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Archive for the ‘Renewables’ Category

Austin City Council Solar Vote this Thursday

Posted in Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 3, 2009 |

solar-trackerJust a reminder that the Austin City Council will have its final vote on the proposed 30 MW Webberville Solar Plant at a meeting this Thursday, March 5. The Council meeting is of course open to the public, so please come by City Hall starting at 10 a.m. to show your support for the plant! There are kiosks in the main hall where you may sign in and register to testify if you so choose. Even if you cannot stay to observe the proceedings, you can still sign in at the kiosk to document your support for the solar plant, which will be Item 16 on the agenda. Remember “Item 16” because you must know the agenda item number to register your support at the kiosk.

For background information on the plant per the council’s February 13th meeting, jump back to the post City Delays on Solar Plant Vote.

Also, Burnt Orange Report has just run a really excellent series on the plant. I cannot recommend it enough. Phillip Martin at BOR provides analysis and a full overview of the project, as well as two full interviews with council members (and mayoral candidates) Lee Leffingwell and Brewster McCracken — both of whom have come out in support of the project!

And of course, stay tuned this Thursday for a full report from the City Council meeting — you know I’ll be there!

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Save the Austin Solar Plant!

Posted in Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , on February 23, 2009 |

A while back we reported on the Austin City Council’s decision to delay their vote on the proposed Webberville solar plant.

Local environmental groups are working now to rally public support for this plant.  This is the time to show the council that Austin wants more solar power, Now!

solartodaykramerjunction111

Go to Environment Texas’s internet action site here to contact the Mayor and City Council and show them your support for the proposed project.  It should only take a few seconds to fill in your information, but the impact of voicing your support for solar could have reverberations that last years into the future.  If this plant gets voted down and you were too busy standing in line for Watchmen  to contact your council members… won’t you feel terrible about it?  Guilt, guilt, guilt! Go do it!

And join the facebook group!

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What’s in Store for the 81st Legislative Session

Posted in Efficiency, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 20, 2009 |

With the announcement of the Texas Legislature Committee rosters, I thought that some light should be shed on the 2009 Legislative Recommendations as posted by the Alliance for a Clean Texas. You can read the full reports here, but here’s a quick-read version for  renewable energy and energy efficiency issues:

  • Diversify our Renewable Energy Mix. Its no surprise to most of us that Texas is in first place for renewable energy resources. Legislation has historically supported wind energy, but so much of our potential has not been tapped. Studies have shown that that our potential for solar is even greater than that of wind.
  • Incentives for Solar Roofs and other On-site Renewables. Instead of relying on power plants to supply our energy, wouldn’t it be great if we could have our power sources closer to home? On-site renewable technologies would be cheaper considering the spike in energy costs during high-demand season, and of course would help to improve air quality. Solar power is especially efficient, with new technologies that can be installed directly on the roofs of buildings. However, the current cost of a home or commericial system is still not cost-effective without government incentives. Solar power is estimated to reach parity with traditional electricity sources within the next five years.  By getting a jump on it ahead of time, early investment will allow Texas to benefit economically as demand increases.
  • Raise the Energy Efficiency Goal. Texas should aim to decrease both energy demand and energy usage. ACT recommends that the Legislature should raise the goal to 1.0 percent of peak demand and energy use by 2015 (equivalent to 50 percent load growth by 2015). By contributing only a small percentage of revenue, utility companies can invest in energy efficiency programs that will decrease peak demand of energy usage. In 2007, the legislature unanimously approved a 20% decrease in load growth by 2009, and a research study required by the legislation also supported our ability to cut load growth by 50% by 2015. (more…)

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Live from City Hall, its Thuuuuuuuursday Morning!

Posted in Energy, Nuclear, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , on February 12, 2009 |

austincityhall1

Good morning, folks!  I’m sitting in on the Austin City Council meeting this morning.  Here at Public Citizen, we are largely concerned with two important items on today’s agenda:

Item 3: Will the City of Austin invest in the South Texas Nuclear Power Plant?

Item 16: Will the City invest in 30 megawatts of solar power from the proposed solar plant near Webberville?

Word on the street (and by street, I mean city hall) is that some members of the Council would like to postpone the vote on the solar plant.  The big question here is how long the vote will be postponed.  If the vote is pushed back a few weeks to give everyone a little more time to look at the impacts of this new project, that’s not really a problem… but if we are talking months here, the delay may actually be long enough to kill the project.

The Council will listen to citizen testimony before they decide to postpone (or not — though it is highly unlikely that the council will deny a request to delay the vote) and for how long (waiting with baited breath!).

Stick around, I’ll keep you posted!

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Austin City Hall Showdown: Solar vs. Nukes. Let’s get biz-zay!

Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Nuclear, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 10, 2009 |

Time to show your support for solar, and your opposition to new nuclear power!

On Thursday, Austin City Council will take up the issues of nuclear energy and solar energy. We can’t think of a better picture to illustrate the fork in the road we face when it comes to Austin’s energy future.

Item 3 on the City Council agenda: Austin Energy will appropriately recommend, again, that the City of Austin not invest in expansion of the South Texas Project. Austin Energy hired the pro-nuclear consulting firm Worley Parsons to examine the proposal, which concluded that Austin’s share of the proposed 3rd & 4th reactors would cost around $2 billion (that’s only 16% of the total, btw). Our solid credit rating would likely decline due to the large amount of debt the city would have to issue coupled with the high risk of cost overruns and schedule delays typically associated with nuclear power plants. Furthermore, the addition of 432 megawatts of baseload nuclear power does not fit with Austin’s projected electric demand forecast. This deal didn’t make sense in 2007 or 2008. It makes even less sense in 2009.

New nuclear power economics are frightening (several cost estimates put new nukes in a category by themselves), and it’s a down right nasty way to make electric power. Uranium mine sites plague groundwater sources, there is no plan in place to deal with the waste, and Texas can ill-afford to devote its precious water resources to running a radioactive water boiler.

We don’t need to go down the nuclear path again. We’ve learned from the mistakes of previous councils. Remember, Carole Keeton McClellan [Strayhorn] was mayor of Austin (1977-1983) when the city trapped itself in the boondoggle that was the first two units at STNP. Read the Austin Chronicle article from 2006 on her (scroll down to “Nailed to the Nuke”).

She is running for mayor again, which means this becomes a radioactive campaign issue. Where do Leffingwell and McCracken stand on the issue? Stay tuned.

Better options exist. Come out and voice your opposition to new nuclear power.

solar-array

Item 16 on the City Council agenda: Austin Energy will recommend that Council approve a plan to invest in 30 megawatts of solar power from the proposed solar plant near Webberville. This project is a good start down the path toward a renewable energy future for Austin. The 25 year $250 million contract with California-based Gemini Solar Development Company will provide Austinites clean, renewable power from one of the largest photovoltaic arrays in the world. Solar beats new nuclear power on cost, environment and meeting peak demand.

Solar power may seem expensive, but compared to what it costs to run natural gas plants to cover the same peak period and its associated environmental impacts, it’s a winner.

Some have raised objection to the fact that the solar panels are not local. Buying local is always preferable, but it’s not always feasible. There are no Texas companies that can currently manufacture panels for this sized plant. And while a California company has gotten the first contract because of California commitment to solar, local contractors and products can be used to construct and maintain the facility. Austin will still own the land too. We hope that with more plants like this one, solar companies will get the message that Texas is open for business.

We expect a large pro-nuke/anti-solar crowd, so come out to City Council this Thursday, Feb 12, sign up to voice your support for solar power. Tell City Council you want more!

Council convenes at 10 AM.

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More Clean Energy Headed Austin’s Way

Posted in Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 9, 2009 |

Remember last week, when solar power was ALL OVER THE NEWS?  Check out this video of News 8 Austin’s news story from Monday (and look for Smitty, our director, proclaiming that “Now is the time to Wildcat the Sun!”):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcDHE-PS594&feature=channel_page]

Also, check out KXAN’s news coverage.  The KXAN slant on the story was pretty interesting: they focused on how jobs lost in the semiconductor industry could be replaced by new solar manufacturing jobs.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uojCK7PyIv8&feature=channel_page]

circuitAustin has long been a hub of the semiconductor industry because a generation ago, state legislators passed a package of incentives to lure silicon chip manufacturers to Texas.  This created a high tech boom that has enriched Texans for over 20 years.  But now thousands of those jobs are disappearing.  The technologies involved to manufacture semiconductor chips and solar installations are very close, and business leaders believe that the semiconductor industry can actually be repurposed to produce solar.  At the very least, the skill sets involved in one translate seamlessly into the other, so that individuals who lost semiconductor jobs are the perfect candidates for new solar jobs.

And in the Austin-American Statesman today, it turns out there really is credence to what we’ve been saying!  It never hurts to have backup.  A new solar energy start-up is moving to Austin, precisely because we’ve got all the ideal ingredients to be a solar power hub.

Said SmartSpark chief executive Ron Van Dell (former leader of semiconductor design company Legerity Inc. and chief executive of Primarion Corp., a mixed-signal semiconductor company),

[In Austin] You’ve got an excellent talent pool, a growing base of renewable energy companies and a local ecosystem that’s very supportive of high-tech startups.

…The skills mix in power electronics is very, very good in Austin, whether they’re technical people or marketing people.

…Clean energy is a sector that dovetails with the semiconductor industry, and we’ve got a lot of talented people with skills that are so well-suited for the next generation of technology innovation.

Public Citizen’s bet is that if the Texas Legislature can pass the right policies this session, we can attract even more solar manufacturing and installation companies like SmartSpark.  We don’t want to make the same mistake we did with wind, where we created a huge renewable energy boom and created thousands of installation jobs (yay!), but moved too slowly and cautiously to attract the big manufacturing companies (boo).  For more information on some of the solar legislation introduced this session, check out last week’s post “Could this be Texas’ Solar Session?”

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San Antonio: Mission Verde, CPS Energy, and (Real Ultimate) Solar Power

Posted in Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 3, 2009 |

coverI’m embarrassed.

Greg Harman at the San Antonio Current beat me to covering my own press conference.  And he did a way better job than I ever could have done.

The only explanation is that Greg Harman is Superman.  Or, that I am one very busy media coordinator who needs to re-align her priorities (from now on, the internet wins!).

I’m so ashamed, it doesn’t even seem worth it to write anything myself.

Save me the effort, and go to his post at the San Antonio Current Queblog.  Read about how within the span of two weeks, SA’s CPS Energy pledged to transition to a decentralized power model (ie, energy created on site rather than at a power plant).  Learn how last Thursday, Mayor Hardberger unveiled his visionary Mission Verde Plan to make San Antonio a truly sustainable city.  Proceed to Harman’s excitement over the sea change at the Legislature, such that fully 15 solar bills have been filed this session.

And then check out his fantastic video, photos, and audio clips.  It almost feels like you were there!  Watch our very own David Power, solar advocate, announce how the solar industry can provide Texas’ next big job boom!  Smile as Bill Sinkin and his bow tie refer to solar energy as a full grown child no longer in need of coddling, but still looking for our support.  And listen to County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson trumpet that Texas has reached a critical mass and perfect storm for extensive solar power in the state of Texas to finally become a reality.

Hey hey, looks like I can steal his video from youtube.  I LOVE THE INTERNET.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDFfv9Scwfo]

You should still go to his post though, because it is wicked awesome and I can’t steal his audio clips.  Or rather, don’t know how.

Also check out the San Antonio Express-New’s coverage: Nonprofits say boosting solar capability in Texas could create jobs. We don’t “say” so, we know so.

Ten “cool” points if you caught the Real Ultimate Power reference.  And by cool, I mean totally sweet.

Check out our official press release after the jump. (more…)

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Stimulating Facts on the Green Stimulus

Posted in Efficiency, Energy, Global Warming, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 30, 2009 |

greenmoneyThis week the House passed the $819 billion stimulus package, and even more exciting is that over $100 billion of the package is allocated to green spending. Amazingly, the package passed without a single Republican vote.  Only 11 Democrats voted against the bill, with a final vote of 244-188.

Here is a breakdown of the green spending measure as stated in stimulus package:

  • $14.6 billion to fund the expansion of public transportation. This number is actually $3 billion more than initially agreed upon, thanks to the efforts of mass transit supporters during debate.
  • $37.9 billion towards energy efficiency
  • $27.8 billion for renewable energy
  • $20 billion in renewable-energy and energy efficiency tax credits and other financial incentives, added by the Ways and Means Committee.

So far, it seems like the House has made significant headway to ensure that green energy and climate change are important issues this session.

But wait, let’s not get our hopes up too high quite yet…we still have the get the package through the Senate. Voting on a specific package should not begin until later next week, and there is some speculation that it might not look as great as the current package. So far, appropriation to mass transit is only up to $8.2 billion. The Republican no-show was certainly intended to make a statement. The New York Times reported Republican Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) to say that he hoped the zero-vote showing would pressure Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to make changes to the bill during negotiations between the House and Senate.

President Obama issued the following statement, touching on the expected dissidence between the House and the Senate:

The plan now moves to the Senate, and I hope that we can continue to strengthen this plan before it gets to my desk. But what we can’t do is drag our feet or allow the same partisan differences to get in our way. We must move swiftly and boldly to put Americans back to work, and that is exactly what this plan begins to do.

So far so good, Mr. President! I just hope that by “strengthen this plan” you mean to keep those green spending measures intact!

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Rick Perry, the Environmentalist? Maybe!

Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on January 29, 2009 |

The Texas Governor announced this week that he supports legislation for a $5,000 rebate for plug-in hybrids. As the Wall Street Journal reports, Perry is an outspoken critic of government environmental regulation, saying that the “increasingly activist EPA[‘s]” initiatives to stem greenhouse gas output are “absolutely disastrous” for the Texas economy.  The WSJ says this initiative is to sidestep greater regulation from the DC mountaintop…he is throwing the liberals up there a bone so they will get off Texas’ case.

Perry Making a Point

From the governors prepared statement:

Rather than wait for more mandates and punishments for environmental non-attainment, let’s continue encouraging innovation. I support giving Texans in the non-attainment areas of our state a $5,000 incentive towards a purchase of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles, using the funds Texans have already paid to reduce emissions, while providing a unique way to store wind energy.

This is an exciting development for us down here in Texas, long known for being a fossil fuel state. Combining this with the $7,500 tax incentive on the docket in DC for a total of $12,500, Texans might have a fighting chance at purchasing a Chevy Volt, expected to retail for around 40 grand.

Perry would probably never refer to himself as an environmentalist in the same vein as most of the environmental movement, but at least he recognizes change is coming. Moral motives aside, any move in the right direction is welcomed. Thanks, Gov.

Check out the WSJ article here.

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Come out and be heard: Austin Energy wants public input, yall!

Posted in Efficiency, Energy, Global Warming, Renewables, tagged , , , , on January 27, 2009 |

towncrier3asWant Austin to do think outside the box on energy efficiency?

Think we should invest in storage technology to store all that beautiful wind and solar energy?

Want to see city hall but never had a reason to?

On Wednesday, Jan 28, Austin Energy will host a town hall meeting at city hall (301 W. 2nd Street) to solicit public comments and input on their future energy planning.  Here’s the full schedule.  If you can’t make one, make the other.

January 28, 2009 (Wednesday) City Hall Council Chambers (301 West 2nd Street); 6-9 PM

February 3, 2009 (Tuesday) Town Lake Center – Assembly Room (721 Barton Springs Road)

February 5, 2009 (Thursday) Carver Branch Library  (1161 Angelina)

Public Citizen, in case you were unaware, recommends mega energy efficiency programs (since there’s so much available in Texas), larger investment in renewable power (especially solar), and development of energy storage technologies like compressed air energy storage, thermal storage, advanced batteries, ultracapacitors, and flywheels.  Learn more here.  Austin Energy’s info is here.

-Matt

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News Roundup – Scary Yuletide Ghost of Christmas Future edition

Posted in Coal, Efficiency, Energy, Global Warming, Renewables, Toxics, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 23, 2008 |

The real question is, will we at Texas Vox run out of holiday references before tomorrow or not?

christmas-future-1

Some scary, scary stuff out there in the past few days we wanted to show you, plus some extra holiday snark for all of you.

  • The EPA also released their list of Sooty Cities (and you thought soot was stuff from only back in the days of Charles Dickens!), and, of course, Houston made the list.  Merry Christmas, Houston!  You got… soot!  Also ending up on the list were my old home towns of Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah.
  • And finally, California is buying our cow gas.  Seriously.  Pacific Gas and Electric plans to buy a methane-based substitute for natural gas created right here in Texas from, of all things, cow manure.  Just shows you that one man’s treasure is another man’s… never mind.

~~Citizen Andy

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Austinites: Got a minute? Take a quick survey on our future energy mix

Posted in Efficiency, Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , on December 14, 2008 |

Got a few seconds? Austin Energy has a survey tool on the Austin Smart Energy website to solicit feedback on their current energy mix and where to get new energy.

Public Citizen is a stakeholder in the process.  We will do our best to advocate for lots of renewables and more efficiency.

And coming soon, for the extra nerdy, the site will have a sim game where you can play the role of GM Roger Duncan and simulate different future energy scenarios. I can’t wait! I might make pewter figurines of utility planners and stay up all night drinking Dr. Pepper.

-Matt

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Oil Drilling in the U.S.—-To Change or Not to Change: That is the Question

Posted in Efficiency, Energy, Global Warming, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , on September 11, 2008 |

This is so very cool. GM is “leaking” photos of its new VOLT concept electric vehicle. So the car maker is finally reaching its goals, as stated in the 1980 first edition of The Cousteau Almanac, An Inventory of Life on our Water Planet. To wit: “The great car hope of the future, of course, is the EV. General Motors promises an electric car by the mid-1980s that will reach a speed of 60 miles (97) kilometers per hour and run 80 miles (130 kilometers) before needing a recharge. The company estimates that 10 percent of the cars on U.S. highways will be EVs by 1990.”

Word on the net is the VOLT will reach 120 mph and travel 40 miles before needing a recharge. Although there might possibly be some need for us to lay blame for the delay at the feet of GM (as if there already isn’t mounds of it there for other stuff) , we might as well rejoice and move on. Actually, I only even feel the need to highlight it at all in effort to say let’s not make a similar mistake with this “Drill Here, Drill Now”-let’s-just-drill-for-oil-around-FLORIDA,-THE-ROCKIES-(hey don’t worry it’s S-H-A-L-E) campaign.

Back to Cousteau. The 1980 almanac also says things about energy like, “A 1978 United Nations report concluded that solar cells would become cheaper (more…)

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Makhijani, San Antonio discuss energy efficiency

Posted in Efficiency, Energy, Nuclear, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , on August 14, 2008 |

On Monday, various people including representatives from City Public Services, various county commissioners including Tommy Adkisson, commissioner candidate Chip Haass, Laurence Doxsey of HUD , Bill Sinkin of Solar San Antonio, and representatives from the Mayor Phil Hardberger’s office gathered to discuss energy efficiency with the Citizen’s Energy Coalition, SEED Coalition and the Alamo Group of the Sierra Club.

Arjun Makhijani, head of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, presented his preliminary findings on energy efficiency potential for San Antonio. I enjoyed the dialogue that came out of his speech. From most people I heard that Dr. Makhijani’s speech hit the right note of pushing CPS to do more while simultaneously congratulating them for their current energy efficiency and renewable goals.

(more…)

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The future of small-scale renewable energy: Project 34890

Posted in Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , , on August 8, 2008 |

This Tuesday I spoke at the PUC’s public hearing on Project 34890, which is charged with deciding on a net metering and interconnection policy for the deregulated markets in Texas. If that description sounds arcane and confusing to you, that’s because it is. In fact, in calling around to several investor-owned utilities last week, most of the people I spoke to had not a clue what I was talking about when I asked if they allowed net metering.

But the gist of it is this: if the rule proposed by the PUC passes, guaranteed incentives for individuals to invest in small renewable energy (putting solar panels on their roof, for example) will disappear.

(more…)

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