{"id":6457,"date":"2013-10-31T11:50:02","date_gmt":"2013-10-31T15:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=6457"},"modified":"2013-10-31T12:05:46","modified_gmt":"2013-10-31T16:05:46","slug":"video-of-citizens-in-athens-opposing-georgia-power-solar-tax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/10\/video-of-citizens-in-athens-opposing-georgia-power-solar-tax.html","title":{"rendered":"Video of citizens in Athens opposing Georgia Power solar tax"},"content":{"rendered":"

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nAnother city, more citizens opposed to Georgia Power’s solar tax,\r\nand to Georgia Power’s rate hikes for fossil fuels and nukes.\r\n

\r\n\r\n\"Seth<\/a>\r\nHyacinth Manacap Empinado wrote for Athens Patch today,\r\n\r\n“No” To Rate Hike for Georgia Power, Say Residents at Athens Meeting:\r\nPeople urged Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols to vote against the Georgia Power rate hike request.<\/a>,\r\n

\r\n

\r\n\r\n\"Tim<\/a>\r\nEchols says that part of the money will be used to clean up older\r\ncoal plants and convert some plants to burn cleaner, natural gas.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nIf approved, the hikes will take effect in 2014.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\r\n\"Liz<\/a>\r\nBasil Campbell, Athens resident and a Georgia Power customer, told\r\nEchols to refuse the rate increase and the solar tariff.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n“It is the responsibility of the commissioners to ensure that\r\nthe health and welfare of the people is not overlooked in the name\r\nof profit,” Campbell said.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\r\n\"Athens<\/a>\r\nA few wondered why solar power was singled out among other ways of\r\nreducing demand from the Georgia Power grid.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n“Why only solar panels?” asked Roger Hilten. “It\r\nseems very arbitrary to choose that over some other kind of\r\ntechnology. “\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nWell, we know why:\r\nbecause\r\nas\r\n\r\nelectric utility think tank Edison Electric reported earlier this year<\/a>,\r\ndistributed rooftop solar power\r\nis a disruptive development that will burn the utilities’\r\ncozy century-old baseload capacity business model.\r\n

\r\nWho do the Public Service Commissioners represent?\r\nThe public, or Georgia Power’s 11% guaranteed profit?\r\n

\r\n

\r\n\r\n\"Athens<\/a>\r\nSara Black, an anthropology and ecology junior, urged the Public\r\nService Commission not to allow Georgia Power to recoup costs in\r\nadvance of their coal-fired plants going online.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n“While I believe those improvements are necessary and I\r\nbelieve that the public should be investing in those improvements if\r\nthey are necessary, I think that advanced cost recovery leaves a\r\nvacancy of accountability for how that money is being used,”\r\nBlack said.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nRoss Pringle believes that imposing fees on solar power while\r\nrate-payers subsidize coal is the wrong way to go.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n“We shouldn’t tax something that’s positive like solar power\r\nand then subsidize negative which is dirty coal,” Pringle\r\nsaid.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nTony Di Pietro, a military veteran and law enforcement officer, said\r\nboils it down to a matter of personal choice.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n“The stuff that I have done all my life is to preserve our\r\nright to have a choice,” Di Pietro says. “We do not have\r\na choice with more monopoly of Georgia power and them trying to\r\ncharge a tariff if you would like to put solar power in your own\r\nhouse.”\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nHe adds that in many other states utility companies will gladly\r\npurchase excess power from customers.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n“Now they want to sit here and tell us we have to pay them and\r\nuse it,” he says. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to use\r\nit. It’s supposed to be a free country.”\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nYay\r\n\r\nHyacinth Empinado<\/a>\r\nfor videoing the meeting and putting it on YouTube yesterday, where she wrote:\r\n

\r\nThe Sierra Club and Georgia Watch hosted a town hall meeting in Athens with Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols to hear citizens’ thoughts on the proposed Georgia Power rate hike.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nIn\r\n\r\nGainesville<\/a>,\r\nPublic Service Commissioner Tim Echols said he would take citizens\r\nconcerns back to the PSC.\r\nIn Athens, he said:\r\n

\r\n

\r\n“Every citizen that I have heard from opposes a rate increase,” said\r\nEchols, the only public service commissioner in the meeting. “The\r\ndecision, however, is far more complex than just adding up\r\nresponses. We approve the power company’s return on equity and their\r\nrevenue requirements per Georgia law, and those calculations\r\ndetermine the financial health of the company.”\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nThe Georgia Public Service Commissioners will vote on the proposed\r\nrate hike on Dec. 7.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nOh, yeah, far more complex than representing the people who elected the PSC.\r\nGot to factor in those\r\n\r\nmassive utility campaign contributions<\/a>.\r\nOr do what you did so recently, GA PSC,\r\n\r\nwhen you doubled the amount of solar power Georgia Power has to buy<\/a>:\r\nvote for the people, not the plutocrats.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nHere’s\r\n\r\nthe video:<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n

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