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Archive for the ‘Energy’ Category

“Clean Energy Bank” to Write Blank Check for Nuclear Industry

Posted in Energy, Nuclear, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 18, 2009 |

nukeblankcheckBuried in the language of the “Clean Energy Bank” legislation sponsored by Senate Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman and Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) is a blank check to the nuclear industry.

This bill includes unlimited availability of taxpayer loan guarantees for construction of new nuclear reactors.

Unlimited guaranteed loans.  As in, as many as the industry could possibly want, no matter the cost, no matter the default rate.  Which for the record, is 50% according to the Congressional Budget Office.

This is one of the most audacious, nasty, pork-laden bill I have heard of in a really long time.  How do they even think that they can get away with this?

Write your House member and Speaker Nancy Pelosi now. And then forward this message to everyone you can think of.

For more information on the “clean energy” bank, check out this NIRS post on Daily Kos.

Since our own Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is encouraging lawmakers to give the nuclear industry even more money, it is more important than ever that we make sure folks on the Hill know that Not All Texans support nuclear power.  Make your voice heard today!

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Waco Trib Weighs in on Renewable Portfolio Standard

Posted in Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 14, 2009 |

EDITORIAL: Seeing the light and all its power

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Dismiss talk of global warming and environmentalism if you must. But times are changing fast and, along with them, the very way we heat and cool our homes and businesses.

The Texas Senate signaled as much this week, approving a bill encouraging development of solar energy plants to generate electricity, much as the state has done in making wind an energy player in Texas and beyond.

Now it’s up to the House and Gov. Rick Perry to show similar vision for Texas.

We hope it isn’t much of a stretch. Sunshine is something we have plenty of in Texas — and we’re unlikely to run out of it anytime soon.

Passage of state Sen. Kirk Watson’s legislation, with help from Sen. Kip Averitt, R-Waco, is remarkable for a couple of reasons. For one thing, the Senate is dominated by Republicans. Watson is a Democrat.

Yet many lawmakers on both sides want to encourage the solar, geothermal and biomass energy aims in this bill. Some see the writing on the wall.

A Texas Public Utility Commission report issued Tuesday concludes that electricity prices could jump as much as $10 billion a year — $27 a month in the average electric bill — if Texans don’t anticipate looming federal greenhouse regulations aimed at cutting carbon-based fuels like natural gas and coal.

Environmentalists and lawmakers see Watson’s bill as neatly bolstering our state’s energy arsenal, especially as Texas continues to grow. Solar could help ensure energy offerings at peak times of the day, while wind will prove of greatest impact during the night hours. (more…)

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Renewable Energy Bill Passes Senate

Posted in Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 13, 2009 |

Yesterday afternoon the Texas Senate passed through SB 541, a bill authored by Senator Kirk Watson (D-Austin) to create a non-wind renewable portfolio standard.  If passed through the House, SB 541 would put Texas on course to have 1500 MW of renewable energy from non-wind sources such as solar, geothermal, and biomass.

If you follow us on Twitter, of course this is old news to you.  Public Citizen Texas has been using our Twitter feed to keep folks updated on breaking legislative news and votes, as well as to share interesting news articles and blog posts. Check it out:sb541twitter

If this sounds appealing to you, why not give us a follow?  We promise not to tweet your ear off.

Thanks to Senator Watson’s SB 541, Texas could become a national leader in solar energy just as are in the wind industry. Along with Senator Fraser’s 545, which will provide $500 million in solar incentives over the next 5 years, SB 541 will ensure that incentives are provided for both the large, utility scale solar and small-scale distributed solar that Texas needs.

While we would have preferred a larger renewable portfolio standard, Public Citizen is delighted that this bill has passed the Texas Senate.  This is a major step forward for Texans that will create tens of thousands of new clean green jobs within the state and lead to lower electric bills by hedging against the price of natural gas.

Hopefully the Texas House will see the light on solar power and pass an even stronger set of renewable energy goals that will make the grass grow greener, our air cleaner, and the green economy stronger.

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Go Solar: Make Utilities Give Consumers a Fair Price for Surplus Electricity

Posted in Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 11, 2009 |

Sun MoneyThanks to Luke Metzger at the Environment Texas blog for this take on pending net metering legislation (read: making sure folks with solar panels get paid back for the excess energy they produce):

On Monday, the Texas House will decide whether to promote solar energy by requiring utilities to pay consumers fair prices for surplus solar power or to codify anti-consumer practices in order to benefit big utilities like TXU. Here’s the story.

Sick of riding the rollercoaster of high electric rates and concerned over pollution and dependence on foreign oil, many Texans are turning to solar power to get more choices than their electric company provides. More than 40 states help consumers do this by requiring electric companies to pay a fair price for the surplus electricity solar panels put back on the grid (known as net metering). In return, the electric grid benefits from a supply of pollution-free electricity during peak-demand time periods, such as hot summer afternoons, avoiding congestion costs and dampening real-time on-peak wholesale energy prices. The more renewable generation that is located at customer’s houses and businesses, the less will need to be charged in the future to all customers’ electric bills for wires, fuel and pollution costs. Incentivizing solar will also help create jobs and attract manufacturers to the state.

In addition to consumer rebates and tax credits, net metering is a key financial driver making solar power a cost-effective investment for consumers. Texas had such a policy in place in the 1980s, but with the restructuring of the electric market, old definitions of electric utilities no longer applied and net metering was inadvertently ended. (more…)

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Friday Recommended Reading

Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Nuclear, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 8, 2009 |

ReadingTime for a Friday wrap-up, all the news that’s fit to link:

The Cost of Climate Inaction, Op-Ed in the Washington Post

An Affordable Salvation, New York Times Op-Ed about the benefits of cap and trade

Carbon Offsets in Waxman-Markey Bill, An Overview, Carbonfund.org Blog

Maryland Passes Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act, SustainableBusiness.com News

Cap and trade won’t push heavy industries overseas — study, The New York Times

Net metering: The civil rights movement for solar energy, Photovoltaics World

Who gets tough against companies polluting Texas? Hint: It’s not the state, Houston Chronicle

Utah takes nuclear waste from states with own dump, Houston Chronicle (A glimpse of what could happen in Texas if the Andrews Waste Dump goes through)

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Proposed Nuclear Projects in Texas Could Cost $22 Billion

Posted in Energy, Nuclear, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 30, 2009 |

Impressive nuclear headlines in the papers these days, largely as a result of a new report released by our office entitled: “Costs of Current and Planned Nuclear Power Plants in Texas: A Consumer Perspective.  The report finds that the proposed expansions of nuclear power plants in Bay City (South Texas Project) and Glen Rose (Comanche Peak) could cost $22 billion, boost the cost of electricity for consumers and curtail investment in energy-efficiency programs and solar power.

The headline in the San Antonio Express News yesterday morning, just below the banner no less, read: Nuke Plan May Cost $22 Billion

This morning the Fort Worth Star Telegram also ran an article titled Anti-nuclear group: Comanche Peak expansion could cost $27.6 billion

The San Antonio Current’s Queblog also reports: Projected nuke power’s price tag inflating.  

In addition to a real cost estimate for nuclear power plant expansions in Texas, the report also compares the cost of nuclear power to the cost of alternatives such as wind, solar, and energy efficiency.  I’d encourage anyone who complains about the expense of renewable energy but claims that nuclear power is “cheap” to take a gander at the following graph: 

estimated-installed-cost-per-kw-11

Wow.  Even on the low estimate end, energy efficiency costs just a fifth of what we would spend to get that kind of power from a nuclear plant, and wind and solar both come in well under that cost of nukes.  Take that, naysayers!

A major concern brought up in this report is that the massive capitol outlays for nuclear power options may drain available financial resources for making advancements in deploying more cost effective alternative resources.  In San Antonio, this could mean that CPS Energy chooses to partner with the South Texas Project Nuclear Expansion at the expense of Mission Verde, Mayor Phil Hardberger’s aggressive plan to green the city’s infrastructure, businesses, energy sources and technology.

“This new report indicates that we’re going to have to decide now which energy future we want for San Antonio,” said Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson. “If CPS becomes a partner in the South Texas Project expansion, we are simply not going to have the financial resources to front Mission Verde. We can either choose the most expensive option possible and send our jobs to Bay City and overseas contractors, or pay a fraction of the cost to create thousands of jobs here at home and power the city with clean, green energy.”

For more information on how consumers could get stuck with the check if the nuclear plant goes over-budget or can’t meet its construction schedule (as they are notoriously wont to do), check out our press release.

The San Antonio Current’s Queblog reports,

Prior to deregulation in 2001, ratepayers were drained of $5 billion in capital costs for the nukes in North Texas and Bay City, according to Johnson’s “Costs of Current and Planned Nuclear Power Plants in Texas.”

Also, much of the overruns associated with Comanche Peak and STP have been borne by electric consumers in Texas’ deregulated market since, who “continue to pay off at least $3.4 billion for nuclear assets through transition charges, as well as $45 million in annual payments for nuclear decommissioning,” Johnson writes. 

Additional associated STP costs have also been passed along by AEP and CenterPoint to their customers.

Those interested in the report may also download either the full report or a short fact-sheet detailing the report’s major findings.

Along these same lines, turns out today is the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS)’s national call-in day to end coal and nuclear subsidies. (more…)

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Texas’ Solar Future is on top of Texas Schools

Posted in Efficiency, Energy, Global Warming, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 24, 2009 |

Representative Mark Strama has crafted a genius amendment to HB 3405. The bill, co-authored bypicture-1 Representative Swinford and Representative Anchia, calls for an incentive program for solar power generation through surcharges on utility bills, and Mark Strama is looking at how Texas Schools specifically could benefit from the construction of solar panels on their rooftops.

Strama pointed out that schools are already architecturally perfect for laying out photovoltaic panels. School’s roofs are almost completely flat and in direct sunlight — So why not blanket them with solar panels?

And talk about two birds with one stone—Strama’s plan would also help out with that ever-present issue of funding for Texas education. Not only would schools save on utility bills, but they could actually generate revenue. Energy usage is cut back during the summer months when school is out of session, and that extra energy could be sold right back into the grid at a profit.

Some schools already have some solar panels in place, but these systems are paltry in comparison to Strama’s vision. With over 8,000 schools in Texas, can you imagine how that would affect Texas’ distributed solar production?

Of course, the price tag is the only factor that could hold this plan back. Still, with so much energy savings in the future, this one looks like it will be tough to shove under the table.

Watch KXAN’s news coverage here.

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Texas Observer’s Rundown of “the Chosen” Environmental Bills

Posted in Coal, Efficiency, Energy, Nuclear, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 23, 2009 |

I’m going to cross-post the following article from the Texas Observer’s Floor Pass blog whole hog, because it is just that good.  Look for Smitty’s quote in bold, and hold on to your hat 🙂

Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The Chosen Ones

posted by Susan Peterson at 03:12 PM

There’s a lot to celebrate this Earth Day when it comes to the Texas Legislature. Republicans in both chambers are carrying environmental legislation – if for no other reason than to stick it to the feds before the feds, under President Obama and a Democratic Congress, begin regulating the environment themselves. And Speaker Joe Straus has been a boon to environmental bills, as well, since he’s actually letting the legislators run the show in the House, unlike his predecessor.

The upshot? More good environmental bills and fewer bad ones.

Luke Metzger, director of Environment Texas, says there are just two main bad bills this session. Both would both speed up the permitting process for power plants. Rep. Dan Flynn’s HB 2721, which is being heard today in Environmental Regulation, would speed it up for nuclear plants. The other bad bill, Rep. Randy Weber’s HB 4012, would fast-track permitting for coal power plants.

And I know it’s unlike us to report good news, but Tom “Smitty” Smith, director of Public Citizen in Texas, says he is “suffering from a crisis of abundance” when it comes to all the worthwhile environmental bills this session.

“There are more good bills in the lege session than I can keep up with,” Smitty says. “It is reminiscent of the 1991 legislative session when Ann Richards was elected and there was a wave of reform. This is the best session I’ve had in 18 years.”

Hot damn!

But which of these good bills actually have a chance? Read about them after the jump.

(more…)

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Happy Earth Day Op-Ed

Posted in Efficiency, Energy, Global Warming, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 22, 2009 |

earthdayFor your Earth Day enjoyment, Public Citizen, Sierra Club, and Environmental Defense have written a joint Op-Ed that has been published in both the Austin American Statesman & the Houston Chronicle.  So on this day of celebration, Let’s Begin a Better Future Now and Enact Energy Laws to Clear Air, Create Jobs!

Check it out:

Texas citizens get it.

More of us than ever are mindful of switching off lights, weatherizing our homes and doing all that we can to save energy. State legislators can get it too. This session, they have an opportunity and responsibility to save us even more money on our electricity bills, create thousands of green jobs and reduce pollution across the state. Our representatives now have less than six weeks to pass the best of nearly 100 bills that have been introduced on clean power and green jobs. These energy efficiency and renewable energy bills set the stage for rebuilding, repowering and renewing our state’s economy during tough times. They will build a sustainable future for Texas.

The energy efficiency bills contain plans for helping Texas families by creating jobs while reducing consumption of electricity in our homes and buildings. When our homes and buildings are well-insulated and our appliances more efficient, we don’t need to burn wasteful and damaging amounts of dirty fossil fuels for electricity.

An additional benefit to creating Texas’ new clean energy economy is that we can clean up our air and address climate change at the same time. As we provide new jobs installing clean energy technologies, we can decrease the public health risks and costs associated with the impacts of burning coal. (more…)

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Solar Ads on TV! Stay tuned…

Posted in Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , on April 16, 2009 |

Coming soon, more information about our TV commercials that will air soon to promote solar (there are lots of good solar bills at the Lege) brought to you by Public Citizen, Environment Texas, and the Environmental Defense Fund.

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Pedernales Public Hearing Tomorrow at Noon: Let ‘Em Hear from Ya

Posted in Efficiency, Energy, Good Government, Renewables, tagged , , , , , on April 3, 2009 |

Do you, Pedernales Electric Coop member, want to save money on your electric bills?  World class energy efficiency programs? Solar Panels on your roof? Shape the future of PEC?

Let your voice be heard!

A public hearing on a proposal to adopt energy efficiency and smart grid policies will be held tomorrow in Johnson City.  If you’re a PEC member, this is your chance to weigh in on the standards PEC will adopt that will guide their energy efficiency and conservation policy in the future.

When: Noon, April 4, 2009

Where: Pedernales E. Babe Smith Headquarters, 201 South Avenue F, Johnson City, TX

What’s all this about anyway:

Congress passed a bill in 2007 (the Energy Independence and Security Security Act, or EISA) that included a requirement for all electric coops to consider adopting standards that would make information sharing, energy efficiency and conservation coop priorities.

If adopted, these standards would make it easier for Pedernales to offer energy efficiency programs and develop a “smart grid” which is crucial to develop small-scale renewables like solar panels on your rooftop.

PEC has a draft proposal on the table which modifies the federal standard. They want the public to comment on it and offer suggestions. So…

Now’s your chance! Show up to the meeting or submit written comments.  Tell PEC you want them to:

  • Develop a plan for meeting the PEC’s 30% renewable and 20% efficiency goals by 2020.
  • Create a sweries of innovative retrofit programs that have a goal of saving 20% or more of the energy used in each structure by 2020.
  • Give builders incentives to make new buildings as efficient as possible, and to add on site renewable energy.
  • Create solar and small wind incentives to help the coop and their customers meet 30% of the energy they consume with renewables by 2020.
  • Create a loan or lease program to help members afford these retrofits.
  • Give members information on the pollution produced by the power they consume.

To find out more visit www.cleanenergyfortexas.org.  There you will find a bunch of information, including our initial comments on all the good stuff above. Here is the link to PEC’s draft proposal too.

A group of like-minded folks will gather outside the building around 11:30.

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House Democrats Want More!

Posted in Efficiency, Energy, Global Warming, Good Government, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 2, 2009 |

President Obama has voiced that two of his top priorities will be climate change and energy.  Earlier this month he picture-5announced an energy plan that would call for 14% reduction in emissions from the 2005 levels by 2020, and an 83% reduction by 2050.

But House Democrats Henry a. Waxman (California) and Edward J. Markey (Massachussettes) want more!  They drafted a bill with even more gusto to capture greenhouse gases—a 20% reduction in emissions by 2020!

Remember that this power team was also responsible for the bill to put a moratorium on coal plants introduced a year ago.   The new Waxman-Markey bill will require every region of the country to produce 25% from renewable sources such as wind, solar, and geothermal.  This could be a huge factor to increase the demand for sustainable energy to spur wide-range development and adoption of energy technology.

Mr. Waxman, the chairman of the Energy and Commerce committee said regarding his bill:

This legislation will create millions of clean energy jobs, put America on the path to energy independence, and cut global warming pollution.  Our goal is to strengthen our economy by making America the world leader in new clean energy and energy efficiency technologies.

However, the bill also makes some concessions to the states whose economy rests upon coal and energy-related industries, with the hope that it will smooth the transition to cleaner forms of energy.   To read more, check out this press release from Tyson Slocum at our D.C. office.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This bill is a really great start.  Obama started the bid at a 14% cut, the House upped the ante to 20%, but according to the Nobel-prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the real target we should be shooting for is about 35%.  Unfortunately, none of the bills in the House or Senate is shooting for this target.  The good news is, according to an analysis by McKinsey and Company, almost all of that 35% can be achieved at a net cost savings through things like energy efficiency.  And realistically, that’s only 3.5% per year for the next decade. ~~Citizen Andy

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Recommended Reading

Posted in Energy, Global Warming, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 26, 2009 |

Here are some interesting articles I’ve read this week, which I think are well worth reading in full.

recommended-readingTexas is taking a greater interest in global warming by Randy Lee Loftis at the Dallas Morning News

The Fight Plan for Clean Air by Kate Galbraith and Felicity Barringer, New York Times (word on the street that EPA will declare heat-trapping gases dangerous pollutants, keep your fingers crossed)

Solar’s time to shine in Texas? by Bill Dawson at Texas Climate News

The Fresh Prince of Clean Air: Prince Charles says financial crisis is ‘nothing’ compared to climate change, at Grist

Last chance for a slow dance? All the world fiddles as we near global warming’s point of no return by Greg Harman at the San Antonio Current — digg it up

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We’ve hit the big Times

Posted in Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 25, 2009 |

imagesGood mooooooorning Texas!  Just woke up, haven’t even gotten out of my pajamas or had my coffee (okay, I’m running a little late), but I couldn’t wait a moment longer to spread the good news.  We’ve hit the big Times.

Yes, that Times.  The New York Times.

Check out the following post from Kate Galbraith at the New York Times Green, Inc blog.  Look for cameos by our very own David Power, Rep. Mark Strama, and the Austin Solar Plant.

TEXAS AIMS FOR SOLAR DOMINANCE

The Lone Star State leads the country in wind-power. Now Texas aims to ramp up its solar production too.

This week the state senate is considering an avalanche of bills that would boost state incentives for solar power, and the entire legislative session has become known as the “solar session.”

Altogether, according to David Power, the deputy director of Public Citizen Texas, a consumer and environmental advocacy group, there are 69 renewable energy bills before the legislature, and over 50 of them promote solar power – far more than ever before.

“There are senators and representatives that are talking about solar that have never mentioned the word probably in their lives,” he said. “We’ve actually heard the term ‘global warming,’ and two years ago that was called ‘the G word’ – you didn’t talk about it.”

Mark Strama, a state representative who is a leading promoter of renewable energy, has introduced at least five green bills this year (including a measure that would allow local governments to create a property tax financing program for solar, along the lines of several California cities).

“It just seems like everybody recognizes our leadership in wind, and that government policy got us where we are today in wind,” he told me last month.

In solar, he added, “We need to catch up.”

Some businesses, concerned about higher energy prices, urge caution.

“The state should avoid picking economic winners and losers in our economy through subsidizing solar – or any energy source – at the expense of the residential, commercial and industrial consumers who contribute significantly to the Texas economy,” said Luke Bellsynder, the executive director of the Texas Association of Manufacturers, in an e-mail message.

He also said, however, that his group supported incentives and tax abatements for solar, and broadening the state’s energy portfolio.

Earlier this month, the city of Austin, which is aggressively pursuing renewable power, unanimously gave a go-ahead to a private company to build the largest photovoltaic plant in the country, so that the local utility, Austin Energy, can buy the electricity produced.

However, the city met fierce opposition from struggling local technology firms and other groups, who complained about the prospect of higher electric bills.

 

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Make Every Day Solar Day in Texas

Posted in Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , on March 23, 2009 |

txsunsetHey folks, tomorrow a whole host of solar bills are going into be heard in the Senate Business and Commerce Committee.  Our friends over at Environment Texas have a petition up where you can show legislators your support for solar.  The sun’s setting on this petition, so sign up today!

From the horse’s mouth, here’s the email from Luke Metzger, Director of Environment Texas.  Poetic, ain’t it?

With the first day of spring upon us, we’re already experiencing the warmth and life that the Texas sun provides.

For the first time, the Legislature is taking a serious look at using the sun to solve our energy problems by investing in solar power. With the right support, Texas could become a world leader in solar power, helping protect our environment and putting people back to work in good green jobs.

We can make it happen, but we need your help. Please sign our petition asking the Legislature to Go Solar!

Decisions made by policy makers in the next year will determine whether Texas can ride the solar wave, capturing the vast potential of solar power for our state. Texas has the best solar potential in the nation and we could power the entire state many times over with our abundant sunshine.

Texas should spur the development of solar power within the state by creating rebates and incentives to make it easier for homeowners and businesses to install solar on their rooftop, investing in solar for schools and large-scale solar farms, requiring utilities to pay consumers a fair price for surplus electricity generated, and prohibiting homeowners associations from blocking solar.

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