans N-power: Study,

According to their study, 4.1 per cent of the total uncultivable and

Figure 3: 1GWh Land area per energy source
waste land area in India is enough to meet the projected annual
demand of 3,400 terawatt-hour (TWh) by 2070 by solar energy alone (1
terawatt-hour per year equals 114 megawatts). The land area required
will be further reduced to 3.1 per cent “if we bring the other
potential renewable energy sources of India into picture”,
they claim. They conclude that land availability is not a limiting
constraint for the solar source as believed. According to their
study, 4.1 per cent of the total uncultivable and waste land area in
India is enough to meet the projected annual demand of 3,400
terawatt-hour (TWh) by 2070 by solar energy alone (1 terawatt-hour
per year equals 114 megawatts). The land area required will be
further reduced to 3.1 per cent “if we bring the other
potential renewable energy sources of India into picture”,
they claim. They conclude that land availability is not a limiting
constraint for the solar source as believed.

The graph above shows land occupation needed to generate 1 gigawatt hour (1GWh)
for each of coal, nuclear, hydroelectric, and solar.
It is Figure 3 from the actual study,

Is land really a constraint for the utilitzation of solar energy in India?
by H. Mitavachan and J. Srinivasan, Current Science, Vol. 103, No. 2, pp. 163-168, 25 July 2012.
More from the Hindu article, with graphs from the journal article:

Continue reading →

Southern Company’s three-legged nuclear regulatory-capture stool


The

failed EDF nuke project at Calvert Cliffs in Maryland
makes it clearer why Southern Company (SO) was the first company
to get a nuclear permit in 30 years:
it was the only one big enough and monopolistic enough to pull it off.
Even then it’s such a

bet-the-farm risk
that even

“great, big company”
SO only dared
to deploy its

“great big huge scale“ equipment
with the regulatory capture triple-whammy
of
a stealth tax on Georgia Power bills,
PSC approval of cost overruns,
and
an $8.33 billion federal loan guarantee:





  1. a legislated
    stealth tax in the form of

    a rate hike on Georgia Power customers     for
    power they won’t get for years if ever.
    If you’re a Georgia Power customer,
    look on your bill for Nuclear Construct Cost Recovery Rider.
    You’ll find it adds about 5% on top of your Current Service Subtotal.
    Georgia is one of only a handful of states where such a
    Construction Work in Progress (CWIP) charge is legal

    thanks to our regulatory-captured legislature.
    Doubling down on bad energy bets,
    Southern Company is also

    trying to use CWIP to build a coal plant in Mississippi.



  2. A captive Public Service Commission that

    rubber-stamps costs     for Plant Vogtle.
    In case there was any doubt as to the PSC’s role in legitimizing those new nukes,
    the very next day Fitch reaffirmed Southern Company’s bond ratings.

    Southern Company’s regulated utility subsidiaries derive predictable
    cash flows from low-risk utility businesses, enjoy relatively
    favorable regulatory framework in their service territories, and
    exhibit limited commodity price risks due to the ability to recover
    fuel and purchased power through separate cost trackers.

    Translation: Georgia Power customers subsidize SO’s bonds
    and SO shareholders’ stock dividends.
    The PSC also approved
    cost overruns being
    passed on to Georgia Power customers,
    and those nukes are already over

    $400 or $900 million    , depending on who you ask.
    What do you expect when

    4 out of 5 Public Service Commissioners
    apparently took 70% of their campaign contributions from utilities
    they regulate or their employees or their law firms,
    and the fifth commissioner took about 20% from such sources?
    Hm, there’s an election going on right now!




  3. An

    $8.33 billion federal loan guarantee.
    Even that’s not good enough for SO and Georgia Power: SO is
    asking for less down payment.

And what if even one of that three-legged regulatory capture stool’s legs
went away?

Continue reading →

Streetlights and Georgia Power @ Hahira 2012-10-01

To get a decent deal on streetlights, a small Georgia city may have
to help change the Georgia Public Service Commission.
Or, an energy concern in Hahira happened to coincide with
a visit by PSC candidate Steve Oppenheimer.



Ralph Clendenin, City Council member, is looking into converting
Hahira's streetlights to LEDs or maybe solar.
He has discussed that with Georgia Power, which will do it for

$250,000 up front.
At a savings of $1,000 a month, that would take quite a while to pay back:
more than 20 years.


Steve Oppenheimer, running for Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC),

found the streetlight issue interesting:



Just like you're looking at options the city might do for better choices for lighting
in terms of serving the people and meeting your budget, as Georgians we need that, too.

He indicated that there are more solutions than we're being told.

To me what's improtant are homeowners rights,
and we get control over the power rates,
because our residential rates and small business rates have gone up about 31% in five years.

He brought up

Dublin's solar streetlights, and

solar for energy and jobs.
He indicated energy was a future source of jobs.

What it comes down to is people like you in this room in the small communities
figuring out what pieces do we put together to make our community better for tomorrow.



Afterwards in the entranceway,

Ralph Clendenin showed Steve Oppenheimer how
he'd figured out that Georgia Power was charging about 73% maintenance
above the electricity cost of the streetlights.
Oppenheimer said there were many options.
Clendenin suggested one:

The option I see right now is, the Commission somehow, has got to change the rules
on how Georgia Power… structures payments.

Oppenheimer suggested a way to get there:

We need a commission with some new leadership,
with some separation from industry, that doesn't have the
apparent conflicts of interest.



Ralph summed it up pithily:

Ralph Clendenin: 73% is that forever payment to Georgia Power.

Steve Oppenheimer: It's a great deal, if you're on the right end of it.

[laughter]

What say we change the end of the stick we the taxpayers are getting from the PSC?

Here's

a playlist.


Work Session, Hahira City Council, Hahira, Lowndes County, Georgia, 1 October 2012.

Videos by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

-jsq

Bill Moyers on ALEC

Bill Moyers takes on ALEC.

Posted yesterday On Bill Moyers’ website,

‘United States of ALEC’ Video Previews

This week, Moyers & Company (check local listings) presents


“United States of ALEC,” a report on the most
influential corporate-funded political force most of America has
never heard of — ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange
Council. A national consortium of state politicians and powerful
corporations, ALEC presents itself as a “nonpartisan
public-private partnership”. But behind that mantra lies a
vast network of corporate lobbying and political action aimed to
increase corporate profits at public expense without public
knowledge.

He said more

on Huffington Post Wednesday,

Continue reading →

Southern Company: let’s do the renewable energy study for Georgia

Mark Z. Jacobson's study shows

offshore wind is plentiful from Virginia to Maine
Let's

do the study for Georgia!
Southern Company

brags about its private R&D:

Research & Development (since the 1960s)


  • Awarded more than $1.3 billion to conduct more than $3.8 billion of research and development.
  • Qualified for $412 million of investment tax credits for a 21st century coal plant being built in Mississippi.

OK, SO, let's see you do the study to show what we can really do with



conservation, efficiency, wind, sun, and less natural gas than we have now.
Sure, in the Georgia Bight we do have to contend with hurricanes.
But a

"great, big company"
like SO should be able to focus its vaunted private R&D on that problem and solve it.

Maybe SO doesn't want to do that because the result might show there is no need for
any coal plants, nor new natural gas plants, nor any nuclear plants, which would mean
Georgia Power would have to give up its nuclear-funding rate-hike stealth tax
and SO would have to give up its $8.3 billion loan guarantee.
Hey, we might even need to

change the 1973 Georgia Electric Territorial Act,
and that might damage Georgia Power's guaranteed profit!
Nevermind that Georgia Power and SO might make more profit if they got out
in front on solar and wind power and a smart grid.

If SO won't do it, how about we elect some Public Service Commissioners and legislators who will?
For

jobs, energy independence, and profit, oh, and clean air and plenty of water!

-jsq

All U.S. east coast electricity could come from offshore wind 3 seasons out of 4

Why build nukes when wind can provide 3/4 of our power?
While Southern Company claims to be

“a company that is engaged in offering solutions, not just rhetoric”,
yet

does nothing about wind off the Georgia coast,


researchers in far California have demonstrated we can get
3/4 of all needed east coast electricity from offshore wind.

Bjorn Carey wrote for Stanford Report 14 September 2012,

Offshore wind energy could power entire U.S. East Coast, Stanford scientists say

A new analysis by Stanford researchers reveals that there is enough
offshore wind along the U.S. East Coast to meet the electricity
demands of at least one-third of the country.



The scientists paid special attention to the Maine-to-Virginia
corridor; the historical lack of strong hurricanes in the region
makes it a favorable site for offshore wind turbines. They found
that turbines placed there could satisfy the peak-time power needs
of these states for three seasons of the year (summer is the
exception).

“We knew there was a lot of wind out there, but this is the first
actual quantification of the total resource and the time of day that
the resource peaks,” said Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and
environmental engineering at Stanford who directed the research.
“This provides practical information to wind farm developers about
the best areas to place turbines.”



Mark Z. Jacobson already worked out a framework for

powering the entire world from wind, water, and sun alone.
The late
John Blackburn, Ph.D., showed us how

to power North Carolina with sun, wind, and hydro,
plus less natural gas than NC uses now.
Now Jacobson is working out the details of implementation.

-jsq



PS: Owed to Seth Gunning.

Industrial Authority goes solar, broadband, and conversational!

The Industrial Authority apparently listened to its focus groups,
and discovered that broadband and solar energy are important
to attract industry.
Andrea Schruijer even recommends conversation,
which has been sorely lacking in recent years.
Congratulations, Industrial Authority!

Jason Schaefer wrote for the VDT today,

Authority analyzes Valdosta business:
Broadband, solar power, professional services targeted for growth,



The Authority also plans to work toward the availability of more
broadband Internet service and solar power in Valdosta and
surrounding communities. These amenities would help support local
industries as well as draw new ones to the greater Valdosta area for
the creation of new jobs.

That’s a good start. Although it’s not clear from the writeup that VLCIA quite got it about
Internet access.

As part of presenting Valdosta as an attractive package for


prospective industries, the Authority attempts to ready the land set
aside for development before beginning the recruitment process. This
means investing in infrastructure, including broadband internet.

“It’s not that we don’t have broadband,” Schruijer said.
“What we’re looking at is the technology behind the broadband.
We have it in certain areas, but in order for us to grow some of
these core targets, such as professional services, we need that
infrastructure.”

Well, actually, no,



we don’t have broadband.
6Mbps is the fastest most people can get around here,
and 30Mbps is the slowest you can even buy in many countries.
Plus, it’s not just fast Internet to industrial sites that’s needed:

it’s fast Internet access everywhere knowledge-based employees
may want to live.

But they’re on the right track:

Because the Authority can’t “buy” industries into coming
to Valdosta—though it can offer tax abatements—it is
necessary to make sure that new businesses have what they will need
before ground is even broken, Schruijer said. To this effect, the
Authority will “stimulate the conversation” to actively
attract more broadband companies to the area.

A conversation!
Now there’s something we’ve been needing around here.
And it’s a refreshing change from only
a year ago when all we heard was



“Debate is not allowed.”

Maybe the Industrial Authority will be the organization that will show the
rest of us how to hold civil discussions about things that affect all of us!

The VDT’s writeup skips quickly over another big change:

Continue reading →

Energy experts making excuses for fracking

Numerous eminent current and former regulators, governors,
and legislators’ best advice for how to keep fracking from
polluting our aquifers and drinking water: “strict regulation”.
As Gandhi reputedly said about western civilization: that would be a good idea.
But in Georgia and many other places, where the regulatory agency
(GA PSC) and the legislature are pretty much captured by the utilities
they pretend to regulate, how will we get that “strict regulation”?

This was at a Politico event, sponsored by American Wind Power,
called Energy & the Presidency.

Join POLITICO for a lunch conversation with energy experts and
policy leaders

Energy & the Presidency panel
as they discuss current energy legislation, the
energy debates facing the nation, policy options and what’s ahead in
the year to come. Speakers include: ClearView Energy Partners’ Kevin
Book; former Administrator of the EPA and former Director of the
White House Office on Climate Change, Carol Browner; Rep. Ed Markey
(Mass.); former Gov. Bill Richardson (NM) and former Gov. Bill
Ritter (Colo.).

When: Wednesday, September 5, 2012 at 12:00 pm ET



This event was in North Carolina, where the late John Blackburn, Ph.D.
already reported two years ago that

the whole state could be powered by wind, sun, existing hydro, landfill gas, and less natural gas than is already in use,
why do we need fracking at all?

Georgia has similar real renewable energy potential,
plus studies by

Georgia Tech
and Duke
indicate that Georgia doesn’t need any additional total electric power
anyway, if it gets on with energy efficiency.
Add

solar and

wind instead of natural gas, and we can retire a lot of
coal plants.
With no need for fracking.

I have an idea:
let’s elect Public Service Commissioners and legislators who are not
beholden to the utilities they will regulate!

-jsq

Phase 2 Solar Power for the Wisenbaker Building —Ron Jackson

Phase 2 after
South GA Solar Power, LLC remediated the historic Wisenbaker Building
is solar generation, according to Ron Jackson.

We wanted to … remediate some of the problems first to reduce the load,
to reduce the energy consumption.


Phase 2 Solar Power for the Wisenbaker Building --Ron Jackson
Once we’ve done that, phase 2 kicks in, which is the solar power application.
If we’d done that first, we probably would have put on a 20KW system
to handle this load.
But because we’ve done the phase 1 project and reduced the energy load,
now we only need an 8-10 KW system,
so the prices have been reduced.
Next year hopefully it will be a fully green, fully functioned
solar power application.

Right in downtown Valdosta!



The

historic Wisenbaker Building,
100 North Patterson Street, is at the corner of West Hill Avenue.
It was

purchased by Gino Fina in 2006,
and is now used as

Valdosta Shared Office Space.

Here’s

the video.


Phase 2 Solar Power for the Wisenbaker Building –Ron Jackson

Pictures and video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 5 May 2012.

-jsq