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Archive for the ‘Energy’ Category

Fed’s getting into the energy storage act, along with the TCEQ ?

Posted in Efficiency, Energy, natural gas, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 28, 2010 |

Long thought to be the last commodity that can’t be saved for later use, large scale electrical energy storage is finally looking like a technology who’s time might have come.

Recently introduced the “Storage Technology of Renewable and Green Energy Act of 2010” Act (S. 3617) introduced by U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) stands to finally get things moving in the energy storage development space.

To go along with that, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality announced that they are taking applications for a Texas Emissions Reduction Program (TERP) new technology implementation grant (NTIG) on energy storage based on a bill that got passed last session (yes they did pass a few bills last session). Anyone that needs a cool 3 mil to get a project off the ground should consider applying as applications are due by September 17 and, if congress can get their act together, there might be a 20% tax credit to sweeten the pot.

Energy storage has been called the holy grail of renewable’s by members of the Leg and could potentially solve a bunch of technical issues on the Texas electrical grid depending on the technology implemented. Compressed air storage, fast acting flywheels, super conducting magnetic loops and all sort of different batteries each provide a different solution to various problems.

Grid stabilization is one that needs to be looked at in the near future. Using solid state electronics these storage solutions can react in fractions of a second (and less then one of the 60 cycles per second our electrical system runs on) to smooth the flow of electrons from the generator to your home and business and reducing the speed that a gas generator needs to react to an increase or decrease in load on the electrical grid.

Large scale storage will allow wind (which blows mostly at night in Texas) and solar to be stored and used when the energy is most needed (all though solar produces most of its energy at peak load already). Batteries, suitably placed like the one EET built in Presidio can reduce the need to build new transmission lines and substations. Lets hope our Legislators (both in Texas and at the federal level) can do something to move this new technology along. It can support the increasing amount of renewable’s we need to build, stabilize our electrical system and reduce emissions by making renewable energy available when we need it, and providing fast acting response when the grid needs a little extra juice, rather than firing up another gas turbine, or help us, a coal plant.

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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.

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Human error causes a partial shutdown of Texas nuclear plant

Posted in Energy, Nuclear, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 27, 2010 |

STP

South Texas Project

Human error appears to have caused a partial shutdown last Friday at the South Texas Project, one of the state’s two nuclear plants.

Last week, prices spiked in the wholesale electricity market.  On Monday the 16th,  wholesale electricity, which had been selling for less than $30 per megawatt-hour spiked to more than $2,000.  That’s an increase of more than 7,000 percent. Prices also spiked several times to the $1,000 level. A price spike of $2,200 is especially startling, given that the regulatory cap is set at $2,250. That is, the wholesale prices legally could not have gone much higher.  At the same time, according to the Electric Reliabiilty Council of Texas (ERCOT), who manages the Texas electricity grid, a new record for statewide power use was set.

Then, to top off the week, Unit 1 of the South Texas Project apparently tripped off (also known in the industry as a SCRAM – an acronym for safety control rod axe man but which is essentially an emergency shutdown of a nuclear reactor).

The event, first reported in a trade journal SNL Power Daily, was apparently caused by human error. “The NRC said in its Aug. 23 event report that the unit experienced an automatic reactor trip that was caused by an inadvertent turbine signal initiated during testing,” reported SNL’s Jay Hodgkins, citing the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The publication reported that power was restored by Monday. It’s unclear whether the outage contributed to the price spikes, although that seems likely.

I guess I’ll take a contribution to a price spike over a meltdown any day, but still kind of scarey!

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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.

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TCEQ POSTS INTERACTIVE BARNETT SHALE MAP

Posted in Air Quality, Energy, natural gas, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 27, 2010 |

Live downwind from the Barnett Shale ?

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality posted an interactive map of the Barnett Shale on its website that allows you to see the latest data from the various air quality monitoring sites near natural gas drilling and pipeline facilities.

Barnett Shale Air Sampling Map Viewer

Barnett Shale Air Sampling Map Viewer

Be forwarned however that the information contained on this website is not for the faint of heart or the  casual internet surfer.  Those who venture through the maze that is the TCEQ website, without much beyond a basic familiarity of the terms associated with measuring the sundry compounds that can escape from gas operation facilities, might find themselves challenged to understand what the map offers.

TCEQ has been under pressure from North Texas lawmakers and from various interest groups to provide the public with as much information as possible about how gas operations in the urbanized Barnett Shale might be affecting air quality. And the introduction of the map comes just four days after the chairmen of the House and Senate committees that oversee environmental regulations prompted the agency to more than double the number of air monitoring sites in the Barnett Shale.

TCEQ also announced today that it plans to hold an open house in the Barnett Shale area in October that will feature interactive displays and presentations where residents can learn about specific regulatory activities in the area. Details about when and where the open house will take place are not yet available but we will let you know as soon as we know.

TCEQ has said that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency evaluated its monitoring operations in the tiny town of Dish and found no reason to doubt the validity of the test results.

Feeling adventurous?  Want to to spend part of your weekend wandering around virtually through the new interactive map? Click here.

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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.

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Report Shows Dangers of Coal Ash Waste Sites Throughout the US

Posted in Coal, Energy, Global Warming, Toxics, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 27, 2010 |

In Winter of 2008 a coal ash slurry pond in Tennessee broke its damn, contaminating miles of downstream waterways and people’s homes with deadly carcinogens and other toxic substances. At the time it was called the worst environmental disaster since the Exxon Valdez and brought  a wake up call to the EPA that this waste product was entirely under-regulated. EPA now stands poised to set new regulations on coal ash waste, but the coal industry is lobbying strenuously against it, advocating for a much weaker standard that will do little to change the status quo.

The Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) has just released a report called In Harm’s Way which takes a look at groundwater contamination surrounding coal ash waste sites throughout the country. The report showed that contaminants at 39 coal-waste sites across 21 states have leached into the groundwater. Many coal ash sites did not have enough data available to show any meaningful results, particularly here in Texas, but the Fayette coal plant (which Austin is a partial owner in) showed considerable contamination beneath their site. Adam Engelman, Environmental Analyst with EIP, stated that:

At every one of the coal ash dump sites equipped with groundwater monitoring wells — concentrations of heavy metals such as arsenic or lead exceed federal health-based standards for drinking water, with concentrations at LCRA’s Fayette Power Project reaching as high as 4 times the state standard for selenium and twice the state standard for arsenic.

The report shows that coal ash itself is a disaster simply by existing, regardless of catastrophic events like what happened in Tennessee almost two years ago. EPA must not give into industry lobbyists and pass weak regulations that will fail public health and the environment. Visit Sierra Club’s Coal Ash website for information on an EPA hearing near you, and to sign up to speak at the hearings. If you cannot make the hearings you can also submit online comments here – be sure to ask EPA to adopt the strictest regulations possible.

In order to make a profit, coal companies rely on making the public pay for the damage they cause. We should no longer have to bear the cost of their mistakes and irresponsibility.

You can see the EIP report here and you can see the press conference that was held Thursday in Austin here:

Press Conference, Sponsored by Berman, Leo – Sierra Club on Coal Combustion Waste

or by going to the Texas House of Representatives video archive and clicking on the link dated 8/26/10 with the same title.

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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.

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Texas State Rep. Patrick Rose rails against PEC Board decisions, lack of transparency

Posted in Co-op Reform, Energy, Good Government, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on August 25, 2010 |

Logo for PEC

Rep. Patrick Rose this morning had an opinion piece printed regarding transparency reforms at the  Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC) , echoing similar criticism from the Austin American Statesman last week.  I’m not saying I agree with every word Rep. Rose wrote here in this morning’s San Marcos Local News, but this shows that this will likely be an issue in the upcoming Legislative Session.  As a bit of history, Rep. Rose (D-Dripping Springs) and Senator Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay), both of whom are members of the co-op, tried to pass a bill to increase transparency at PEC last session, but that ultimately failed when, as with so many other issues, it got killed by Voter ID.

As an aside and for full transparency’s (ha!) sake, Rep. Rose is also my State Representative and I have to give him a big hat tip for the work he has done in working to reform the PEC, as that work directly affects the electric bills my family and neighbors pay every month.

Commentary
By PATRICK ROSE
District 45 State Representative

Rep. Patrick Rose by the river

Our three-county district is served entirely by electric co-ops and municipally owned systems. I believe that public power has served our area well and kept costs lower than other energy providers across the state. As we continue our efforts to protect and grow jobs in our region, energy affordability is key. This is one of the many reasons why I am committed to a strong and transparent Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC).

On Monday, Senator Troy Fraser (R-Marble Falls) and I spoke at the August meeting of the PEC board of directors. I appreciate every opportunity to meet with the board and co-op members about our reform efforts.

My remarks were focused on my strong disapproval of the board’s latest mistake that cost co-op members $1 million, firing its general manager days before the election of two new board members. In June, PEC seated its first ever 100 percent democratically elected board. This decision could have and should have waited until the new board members, duly elected by the members, were sworn in.

The two outgoing directors were part of the legacy board that allowed for and participated in the mismanagement and corruption at PEC that was brought to light over the last few years. They should not have been part of any decision that impacts the future of PEC. At the meeting, I repeatedly asked Larry Landaker, PEC’s board president, to explain why he and two other board members joined forces with the last two legacy members. He could not answer the question, and furthermore, he admitted that the board did not have cause for the firing, thus costing co-op members $1 million.

These actions are unacceptable and show the irresponsibility and lack of transparency that justify legislation. What co-op members can count on, regardless of the makeup of the PEC board or who is general manager, is that Sen. Fraser and I are committed to transparency and openness at our cooperative. The legislature will reconvene in January and we will proceed with our effort to statutorily protect members’ rights. (more…)

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Tres Amigas SuperStation on Track for 2014

Posted in Efficiency, Energy, Global Warming, green jobs, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , on August 20, 2010 |

Local energy storage company Xtream Power inks a deal to supply the Tres Amigas project with their technology. CH2M, another firm with central Texas connections (who has been hiring some of Austins finest green talent) lands the construction contract. Will local green engineers Kurt Lyell (one of the original founders of Austin Bio-fuels) or John Hoffner (KOOP radio Shades of Green) be working on this gem?

CH2M Hill lands contract for managing construction on the project. Will one grid rule them all?

A 22.5-sq.-mile site in the small town of Clovis, New Mexico is the only place in the United States where the three grids that service the western states, some eastern states, and the entire state of Texas all meet.

Tres Amigas Super Station in Clovis new mexico

TresAmigas Superstation

Sort of. The three grids come close to each other, but they aren’t connected. This prevents electricity from being transferred between the Eastern Interconnection (which services states like New York), the Western Interconnection (which services states like California), and the Texas Interconnection (well, this one is obvious).  In that sense, it’s like the nation’s fragmented roads in the 1950s, before the Interstate Highway System linked the country.

With Tres Amigas, California conceivably will be able to siphon off excess wind capacity from Texas. At the current juncture, that is physically impossible. The transmission structure doesn’t exist and energy storage technologies — flow batteries, compressed air, sodium batteries — aren’t yet economical enough to start planting them en masse in the desert.

CH2M Hill is overseeing the construction of Tres Amigas SuperStation, a project that will change all that. The project will connect the entire power grid across America for the first time. The initial phase of the project will cost $600 million, but the hub is expected to make money by buying and selling electricity to utilities (and could make some $4 billion in revenue every year).

In the last 20 years, blackouts have increased to 124 percent in the United States. Smart grids could predict a potential outage and send electricity to the places where it is needed. (more…)

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Oncor to give away a limited number of free in-home energy displays

Posted in Efficiency, Energy, Global Warming, green jobs, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 16, 2010 |

Oncop logoOncor wants to get some home energy monitors in the field to see how they work and get customer feedback. There are a limited number available, so you would need to act fast to have a chance at one. There are a couple of qualifications, of course.

First you must live in the Oncor service territory. Oncor is the “poles and wires” part of the DFW-area electrical system, not the Retail Electric Provider. (Their general area is in the DFW area but they reach into east and central Texas, as well as some other areas.)

Second, you must have an active smart meter. These are the new meters that Oncor has been deploying, you should have received a door hanger when you had your meter changed out, and the meter must be active. You can check on the Smart Meter Texas website to see if your meter is active.

Here is the information found in the flier that they are distributing:

“Act Now! You may be eligible to receive a free in-home energy monitor!

Oncor is giving away up to 500 FREE  In-Home Energy Monitors through the end of the year.  The monitor interacts with smart meters and
allows electric customers to monitor energy consumption in a real-time basis.  You may be eligible to receive a FREE In-Home Monitor* by
taking the following steps:

1.  You must have an active smart meter.  You may verify this by logging on to the Texas smart meter web portal at www.smartmetertexas.com and sign up to view your energy usage.

2.  Email us at hansupport@oncor.com with “Free IHM Request” in the subject line of the email.  We simply need your name, ESI ID number,
which can be found on your electric bill, email address and the address for us to mail the device.

This FREE offer is part of Oncor’s Smart Meter Verification Plan.  If you have questions about the program, please contact Lauren Davis at
214.486.5306

*While Supplies Last

This is a limited offer so if you have a new smart meter and are interested in you real time energy consumption here is an opportunity to get a free in-home display and participate in the initial roll out of this new program to help save energy.

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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.

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Texas’ Dirty-Energy Money Affects California’s Clean Air

Posted in Air Quality, Campaign Finance, Energy, Global Warming, Good Government, green jobs, Renewables, Toxics, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 13, 2010 |

Not only does the pollution of dirty energy companies extend across other states but so does their influence. Not far from Texas, California is fighting two big Texas oil companies to keep its air cleaner. To give you some background, California passed historic legislation in 2006 that mandates the state to cut 25% of its greenhouse emission by 2020. A legislation such as California’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 would cost oil companies extra bucks to get their facilities to comply with the requirements of the law.

The two Texas oil companies, Valero and Tesoro own 4 out of California’s 15 most pollutant facilities. The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and the California Environmental Justice Alliance issued a report that contains details on several environmental violations in the state and sheds some light on illegal spews of toxic chemicals. But just like what oil companies do, Valero and Tesoro have become primary funders of California’s Proposition 23 which would suspend AB32, if it passed. The two companies have spent big bucks to get the legislation passed just like what they do back home in Texas. Combined, both companies have spent over 2 million so far.

Once again, the Republican Party is selling this legislation as an incentive for jobs. It suspends AB32 until unemployment in California dips back to 5.5% for 5 consecutive quarters. To simplify, Republicans are blurring the line between employment and public health and it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, many jobs can be created by using green energy and these jobs will not pose any health risks to the employees or the residents of the area. The Republican party has to get a different energy plan than, ”work and get sick or no work at all.” It is 2010 and we can employ many more better resources in the United States than the dirty ones we have been using for the past century. I must add that even California’s Governor, a Republican thinks this proposition is ridiculous.  Schwarzenegger said in July that, “the move would seriously undermine California’s efforts to attract new investment and create thousands of new jobs in green technology.” His Republican opponent for the governor seat, however, is vowing to suspend the law for at least one year, if she takes office.

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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.

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PUC Chair’s TX Tribune Interview: Needs Lege Direction on Efficiency, One Agency Idea Might Make Sense

Posted in Air Quality, Consumers, Efficiency, Energy, Global Warming, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 12, 2010 |

Public Utility Commission Chairman Barry Smitherman recently sat down with Texas Tribune reporter Kate Galbraith to talk about energy efficiency, CREZ, smart-meters, non-wind renewables, the switch-hold rule, the Lege, and Federal climate legislation (or lack thereof?). It’s a good read/listen if you have some time. Some interesting highlights:

On the efficiency agency idea (we’ve had something to say about it here, here and here in conjunction with the rather lame energy efficiency rule adopted on July 30):

Galbraith: What do think of the environmentalists’ proposal to house all aspects of energy efficiency under one roof?

Smitherman: I talked to Smitty about it on Thursday, when I came back because I was out of the office last week, and I came in and I was catching up on the clips, and I called him up and I said, well that was quite a letter you sent to Speaker Straus, and we kind of laughed about it a little bit. You know, I think there’s some merit to it. Because whether it’s SECO or here or over at the housing agency, there’s at least three if not more places. Plus you’ve got the local community efforts where energy efficiency dollars are being expended, and there’s really no mechanism in place to coordinate that. And so if you want to take it and put it in SECO or put it over here, I don’t care. I think creating an entirely separate new agency is going to be tough next session because it’s going to be a busy session with redistricting and the budget and a number of other issues — Sunset — but it might make sense to take energy efficiency and house it in one place.

It is encouraging to hear the chairman agree that the nifty idea of combining efficiency programs under one roof makes sense.  PS- The “Smitty” he mentions is Public Citizen’s own Texas State Director Tom “Smitty” Smith, our boss.

On direction from the 82nd Lege:

Galbraith: Do you expect more direction next session?

Smitherman: I do. I think there are a number of members that believe very strongly in energy efficiency. And we saw that this last session with a couple of bills, and so I would expect there to be a robust debate at the end of the session. I don’t know where it will come out at the end of the day, but I think that the debate will be there. And what I hope continues to happen is that we use a broad portfolio of tools to address our energy security and independence and price stability, and energy efficiency is one of those tools. I wouldn’t suggest that we do only energy efficiency and not build the CREZ, for example; or not try to promote a new nuclear plant. But there are some people who really believe that energy efficiency is the way to go.

I don’t know who is advocating for only energy efficiency to accomplish clean air, lower bills and energy security, but it certainly should be a top priority, no?

Check out the entire transcript here to get the rest of the good stuff.

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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.

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What’s the frequency, Kenneth? In this case it’s 60.000 cycles per second.

Posted in Coal, Efficiency, Energy, Global Warming, green jobs, natural gas, Renewables, solar, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on August 10, 2010 |

Come close together, cats and kitties, and gather ’round, while the Powerman gets his story-telling hat- the one with the fine white brim- slips it on and talks about what’s going down with a happening riff:, with a tip o’ the hat to Lord Buckley for those yet to be hip to the flip, we are not talking bout sound. 60.000 cycles per second 60 hertz or one sixtieth of a second, precisely, exactly, over and over, up and down, positive to negative and back again, round and around. You- over in the corner, the group that seems in tune, go ahead and hit an Ohm- I know that you want to. Now don’t that sound mighty fine, but take it down real low, just a hum, the cats might have to carry this tune ’cause it’s down kinda a low, around 60 cycles or so. Now there’s a Ohm that’s fine to hear and hum that travels, it’s nice and it’s clear, and kitties don’t worry if the tone hunts around, that’s fine, it’s how it works, now I’ll tell you what’s going down.

Back in the day, not so long ago, there were wizards walked the earth mighty and proud. They worked with lightning, electricity we say, with sparks and bolts that could knock you down, pick you up and smack you around and kill a cat if you didn’t know the rules, it wasn’t nothing to play round with now, can you dig it? I knew that you could. (more…)

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A new direction for energy efficiency in Texas

Posted in Efficiency, Energy, Global Warming, Good Government, Sunset, tagged , , , , on August 5, 2010 |

Today, Public Citizen and Environmental Defense Fund sent a letter to the Legislature calling on them to support the creation of a new state agency dedicated to efficiency. I tend to think in the problem-cause-solution framework about public policy issues so here’s the short version:

Problem: Energy efficiency languishes in Texas after years of progress.  Indeed, the way Texas oversees its efficiency programs is ineffective, and ironically, inefficient.

Cause: There are at least five and potentially six state agencies that are involved in efficiency programs. They do not coordinate with each other. Many state employees probably do the same job. Meanwhile, the PUC  fails to pass strong energy efficiency goals and they do not recognize energy efficiency as a pro-consumer and pro-business investment.

Solution: Consolidate all state efficiency programs into an entity that could independently review, approve and assess the current PUC and other state programs.

For the full letter sent to the Lege, click here.

What you can do about it: Call, email, your State Rep. and Senator. Tell them it’s time for energy efficiency reform. We can make it work better for all Texans.

-Matt

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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.

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Press Release: Perry Government Mishandles Programs that Benefit Consumers, Groups Say

Posted in Coal, Consumers, Efficiency, Energy, Global Warming, natural gas, Nuclear, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 4, 2010 |

Public Citizen, Environmental Defense Fund Call for Independent State Agency to Coordinate State’s Energy Efficiency Efforts

AUSTIN – In response to the Public Utility Commission’s (PUC) planned adoption of new energy efficiency goals, Public Citizen and Environmental Defense Fund today called for sweeping changes to the way Texas runs its energy efficiency programs. The groups said that a single independent state agency would better serve Texas because it could coordinate programs currently regulated by multiple agencies and reduce agency overlap.

“We have no confidence in the Public Utility Commission process,” said David Power, deputy director of Public Citizen’s Texas office. “The time has come to change the way Texas saves energy because the current setup is ineffective. It is time for the Legislature to take control and create a new state agency that can put consumers first and save more money.”

The groups plan to send a letter to state Sen. Troy Fraser, chair of the Senate Natural Resources Committee, and state Reps. Jim Keffer and Burt Solomons, chairs of the House Energy Resources and State Affairs Committees, asking them to support legislation in the upcoming session to create an independent efficiency agency.

Under current law, the PUC, the agency in charge of regulating most of the state’s “poles and wires” companies, is supposed to review and approve the energy efficiency programs of the utilities. But other state agencies oversee efficiency programs too, including the Department of Housing and Community Affairs and State Energy Conservation Office. Housing the coordination of these efforts under one roof would help streamline state regulation and create more savings potential for Texans, the groups said.

“Several agencies either run or oversee similar programs,” said Kate Robertson, energy efficiency specialist with Environmental Defense Fund. “In some instances, like market outreach, a single state agency could coordinate the activities of all efficiency programs instead of multiple people doing the same thing for their own programs.”

The groups also criticized the PUC’s negative attitude toward energy efficiency. Over the past year and a half, agency staff had been developing plans to increase the state’s goal for energy efficiency. On Friday, however, the three commissioners appointed by Gov. Rick Perry slashed the proposal dramatically, ostensibly for cost reasons, reducing the efficiency goal from 1 percent of peak demand by 2014 to a third of the growth in demand by 2013 – a much smaller increase. The PUC even has proposed curtailing the amount utilities can spend on efficiency measures.

“It is baffling to us that the commission thinks energy efficiency is not worth the cost,” said Matthew Johnson, a policy analyst with Public Citizen’s Texas office. “Ratepayers’ utility bills pay primarily for fuel like natural gas and coal, power plants and the grid infrastructure. Energy efficiency costs around a dollar per month on a typical $100 electric bill and it pays for itself by reducing the need for new, costly power plants.” (more…)

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NRG Energy Scales Back Nuke Investment; Makes TPPF Look Bad

Posted in Consumers, Efficiency, Energy, Nuclear, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 2, 2010 |

In their recent report on how energy efficiency is bad for consumers in Texas, the Texas Public Policy Foundation took some time to tout nukes.

To distinguish the development of new nuclear reactors from the previous generation which was frought with cost overruns and delays, they claim the following (page 7-8):

“But unlike consumers from the 1980s, today’s consumers won’t be taking on the risk of cost overruns. In fact, they won’t be taking any risk at all. Once the new nuclear plants are complete, the price of the electricity sold from the plants will be determined by market forces. If the price is higher than the cost of the electricity, the plants will be profitable. If not, the plants will lose money. But it is the investors–not consumers–who will bear that risk.”

The investors will bear all the risk? Really? Well, published today is a report from Forbes.com that, in addition to announcing NRG’s dramatic scaling back on nuclear development (by some 95%) quotes NRG Energy’s CEO David Crane as saying he is:

“more comfortable when someone else takes risk.” (as in, the citizens of San Antonio?)

Ouch! I encourage y’all to read the full Forbes article and this one from last December, which notes that a major part of NRG’s strategy is to sell to municipally-owned utilities and electric cooperatives. They are medicine for those that think new nuclear is cost-competitive because they’re all about how dependent nuke developers are on federal loan guarantees (aka subsidies).

EDITOR’S NOTE: Also of interest is an article from this morning’s NYTimes that shows the cost of solar is now cheaper than the cost of nuclear, and a hot-off-the-presses article from Greg Harman at the San Antonio Current saying that with NRG taking so much investment out of developing the plant, and the US gov’t balking at more subsidies for this nuclear pork behemoth, that the only way to make the deal work is to get the governments of France and Japan to also help bail out their investors with, you guessed it- more loan guarantees. How many countries and government bailouts does it take to build a nuke plant in Texas?  Three, apparently.  Ahhh, nuclear power- it’s like fiscal conservative kryptonite. One mention of it and any and all pretense of being pro free market just disappears as they can’t stop lining up to the gravy train of pork, loan guarantees and subsidies. ~~Andy

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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.

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Coal Ash EPA Hearing in Texas

Posted in Coal, Energy, Good Government, Toxics, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 2, 2010 |

The EPA is holding hearings on newly proposed coal ash regulations throughout the country. One of the few places they’ve decided to hold a hearing is Dallas. Coal ash waste facilities have never been properly regulated, despite the fact that coal ash is full of toxic pollutants and carcinogens. This is due primarily to the fact that the coal lobby wants to profit off of their waste by selling it to other industries for use in manufacturing products ranging from concrete to fertilizer.

Texas has 17 coal plants, all of which produce massive amounts of toxic coal ash waste that get stored either in slurry ponds (coal ash mixed with water) or in landfills.

Check out more info and find out how you can encourage the EPA to regulate this waste properly by visiting Sierra Club’s action page.

For some background info on the coal ash waste disaster in Tennessee go here.

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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We arePublic Citizen Texas.

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Energy Efficiency: Things Were Going So Well Until the Commissioners Got Involved

Posted in Air Quality, Coal, Consumers, Diesel, Efficiency, Energy, Global Warming, Good Government, green jobs, natural gas, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on July 30, 2010 |

Perry Appointees Smitherman, Nelson, Anderson protect consumers from energy efficiency

There is a disturbing trend emerging in Texas. A once successful consumer-oriented program is floundering because of a deficit of perspective behind the dais at the PUC.

The Public Utility Commission of Texas proposed adopting an update to the state’s energy efficiency program that would cap the amount of money utilities could spend on programs that reduce the energy bills for homes and businesses.

Under the rule, utility expenditures on energy efficiency would be limited to one tenth of one cent per kilowatt-hour. That’s $0.001, which would amount to around a dollar a month for the average home. It’s worth pointing out that there are no cost caps for other energy resources, just the cheapest one.

This bears repeating: the PUC does not want utilities to spend more money to fund programs that make Texas homes more energy efficient and reduce their utility bills.

During today’s hearing, it was abundantly clear that Governor Perry’s appointees to the commission have folded to industry pressure and adopted the bizarre world view that energy efficiency costs consumers too much money. As evidence, in addition to only considering utility industry estimates on the cost of future efficiency resources, they frequently alluded to a report released this week by the conservative and industry-friendly Texas Public Policy Foundation which made unsubstantiated claims that the consumer benefits of energy efficiency programs could not only be less than currently estimated, but actually negative (page 3). (A more detailed critique of their report is coming).

At a workshop earlier this month, the commissioners only allowed industry representatives to present information. No consumer advocates, environmental groups, no academics were allowed to present and even the comments by ACEEE seem to have been ignored.

It’s now time for the Legislature to be the grownups in the room (more…)

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