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Politics : Politics of Energy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (76739)	5/9/2017 10:55:17 AM
From: Brumar89	Respond to of 86363

Solar Power: An Environmental Disaster Solar power is expensive, unreliable and environmentally destructive. So it doesn’t come into being through consumer demand; rather, by government fiat or subsidy. The federal government controls the military, so, sadly, our armed forces have been dragged into the government’s alleged fight against “climate change” to a humiliating degree. The Minnesota National Guard’s facility at Camp Ripley, Minnesota, is a case in point. Yesterday, an array of public officials hailed the opening of a 60-acre swath of solar panels that will produce a pathetic amount of energy, during the daytime and assuming it isn’t cloudy. My colleague Tom Steward has the story at the American Experiment web site: Our military used to boast about its fire power. These days the brass brags about its solar power. The Minnesota National Guard has just unveiled the latest weapon in the war on global warming. It’s a 60 acre solar panel farm at Camp Ripley in north central Minnesota. Row upon row of 120,000 solar panels standing in precise military formation, the biggest solar installation at any National Guard base in the country. But as turns out to be the case more often than not in Minnesota, sunshine proved to be elusive for the occasion. If we devoted a fraction of that space to a natural gas, coal or nuclear facility we could produce 100 times the energy–even at night time, when people need to turn lights on. It is sad to see military personnel who should know better, and probably do, mouthing the inane pieties of global warming: “Camp Ripley is now capable of producing as much energy as it consumes,” said Maj. Gen. Richard C. Nash, adjutant general of the Minnesota National Guard. “We can make a better Minnesota and a better world by joining the worldwide initiative to address the serious challenge of climate change.” Right. We’d prefer you address the serious military challenge of Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and so on. Tom Steward points out the costly reality: The project’s astonishing $25 million price tag has led to the utility taking fire from state regulators for overpaying for solar panels and long-term lease with the National Guard. The collateral damage includes the northern Minnesota utility’s residential ratepayers, whose bills will rise as a result of the costly solar farm. The solar facility can provide electricity for only 1,700 homes, a ridiculously small number, at “full capacity.” But solar installations never reach full capacity, and if it is dark or cloudy, they are irrelevant. No one would argue for ugly 60-acre scars on the landscape based on a cost/benefit analysis. In Duluth, the best proxy for Camp Ripley, there are an average of 77 sunny days per year. Hey, that is better than one in five! Of course, they don’t have any sunny nights in Duluth, so there’s that. It was left to Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith (D) to deliver the most mind-numbingly stupid commentary on the occasion: “With four megastorms in the past seven years in Minnesota, we don’t need any more reminders of the impact of a changing climate on our state,” Smith said. “Projects like you see behind us will be helpful to mitigate some of that damage.” Perhaps Ms. Smith is unaware that no respectable scientist claims “megastorms” have increased as a result of purported global warming. Perhaps she doesn’t know that hurricanes in the Western Hemisphere–to take just one example–are at a historic low. Perhaps she is unaware that the models on which global warming hysteria is based forecast fewer extreme weather events, not more. All of that might be excusable ignorance. But Ms. Smith presumably has lived in Minnesota for a while, so she should know that four “megastorms” in seven years is a mild rate. Actually, I don’t recall anything that I would call a megastorm in recent years. Ms. Smith has perhaps forgotten that the really epic storms, like the Halloween Blizzard of 1991, when snow fell faster than I have ever seen before or since, or the tragic Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940, predated the purported era of “climate change.” But maybe it is irrelevant to point out how wrong the global warming alarmists are, and how severely their uneconomic installations damage the environment. Their doctrine is a religious faith that has nothing to do with science or history, and everything to do with government greed, so rational arguments are wasted on them. powerlineblog.com

To: Brumar89 who wrote (76739)	5/9/2017 11:01:46 AM
From: Eric	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 86363

Well, don't worry so much. The wind production tax credit goes away in a few years. As turbine costs continue to fall no subsidies will be required at all. Windpower is now cheaper than fossil fueled generation in many places in the world today.

To: Brumar89 who wrote (76739)	5/10/2017 9:33:59 AM
From: Eric	Respond to of 86363

Virginia Governor Signs Bundle Of Clean Energy Bills Posted by Joseph Bebon on May 09, 2017 Joined by clean energy industry stakeholders and several bill patrons on Monday at the Executive Mansion, Gov. Terry McAuliffe, D-Va., ceremoniously signed 11 bipartisan bills passed by the state legislature earlier this year that promote the use of solar and other renewable energy options and aim to reduce energy consumption in Virginia. “Today, I am honored to sign these bills into law, furthering the great work we’re doing to support and promote the clean energy sector across the commonwealth,” said McAuliffe at the ceremony. “It is clear that Virginia is moving in the right direction, especially with the recent announcement of record growth in our solar industry, but there is still work to do. Together, with our partners in the general assembly and the private sector, I will continue to implement policies that bolster the entire clean energy industry in the commonwealth.” “With revenue in the clean energy sector increasing from $500 million to $2 billion since 2014, the industry is a vital component of the new Virginia economy, creating more jobs and opportunities for citizens across the commonwealth,” added Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Todd Haymore. McAuliffe signed the following bills on Monday: S.B.1393 – Senator Frank Wagner – Authorizes Community Solar Pilot Programs S.B.1393 creates a path for the creation of community solar programs in the service territories of Appalachian Power Co. (ApCo), Dominion, and the electric cooperatives. Each utility will develop its own territory-specific program that allows citizens and businesses the ability to “subscribe” to receive electricity generated by a small centrally located solar generation system. S.B.990 – Senator Roslyn Dance (and Delegate Rip Sullivan) – Energy Efficiency Goal Progress Report Requirement S.B.990 requires the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy to report annually the progress the state is making toward achieving the codified voluntary goal of reducing energy consumption in Virginia by 10% by 2022 from 2007 levels. S.B.1258 – Senator Adam Ebbin – Changes the Virginia Solar Energy Development Authority to the Virginia Solar Energy and Battery Storage Development Authority S.B.1258 expands the mission of the Virginia Solar Energy Development Authority to include the promotion and development of battery storage technology. The bill increases the composition of the authority by four seats. “Energy storage is essential for a clean and sustainable energy future,” said Sen. Ebbin. “The inventor who perfects the technology to store the power of the sun and the wind will be our next Bill Gates, and deservedly so.” S.B.1394/H.B.2303 – Senator Frank Wagner and Delegate Randy Minchew – Establishes Small Agricultural Generators Program S.B.1394 and H.B.2303 are identical bills that create a new framework for the generation of renewable energy at agricultural facilities and how that energy can be sold to utilities. This bill was put forward by the so-called “Rubin Group.” Delegate Minchew said H.B.230 “was the product of a year-long mediation effort between investor-owned utilities, electrical cooperatives, farmers and rural business operators, and renewable energy stakeholders and that will allow agricultural landowners to ‘farm the sun,’ become energy independent, and help increase renewable energy production throughout our commonwealth.” S.B.1395 – Senator Frank Wagner – Size of Projects Eligible for Permit by Rule S.B.1395 increases the allowable maximum size of renewable projects to be eligible to be permitted through the state’s permit by rule (PBR) process from 100 MW to 125 MW. It also exempts projects that are being built for use by a single customer of a utility from having to apply for and receive a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the State Corporation Commission (SCC). This bill was also put forward by the Rubin Group. H.B.1565 – Delegate Michael Webert – Local Option to Create Green Development Zones H.B.1565 allows localities to establish “green development zones” where businesses can receive special taxing and zoning treatment for buildings and facilities that are determined to be energy efficient or the manufacturing of products that are beneficial to the environment. “Giving localities the flexibility to enhance their economic growth with green businesses and buildings in green development zones was truly an idea that came from the ground up,” explained Delegate Webert. “The Fauquier Economic Development team brought forth the idea, and I am excited that the County of Fauquier is poised to be one of the first counties to take advantage of this legislation. I sincerely appreciate the governor signing this bill, and I look forward to the economic development that this will bring across the commonwealth.” H.B.1712 – Delegate Randy Minchew – Energy Performance Contracting H.B.1712 allows for the continued use by state agencies and localities of energy performance contracting as a financing tool to reduce energy consumption and increase energy savings through building and facilities improvements. H.B.1760/S.B.1418 – Delegate Terry Kilgore and Senator Ben Chafin – Pump Storage Electric Generation Facilities in the Public Interest H.B.1769 and S.B.1418 are identical bills that place pump storage electric generation facilities in the public interest. This makes it easier for new pump storage projects to receive by the SCC. H.B.2390 – Delegate Terry Kilgore – Power Purchase Pilot Program Creation in Southwest Virginia H.B.2390 establishes a power purchase agreement pilot program in the service territory of ApCo. Permitted participants in the pilot are private colleges and universities located within the ApCo territory. solarindustrymag.com