Whoa!

Double Electric Hike Takes Effect New Year's Day

From: AJC

Two simultaneous increases in the cost of electricity from Georgia Power take effect on New Year's Day.

A rate increase approved by utility regulators Dec. 21 and a nuclear fee mandated by the state Legislature in 2009 both hit bills for the first time in January.

The combined impact will push up the typical residential power bill -- defined as 1,000 kilowatt hours of power usage -- by nearly $14.50 per month or almost $175 a year.

The rate increase allows Georgia Power to recoup its investments in infrastructure, including transmission expansions and government-mandated environmental controls, and to earn a return on those investments of 11.15 percent.

The nuclear fee begins collecting the costs of two new reactors at Georgia Power's Vogtle nuclear plant. The company expects to bring the new reactors on line in 2016 and 2017.

State lawmakers mandated the fee in 2009 after a vigorous lobbying campaign by Georgia Power. Consumer groups opposed the fee.

The utility says the early collection will allow it to shave hundreds of millions of dollars from the cost of financing the $14 billion project.

The state's municipal power companies and most of its electric membership cooperatives are sharing in the Vogtle costs, although most are not charging customers yet.

Georgia Power customers will see further increases in 2012 and 2013 under a compromise deal approved two weeks ago by the state Public Service Commission.

The further increases will add about $4 more to the typical residential monthly bill.

By 2013, that typical bill will be $216 more per year than it is today.

Seriously, nuclear power plants? ...Come on, Georgia.

State Of Georgia Fails Clean Energy Policy Scorecard

Source: NNEC

The recent report entitled "Freeing The Grid" by the NNEC takes a look at the role state governments play in accelerating the transition to a clean energy economy. 2 main factors are analyzed:

Net Metering

Commonly known as the policy that enables a customer’s electric meter spin backwards, net metering is the billing arrangement by which customers realize savings from their clean energy systems. 1 kWh generated by the customer has the exact same value as 1 kWh consumed by the customer.

What makes an effective net-metering program?

• Allow net metering system size limits to cover large commercial and industrial customers’ loads; systems at the 2 MW level are no longer uncommon.
• Do not arbitrarily limit net metering as a percent of a utility’s peak demand.
• Allow monthly carryover of excess electricity at the utility’s full retail rate.
• Specify that customer-sited generators retain all renewable energy credits for energy they produce.
• Allow all renewable technologies to net meter.
• Allow all customer classes to net meter.
• Protect customer-sited generators from unnecessary and burdensome red tape and special fees.
• Apply net metering standards to all utilities in the state, so customers and installers fully understand the policy, regardless of service territory.

Interconnection

Each state regulates the process under which a generator can connect to the distribution grid. These policies seek to keep up the stability of the grid as well as the safety of those who use and maintain it. Technical standards serve an extremely important purpose in the U.S. economy. By meeting a uniform set of procedures and electrical specifications, a wide variety of products and technologies, like distributed generation (DG), can be developed at low cost.

What makes effective interconnection standards?

• Set fair fees that are proportional to a project’s size.
• Cover all generators in order to close any state-federal jurisdictional gaps in standards.
• Screen applications by degree of complexity and adopt plug-and-play rules for residential-scale systems and expedited procedures for other systems.
• Ensure that policies are transparent, uniform, detailed and public.
• Prohibit requirements for extraneous devices, such as redundant disconnect switches, and do not require additional insurance.
• Apply existing relevant technical standards, such as IEEE 1547 and UL 1741.
• Process applications quickly; a determination should occur within a few days.
• Standardize and simplify forms.

The state of Georgia did not received a grade for lack of having an Interconnection Policy in place. We also received an F in the Net Metering category for having a very low aggregate system capacity cap at 0.2% of the utility's peak load. The Freeing The Grid report recommends increasing this to at least 5% as well as adopting safe harbor language to protect customers from extra and/or unanticipated fees.



Georgia came in 44th out of 50 in Net Metering, receiving an F along with South Carolina and Oklahoma, and did not receive a score under Interconnection for lack of Interconnection policy along with 16 other states.

The highest scoring state under Net Metering was Colorado and the top scorer under Interconnection was Maine.

The full report can be downloaded here.

Sandy Springs Church Goes Solar

Source: AtlProgressiveNews


SANDY SPRINGS -- The Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation (NWUUC) in Sandy Springs recently held an open house on Sunday, October 10, 2010, for Metro Atlanta residents to come and learn about how the church is transitioning to one hundred percent solar power and is reducing its carbon footprint.

In January 2009, the church installed 20 solar panels on the south roof of its sanctuary, in its effort to completely remove itself from the coal power grid. According to Georgia Interfaith Power and Light (GIPL), the congregation is the first in Georgia to have installed solar panels on its roof.

The Sandy Springs UUC is part of an international grassroots campaign, www.350.org, to mobilize a worldwide social movement to create clean, renewable, and moral solutions to the global warming crisis.

One of the main barriers to switching more buildings to solar power is the cost of obtaining and installing solar panels, the up-front costs of which are prohibitive.

However, the NWUUC raised the money for the solar panels--at a cost of 1,500 dollars per panel, or 30,000 dollars total--from its own congregation. They estimate a 18 percent saving on their energy bills with the solar panels so far. They plan to eventually install 80 more solar panels which will meet most of their energy needs.

"All the money to purchase the 20 solar panels came from the congregation," David Zenner, Congregational President said. "We asked for donations of as little as one-fourth of a panel, up to a full panel. Some were only able to contribute a few hundred [dollars] while others gave as many as three full panels or 4,500 dollars."

The solar panels did lead to some controversy, when the church discovered that some old pine trees on the property were blocking the sun and needed to be cut down.
One member of the congregation for over 50 years, Hugh Fordyce, 82, threatened at one point to chain himself to one of the trees.

In order to allow enough sunshine on the new solar panels, four large pines and two hardwood trees needed to be cut down, but Fordyce was opposed.
"From my perspective, to destroy the trees in order to provide more sunlight for solar panels seemed a poor trade-off," Fordyce told Atlanta Progressive News. "The trees provide cooling; they take in carbon dioxide and emit oxygen."

Fordyce left the congregation for three months but then returned. "One of our Unitarian principles emphasizes the need to live in harmony with the Earth. I felt as though we would be destroying something sacred by cutting down the trees."

"One of the other principles of my Unitarian Universalist faith is to respect the worth and dignity of every person. I guess that means that I should love them, even though I think they may be short-sighted," he said, adding that he had not changed his mind about the trees.
Although the trees were cut down, the congregation made a donation to an arborists organization in Sandy Springs to plant more, new trees elsewhere.

Meanwhile, NWUUC received a power audit from GIPL, which helps all communities of faith save precious energy through energy efficiency and energy conservation. Since 2003, GIPL's interfaith ministry has been developing the connection between ecology and faith. Their goal is to help people of faith recognize and fulfill their responsibility for the stewardship of creation.
If everybody in the US was as aware of their energy usage as the folks at the NWUUC, the nation's carbon footprint would be much lower than the current 390 parts per million (PPM) of carbon dioxide. Leading scientists say 350 PPM is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in our atmosphere and is the number humanity needs to return to avoid a runaway climate change.
Fossil fuels like oil, coal, and gas emit carbon dioxide when burned. Carbon dioxide is the most common greenhouse gas causing global warming. We rely on the combustion of these fossil fuels, when we turn on the lights, cook food, heat and cool our homes, use appliances, and drive our cars.

Getting back to 350 PPM means changing the way many people live and taking on the powerful fossil fuel industry. It means building solar stations instead of coal plants, wind turbines instead of nuclear plants, planting trees instead of clear-cutting rainforests, increasing efficiency, and decreasing waste.

Some of the NWUUC's other projects include installing energy efficient compact florescent lights; placing cards above all light switches to remind people to turn off lights when leaving; replacing old appliances with energy efficient appliances; sealing air leaks on the windows; recycling paper, glass, aluminum, and plastic products; and installing rain barrels at the down spouts to water the recently planted hemlock trees on the property.

Bob Fletcher supervises selling Compact Florescent Light (CFL) bulbs to the congregation and has replaced all the 60-watt incandescent bulb at NWUCC with 13 watt CFL. Each CFL, over the expected 10,000 hour life of the bulbs, will save 470 kilowatt-hours of electricity. Bulbs with the Energy Star label have been certified for efficiency.

The typical American household generates 55,000 pounds of carbon dioxide annually, the typical German household contributes 27,000, and the average Swedish household contribution is only 15,000, according to David Gershon in his book, Low Carbon Diet.

The bigger picture to reducing carbon dioxide pollution is to shift from using fossil fuels to using renewable energy like solar, wind, small hydro, and biomass. Currently the lobbying power of the big fossil fuel corporations has significant influence over the decision making of elected officials in state legislatures and US Congress.

Again, one of the biggest obstacles for businesses and organizations to switch to solar energy is the initial cost of obtaining and installing the panels. A power purchase agreement (PPA) allows a business to obtain the panels for no up-front cost from a solar installation company which finances the panels, as previously reported by Atlanta Progressive News; but PPAs are not currently legal in the State of Georgia.

Moreover, the Georgia Territorial Electric Service Act of 1973 states that individuals, organizations, and businesses with solar panels can only sell their energy to Georgia Power. This Act gives Georgia Power a monopoly over the purchase of energy.

Georgia Power has lobbied for favorable public policies at the Public Service Commission (PSC) and State Legislature. Their successful lobbying has made it difficult for the state's residents to transition to solar power. On the national level, Georgia Power's parent company, Southern Company, employed 63 lobbyists to fight the federal clean energy bill, APN previously reported.
Another obstacle to meaningful change may also be the cross-pollination between polluters and environmental organizations in Georgia.

That is, corporate polluters' financial influence extends not only to PSC and State Legislature but also to the boards of environmental groups.

The Georgia Conservancy, for example, has AGL Resources and Southern Company on their Board of Trustees.

What Is GA Amendment 4?

Source: YesToAmendment4

Amendment 4 allows the State to execute multiyear contracts for projects to improve energy efficiency and conservation.

The amendment reads: Shall the Constitution be amended so as to provide for guaranteed cost savings for the state by authorizing a state entity to enter into multiyear contracts which obligate state funds for energy efficiency or conservation improvement projects?

What is an Energy Saving Performance Contract (ESPC)?
Performance contracts divert funds that would be spent on utility bills into building improvements that lower energy consumption. The key feature of an ESPC is that upfront costs are paid by the energy services company (ESCO) via guaranteed energy savings. Under performance contracts, the ESCO also bears all of the risk because the company guarantees to pay any difference between guaranteed savings and actual savings.

Why don’t we have ESPCs in Georgia?
Some provisions in Georgia’s Constitution prohibit multiyear contracts and prevent the state from partnering with private companies, making Georgia one of the few states in the U.S. that cannot use this tool. The legislature overwhelmingly voted to propose the amendment and it now must be ratified by voters.

What are the benefits of ESPCs to the state?
ESPCs would allow Georgia to fast track energy saving improvements to state owned buildings. With ESPCs, improvements can happen immediately at no cost to the state. Without ESPCs, building improvements must be made using cash or general obligation debt, which slows down the process, wastes energy and diverts funds from other critical needs.

How do ESPCs help the environment?
ESPCs help install such technologies as efficient heating and air conditioning, low consumption lighting, geothermal energy systems, solar energy systems, and other innovations that lower overall energy consumption. In turn, this reduces state costs for energy and water.

Will ESPCs help create jobs?
Yes. Because Georgia has been so far behind in implementing this tool relative to other states, there is a tremendous backlog of potential projects in our system. If we authorize ESPCs via a constitutional amendment in 2010, then we can see a substantial amount of economic activity beginning in 2011, with total numbers eventually reaching the hundreds of millions mark. Additionally, key areas of job creation are in engineering, electrical, construction and heating and air conditioning -- all areas that have been hard hit by the construction slowdown and are a significant cause of high unemployment and lagging state revenues in Georgia.

More than 11,000 jobs for Georgians can be created in the
service, manufacturing and construction sectors.

Because our state has a large backlog of projects, we will be able to launch tens of millions in performance contracts as soon as this Amendment is passed. Repairing outdated systems in our buildings will create more than 11,000 jobs, based on current estimates. Many of these jobs will be for engineers, electricians, plumbers and heating and air conditioning professionals. Creating jobs in these areas will help Georgia families who have been hurt by the real estate slowdown, and allow our workers to learn more about the technologies that will provide the jobs of tomorrow.

Improving energy efficiency preserves valuable resources and
ensures Georgia continues to be the best place to live.

Every year, Georgians spend too much of their hard earned tax dollars on energy for our inefficient government facilities. Energy is the single largest operating expense in a typical office building, with 35% to 65% of the energy used in buildings consumed by space heating, cooling and refrigeration. As energy prices continue to rise, we cannot afford to spend more on our inefficient state buildings.

Georgia can save taxpayers millions of dollars instead of raising taxes
or increasing costs to the general public.

Without spending a dime of taxpayer funds, performance contracts use the savings created by improvements to finance their cost, and include a guarantee that the savings will be greater than the cost.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) reports that the median energy savings for the 82 state building Energy Saving Performance Contract projects in its database that were completed between 2005 and 2008 is 23.8%. LBNL assembled and maintains this database, which now contains about 4,000 projects, in conjunction with the US Department of Energy. These improvements could ultimately save taxpayers more than $50 million per year now spent on utility payments by state agencies.

It seems like this is a no-risk deal for the state to partake in. System upgrades are financed by only if there are savings experienced between what the state would have paid and what they are paying for with the upgrade.