{"id":413,"date":"2012-10-15T15:22:50","date_gmt":"2012-10-15T19:22:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2012\/10\/ga-psc-questionnaire-answers-steve-oppenheimer.html"},"modified":"2012-10-15T15:22:50","modified_gmt":"2012-10-15T19:22:50","slug":"ga-psc-questionnaire-answers-steve-oppenheimer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2012\/10\/ga-psc-questionnaire-answers-steve-oppenheimer.html","title":{"rendered":"GA PSC questionnaire answers: Steve Oppenheimer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\n\"Steve<\/a>\nThe Georgia Sierra Club sent a questionnaire to all candidates for\nGeorgia Public Service Commission.\nNone of the incumbents answered.\nThe two challengers did.\nHere’s the one from\nSteve Oppenheimer<\/a>\nfor District 3.\n-jsq\n<\/p>\n

\n
    \n
  1. \nAs a Candidate for Public Service Commission, what is your campaign strategy for achieving 50% +1 of the votes cast?\n

    \n[I’m omitting the answers to this question. -jsq]\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \nHow should the Public Service Commission consider and\nweight the impacts to community health (asthma, cancer rates, etc.)\nand on Georgia’s environmental (water quantity, air quality etc.)\nwhen making decisions about a utility’s generation portfolio?\n

    \nThe PSC has a major role shaping energy policy for Georgia. I would\nlike to schedule PSC hearings on the relationship of power\nproduction and our air, water, morbidity and mortality and our\ngeneral quality of life. My professional background in dentistry &\nhealth care provides a keen understanding of the relationship of\npower generation and health. Dr David Satcher, former US Surgeon\nGeneral and Executive Director Satcher Health Leadership Institute\nat Morehouse University has become a friend and part of my\nprofessional network during the campaign. I would like to see PSC\nconvene hearings on the topic. Georgians for a Healthy Future, a\nrelatively new, broad based, organization would provide another\nforum for discussion of these issues. Membership in Georgians for a\nHealthy Future includes Georgia Legislators on both sides of the\naisle. The PSC must be a leader on these issues\u2014as the\nlegislature as a body will likely not be progressive on these\nissues.\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

    \n
      \n
    1. \nAs a Public Service Commissioner, would you enforce utility\nresource diversification by mandating a continued expansion of\nGeorgia Power’s energy efficiency and solar energy capacity? If so,\nwhat would your mandates look like?\n

      \nEnergy efficiency and Renewable Energy (including solar energy) with\nspecific percentage targets must be part of the language within the\n2013 Integrated Resource Plan agreed to between the PSC and Georgia\nPower as Georgia plans for its long term energy needs. The State\nEnergy Strategy Report (SES 2006 & updated 2012) and the Georgia\nEnvironmental Finance Authority make clear Georgia must diversify\nits energy mix to achieve \u201cEnergy Assurance\u201d- which in\nmy campaign language I have called \u201cEnergy Security.\u201d\nDuring the Resource Planning process the utility will reveal 20 year\nprojection of energy demand as well as plant closures and plant\nconversions to natural gas from coal. It is within these parameters\nthat energy efficiency and renewable energy strategies can be made\nto be part of the solution.\n<\/p>\n

      \nIn the PSC Debate at Emory University I went on record suggesting an\nEnergy Efficiency goal for 2015 of 1-2%. While still in\nconsultation, with my technical advisory team for specific renewable\nenergy percentage targets, I think 0.5% by 2015 with 0.5% annual\nincreases is feasible.\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    2. \nDo you believe that the Georgia Territorial Act allows for\nrenewable energy power purchase agreements and third party sales? As\na Public Service Commissioner, what would you do to ensure Consumers\nretain the right to generate electricity from renewable energy on\ntheir own property?\n

      \nI’ve made it a platform issue from day 1; No one will more staunchly\ndefend homeowner’s rights\u2014including the ability to generate\npower on their own property. The Territorial Act was created by the\nGeorgia Legislature and ultimately this is the entity that would\nmodify it. I will use my bully-pulpit on the PSC to testify at the\nGeneral Assembly in support of a bill that would give Georgia\nproperty owners the ability of consumer choice enabled by financing.\nWhen the Solar Bill was in play during the last General Assembly,\nthe silence from the PSC was deafening. The PSC should convene\npublic hearings on this topic: \u201cWhy does 3rd Party financing\nworking in 45 other states and not Georgia?\u201d\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    3. \nWould you advocate for the repeal of the Nuclear Construction\nWork in Progress Tax? When Georgia Power Seeks additional\ncost-recovery for the expansion of Plant Vogtle would you, as a\nPublic Service Commissioner, require risk-sharing mechanisms or deny\nthose requests in order to shift the economic burden of construction\ncost-overruns from rate-payers to share-holders? At what degree of\ncost overrun would the cost-recovery be denied?\n

      \nShould it be necessary for the PSC to \u201ccertify\u201d an\namount greater than the originally approved budget, due to cost\noverruns I will fight to see that \u201crisk-sharing\u201d is\nadded to the Vogtle agreement. The shareholders of the corporations\ninvolved should have \u201cskin in the game\u201d, not just the\nratepayers. I would expect that \u201cimprudent\u201d cost\nover-runs be denied recovery. The PSC must set a precedent of\nfighting for the average Georgian NOT for the utilities\u2014we as\nratepayers should expect high quality and timely construction in ALL\nconstruction proposals that involve expense to the ratepayer. All\nconstruction projects with which I have been involved had both\n\u201ccontingency\u201d and \u201cchange order\u201d allowances\nwithin the original budget. I would hope this is true of this\nproject and cost overruns are not passed thru to the consumer.\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    4. \nHigh-risk investments into new nuclear and traditional fossil\nfuels development are taxing to our state’s water resources. In\ncases of severe drought, water \u2014dependent generating\nfacilities will be forced to shut-down operations. As a Public\nService Commissioner, what will you do to ensure a diverse energy\nportfolio which protects Georgia’s vital water supply and the\nGeorgia Public from rolling brown-outs?\n

      \nI’ve been following this issue for months\u2014and it has been\ndiscussed on the campaign trail. I am very concerned that erratic\nweather patterns, droughts, etc will put at risk the traditional\npower sources. New Thermo-electric plant (i.e. Natural Gas)\nconstruction areas must be heavily vetted to the impact they will\nhave on their respective water sheds. Further diversifying the\nenergy mix to include Solar PV, Wind (off coast) and energy\nefficiency will be crucial if we are to prevent brown-outs in\nperiods of extreme weather.\n<\/p>\n

      \nThe 2012 Georgia Energy Report by the Georgia Environmental Finance\nAuthority point out the interrelationship of Energy Production and\nlimited water resources. Water & Energy are currently in different\nagencies. There must be communication and coordination between these\nagencies as part of the Resource Planning.\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    5. \nDo you support prohibiting campaign and lobbying contributions to\nPSC Candidates or incumbents from utilities regulated by the PSC as\nwell as from both their employees and law firms?\n

      \nYes, I will refuse any lobbyist gift or a campaign contribution from\nthe agents of the utility companies to my campaign.\n<\/p>\n

      \nI think there is a better and higher use for $100K a year in gifts\nand contributions utilities invest in the PSC race.- I would\nrespectfully request this money instead be used to convene a\nstatewide forum for our university students studying energy and\nsustainability to learn from leaders in those fields so we may\nexpand the vision for Georgia’s future. Perhaps we can even create\nan \u201cX-prize\u201d competition for improving the way we use\nand manage our energy in Georgia.\n<\/p>\n

      \nI believe the outcome in the long term would spur innovation,\nimprove energy policy and ultimately create more jobs as we\ndiversify our energy mix and protect our air and water resources. I\nhave developed relationships with Professors around Georgia who are\ninterested in this project, to whom it could be\n\u201cin-sourced\u201d to Georgia for implementation.\n<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Georgia Sierra Club sent a questionnaire to all candidates for Georgia Public Service Commission. None of the incumbents answered. The two challengers did. Here’s the one from Steve Oppenheimer for District 3. -jsq As a Candidate for Public Service Commission, what is your campaign strategy for achieving 50% +1 of the votes cast? [I’m […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[142,14,49,264,265,16,70,17,8,18,2,20,104,21,22,32,23,24,55],"tags":[8746,8704,8721,1564,8754,8755,8706,8728,8707,8701,8708,379,8699,8702,8710,12,7,8737,8711,8712,8715,8713,34,8714,1543,6,8727],"class_list":["post-413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cwip","category-economy","category-elections","category-energy-conservation","category-energy-efficiency","category-environment","category-ethics","category-ga-psc","category-georgia","category-georgia-power","category-government","category-law","category-nuclear","category-planning","category-politics","category-pollution","category-renewable-energy","category-solar","category-water","tag-cwip","tag-economy","tag-elections","tag-electric-territorial-service-act","tag-energy-conservation","tag-energy-efficiency","tag-environment","tag-ethics","tag-ga-psc","tag-georgia","tag-georgia-power","tag-georgia-sierra-club","tag-government","tag-lake","tag-law","tag-lowndes-area-knowledge-exchange","tag-lowndes-county","tag-nuclear","tag-planning","tag-politics","tag-pollution","tag-renewable-energy","tag-sierra-club","tag-solar","tag-steve-oppenheimer","tag-valdosta","tag-water"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-6F","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}