Tag Archives: expenses

Videos: Budget Public Hearing #2, Lowndes County @ LCC Budget 2015-06-23



Only one citizen spoke at the second Budget Hearing 5PM 23 June 2015:
Gretchen Quarterman asking for approval of the VLMPO request
for funding for a public transportation study.
The Chairman said they weren’t going to, and shortly afterwards
at their Regular Session they didn’t, although they did approve more than that for a water main subsidy for
private developers
.

The 5PM meeting was billed on
the county’s website as

Budget Adoption Meeting

and the previous morning by the Chairman as

a presentation by the Finance Director
.
Is it a public hearing if it’s never advertised as a public hearing?

At least the proposed budget is on the county’s website,
just not where Continue reading

Budget Adoption Meeting, Lowndes County @ LCC Budget 2015-06-23

A Budget Adoption Meeting 5PM before the 5:30 PM Regular Session,


as alluded to at
yesterday morning’s Work Session
.
Is this a second Budget Hearing?
Does it count if it’s not advertised as a Hearing?
And it turns out the proposed budget is on the county’s website,
just not where they previously said it would be.


Budget Adoption Meeting
,

[5:00-5:30PM] Tuesday, June 23 Continue reading

Already: Solar grid parity without subsidies in India and Italy

Solar power is going so well worldwide that Deutsche Bank has just
increased its projections for global demand,
noting that India and Italy have already in 2013 reached grid parity
without subsidies with other sources of energy,
and it expects the rest of the world to follow as early as 2014.
The big winner is rooftop solar.

Is Georgia paying attention?

Becky Beetz wrote for Global PV 26 February 2013,

Deutsche Bank: Sustainable solar market expected in 2014
,



Buoyed by bullish demand forecasts, and increasing utilization rates
and pricing, Deutsche Bank forecasts a solar market transition from
subsidized to sustainable in 2014. Italy REC solar photovoltaic
plant

The German bank has raised its 2013 global solar demand forecast to
30 GW — representing a 20% year-on-year increase — on
the back of suggestions of strong demand in markets including India,
the U.S., China (around 7 to 10 GW), the U.K. (around 1 to 2 GW),
Germany and Italy (around 2 GW).

Rooftop installations are, in particular, expected to be a main
focus, says Deutsche Bank. A trend for projects being planned with
either “minimal/no incentives” has also been observed, despite the
belief that solar policy outlooks are improving, particularly in the
U.S., China and India, and “other emerging markets”.

More analysis by
Jeff Spross in ThinkProgress 3 March 2013,

Solar Report Stunner: Unsubsidized ‘Grid Parity Has Been Reached In India’, Italy–With More Countries Coming in 2014
.

As Renew Economy also
points out
, this is the third report in the past month

Continue reading

Levy Co. FL nuke likely not to be built

Cost already sunk Kewaunee, Calvert Cliffs, Crystal River, and are gnawing
away at San Onofre: now it looks like new owner Duke is not
likely to build Progress Energy's Levy County, Florida reactor.
All that plus even in Georgia, even against all-powerful Georgia Power,
there's a reaction against the cost of the always-later always-more-expensive
new nukes at Plant Vogtle on the Savannah River.
A reaction that's getting written up in the Valdosta Daily Times.

In the VDT today from AP,

Some leaders souring on nuclear power costs
.
I'm quoting from the abcNews version
because it includes the author's name, Ray Henry,
and the original date, 3 March 2013.
I added all the links and images.



As the cost of building a new nuclear plant soars, there are signs
of buyer's remorse.

The second-guessing from officials in Georgia and Florida is a sign
that maybe the nation is not quite ready for a nuclear renaissance.
On top of construction costs running much higher than expected, the
price of natural gas has plummeted, making it tough for nuclear
plants to compete in the energy market.

In Georgia last week, Southern Co. told regulators it needed to
raise its construction budget for Plant Vogtle in eastern Georgia by
$737 million to $6.85 billion. At about the same time, a Georgia
lawmaker sought to penalize the company for going over budget,
announcing a proposal to cut into Southern Co.'s profits by trimming
some of the money its subsidiary Georgia Power makes.

And Southern Company and Georgia Power slipped the Plant Vogtle schedule
still more,

from 15 to 19 months late
.

The legislation has a coalition of tea party, conservative and
consumer advocacy groups behind it, but faces a tough sale in the
Republican-controlled General Assembly. GOP Rep. Jeff Chapman found
just a single co-sponsor, Democratic Rep. Karla Drenner.



That's

HB 267: Financing costs; construction of nuclear generating plant
.
And AP failed to mention

Georgia Sierra Club's support for HB 267
.

As a regulated monopoly, Georgia Power currently earns about 11
percent in profits when it invests its own money into power
projects. Chapman's legislation would reduce those profits if the
nuclear project is over budget, as is the current projection.

In Florida, there's a move to completely
eliminate Construction Work in Progress (CWIP)
such as is being used in Georgia to pre-fund the new Plant Vogtle nukes.

In Florida, lawmakers want to end the practice of utilities
collecting fees from customers before any electricity is produced.

Florida only recently got CWIP, but Progress Energy has been quick to profit by it:

Continue reading

HB 267 Would Limit Georgia Power’s Profits on Vogtle’s Cost Overruns —GA Sierra Club

There’s still time to contact your state legislators about stopping
Georgia Power profitting from cost overruns on the new nukes
at Plant Vogtle.
Georgia Sierra Club spells out why.



Georgia Power’s expansion at Plant Vogtle will bring us power that
is dangerous, expensive and unnecessary.

You may remember a controversial bill the Georgia Legislature
approved in 2009,

SB 31, the Nuclear Construction Work in Progress
(CWIP) bill
, which forces Georgia Power ratepayers to pay the
financing costs during construction, rather than over the life of
the plant. Large users of electricity are exempt from the charge,
but residential and mom and pop businesses have been paying for two
years.

Even after that sweetheart deal, the Public Service Commissioners
scrapped their staff

proposal
to stop the company from profiting on
cost overruns for the project after they top $300 million.

The most recent reports from the independent monitor established by
the PSC says

that the project is months behind and as of December,
$88 million over budget. Georgia Power gets to earn 11.15% return on
all expenses approved by the PSC, so the more they have to spend,
the more they get to make and the more ratepayers get to pay!

Putting the profit issue aside for the moment, if the Georgia PSC
ever decided to disapprove cost overruns, Georgia Power could take a
page from the Mississippi Power playbook and just get the
Legislature to let them issue bonds to pay for the work.


HB 267
by freshman Rep. Jeff Chapman excludes the collection of any
profits on cost overruns beyond the

$6.4 billion the Public Service Commission has approved
.
The bill is co-sponsored by Avondale
Estates Democrat Karla Drenner, who is a member of the Utilities
Committee, to which the bill was assigned. Passage of this bill
would provide an incentive for Georgia Power to keep expenses down
at Vogtle, something that SB 31 failed to do.

It isn’t fair for Georgia Power to profit to the tune of over 11% on
delays, overruns and mismanagement, so

ask your State Representative to support HB 267
.

-jsq

Mayor Fretti Ethics Hearing



George Boston Rhynes sent this video of the Valdosta City Council’s
ethics hearing about Mayor Fretti’s travel expenses.
George remarks:

Searching for the truth in a web of questions….

The first citizen voice heard is Roy Taylor,
whose investigation instigated this hearing, and
whom the VDT since informs us (in their paper edition)
has donated to almost every Valdosta City Council member.

Here’s

the video
. -jsq

The rest of George’s videos of this hearing
are posted here.

-jsq

Industrial Authority Defensive about Minutes



Could the Industrial Authority try any harder to make it look like
they’ve got something to hide?
Of all things to go to the mattresses about: their board minutes?

The VDT picked up on our series about

a local citizen being overcharged for an open records request for
VLCIA agendas and minutes.

In a front page Sunday VDT story,

David Rodock reports:

In response, The Valdosta Daily Times submitted their own Open Records
Request for the salaries of all Industrial Authority employees.

According to the information provided by the Authority, the lowest paid
fulltime employee, the Operations Manager, is paid an annual salary
of $46,526.

When this number is divided by 2080, (52 weeks multiplied by 40 hours
per week) it shows that the lowest paid full-time employee is making
$22.40 per hour.

The salary quoted on the invoice is not the same as either

Continue reading

Five hours of staff time to copy agendas and minutes?

Why does it take someone paid $24.23 an hour to convert agendas and minutes
to PDF?

Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority, VLCIA, Open Records Request,
Bobbi Anne Hancock asked Allan Ricketts why

a bunch of agendas and minutes should cost $125.09?

She received back this itemized invoice:



 

Apparently the lowest paid VLCIA employee who can convert documents to PDF is
paid $24.23 an hour.
According to

Georgia Code 50-18-71:

Continue reading