Received today, with this note.
FYI—this is now open to any residents of Lowndes County, not just City of Valdosta. Please spread the word. It is a great way to learn a LOT more about your local government.
Tim Carroll
Councilman District 5
City of Valdosta
Here’s the application. Continue reading
And the same is true in Georgia, despite Georgia Power and Southern Company.
John Downey wrote for Charlotte Business Journal 23 October 2013, Study: Solar benefits outweigh costs in NC
An independent study published by a nationally known energy consultant asserts that adding 500 megawatts of solar generation in North Carolina would save utility ratepayers about $26 million annually.
It notes the gains from solar projects — such as lower transmission and distribution costs, avoided emissions, lower losses of electricity in transmission. The study calculates that such benefits outweigh the costs by 30 percent to 40 percent.
Update 2017-04-25: Energy NC seems to have removed or moved its copy of that report, but fortunately SEIA lists it on a backup website, and I’ve linked it into the quotation above, plus a copy on the LAKE website. SEIA also lists many other studies for other states, such as one for Virginia which is on the MDV-SEIA website, and now also has a copy on the LAKE website. For Georgia SEIA lists the testimony of GSEIA before the Georgia Public Service Commission in 2013. For Florida SEIA lists only a very old (2003) study with a broken link, which can be found as a google book, but now would mostly be worthwhile as a museum piece. Duke’s own actions in Florida in 2016 and 2017 indicate Duke Energy knows the sun is rising even on the Sunshine State.
The study considered two intertwined solar methods: Continue reading
A county
no bigger than Lowndes County has
agendas and minutes online for
its Board of Commissioners, Board of Health, Local Emergency Planning Committee,
Board of Adjustment,
Board of Elections,
Social Services Board,
and yes, its Planning Board.
Why can Nash County, NC afford this yet Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter
says Lowndes County can’t afford to put agendas and minutes online for
the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission?
And if a county can require a solar farm to follow stormwater management
and numerous other regulations, why can’t a county require a natural
gas pipeline to follow local regulations?
It can, if its elected officials actually stand up for their citizens.
And why can Nash County, quite a bit north of Lowndes County,
install solar farm after solar farm while there are none in Lowndes County?
The Nash County online documents also include the details of what the various boards were considering, such as in the Agenda and Minutes of the Nash County Planning Board 21 October 2013, which include this item:
- Conditional Use Permit Request CU-130901 (Previously Tabled Item).
Made by Chris Killenberg With Community Energy Solar on Behalf of Castalia Solar LLC to Develop a Solar Farm on an Approximately 22.91 Acre Portion of Two Tracts Located on the West Side of N NC Highway 58 and South of NC Highway 56 in the A1 Agricultural Zoning District.
And not just the agenda item, also extended discussion in the meeting, including: Continue reading
Utilities are trying increasingly desperate tactics in their
losing battle against distributed rooftop solar power.
It’s time for them to get out in front and lead instead.
Clare Foran wrote for NationalJournal Are Utilities Wilting From Heat of Solar Competition?
Regulatory battles over solar power payment models played out in several states this year. And as the dust settles, solar providers are claiming victory. Utilities, on the other hand, are trying to reframe the conversation entirely by insisting they aren’t an enemy of solar.
After discussing utlities’ attempts to bash net metering, she notes the Sierra Club hard-won victory over the ALEC solar tax:
In November, Georgia Power backed down Continue reading
Here’s a handy form by EFF to oppose the secretly-negotiated privacy-deleting corporate-greed-defending natural gas export pipeline-enabling Trans-Pacific Parternship treaty.
Parker Higgins and Maira Sutton wrote for the Electronic Frontier Foundation 28 December 2013, 2013 in Review: The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement,
The biggest TPP story this year was the publication by WikiLeaks in November of the chapter titled “Intellectual Property.” Unfortunately, its contents confirmed many of our worst fears: from ratcheting up copyright term lengths around the world, to boxing in fair use, to mandating a draconian legal regime around DRM software, section after section contained clauses plucked from corporate wishlists and snubbed the public interest altogether.
And then there’s Ted Poe’s House Subcommittee pushing TPP for LNG exports that would propel “natural” fracked gas pipelines such as Spectra Energy’s Sabal Transmission gas pipe through private property and public rivers and watersheds and aquifers.
Here’s what’s up next: Continue reading
VP of Stakeholder Outreach Susan Waller doesn’t want visitors
at Spectra’s new office in Valdosta.
Which is in the same building as the Industrial Authority,
which also didn’t really want some visitors it got during
the biomass controversy.
Matthew Woody wrote for the VDT yesterday, Sabal Trail opens Valdosta office,
Susan Waller, vice president of stakeholder outreach and sustainability said, “That is our right-of-way office. It has about 30 right-of-way agents, survey crews, our files and documents, and a few meeting rooms.”
The office houses agents for three counties and will be open in Valdosta for approximately five years, Waller said.
Sabal Trail has eight offices along the pipeline’s route, she said.
“These are not really the facilities for residents to drop by to express concerns because all of the agents will be in and out of the office constantly; however, they could call and make an appointment.”
The VDT didn’t mention that Continue reading
Can’t miss this driving north on I-95:
acres of solar panels next to the highway,
paying a local farmer for decades.
MacDonald wrote for enerG September/October 2012, Solar picking upsteam in the U.S. South,
The Sandy Cross solar farm is the most recent project completed by O2energies, a mid-sized Charlotte-based solar development firm that has built a reputation for combining sustainable agriculture and sustainable energy production on farms in the southeastern U.S. The company owns and operates several solar farms in North Carolina.
The company’s president, Joel Olsen, notes that agriculture and energy production can complement each other. Solar farms have a low profile, are noiseless, produce no pollution, and consume no water.
Olsen points out an interesting fact: solar farms can often be Continue reading
You can have fun and support the local economy
at
South Georgia Growing Local 2014.
Farm Tour (citrus, sheep, olives, and row crops) Friday 24 January 2014, plus also dinner and a movie.
Learn a lot and eat well with the local community at the talks Saturday 25 January 2014, about animals, orchards, gardens, health, farmer experiences, and policy.
You can register using this form.
And you can join events on facebook for the farm tour and the talks so everybody can see you’re going; don’t forget to register, too!
Here’s the conference flyer for more information: Continue reading
Sombody should tell Georgia Power and Southern Company
they’re still pushing a dead power source.
It’s time to go from far-too-expensive nuclear directly
to solar onshore and wind offshore.
Remember in the last year or so five U.S. nukes have been shut down and five more have been cancelled while in Canada two more have been cancelled, plus maybe two more, and maybe as many as six are to be shut down. Dr Jim Green wrote for Ecologist yesterday, The nuclear renaissance is stone cold dead,
Perhaps the most shocking developments have been in the United States, where the industry is finding it increasingly difficult to profitably operate existing reactors—especially ageing reactors requiring refurbishments—let alone build new ones.
Almost half of the world’s reactors Continue reading
The Army Corps of Engineers has released a Draft Environmental Assessment and a Draft Finding of No Significant Impact for putting more sand on Tybee Island beach, also known as “renourishment”.
Mary Landers wrote for ajc.com yesterday, Tybee beach renourishment plans move forward,
The renourishment process involves using a cutterhead dredge to move about 1.7 million cubic yards of high quality sand from an area located 1.5 miles from the southern tip of Tybee Island. The deposited sand would be enough to compensate for the erosion expected to occur over the subsequent nine years. The project will include placing sand up to the north terminal groin. This northern area was included in previous renourishment cycles, but not the 2008 renourishment.
“It is good news,” said Tybee council member Paul Wolff. “Obviously we depend on the beach for our economy. Everything that gets done to move the process forward helps. We’re optimistic we’ll get the federal cost share again.”
Hm, I wonder if this contact information would work for other projects: Continue reading