If you owned Southern Company stock on 31 March 2014 (I did), you should have gotten a letter to Stockholders from SO CEO Tom Fanning:
You are invited to attend the 2014 Annual Meeting of Stockholders at 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, May 28, 2014, at The Lodge Conference Center at Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, Georgia.
Tom Fanning is a most congenial host, always ready with an answer to any question, as you can see in these videos from the Continue reading
Why the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is
trying to get the public’s confidence in nuclear waste management:
NRC lost an appeal in 2012.
Southern Company’s new nukes at Plant Vogtle scraped by before
this happened, but there’s still no place for nuke waste
even from the existing Vogtle 1 and 2 reactors to go.
NRC has a revised Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) scheduled to be finished October 2014.
Here’s U.S. DC Circuit Court of Appeals decision No. 11-1045 NY v. NRC 8 June 2012, on the Court’s website and on NIRS’ website.
David Erickson and Mark Anstoetter wrote for Lexology 17 August 2012, NRC suspends issuance of nuclear power plant licenses,
In response to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision to vacate its rule regarding long-term storage of nuclear waste, New York v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, No. 11-1045 (D.C. Cir. 6/8/12), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has agreed to suspend Continue reading
Today is the last day to
comment to GA EPD about Georgia Power’s demand for
more new water for the Plant Vogtle nukes than Savannah uses.
As Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning said two years ago,
“water, more than air, is the issue of the future”.
Comments may be emailed to EPDComments@dnr.state.ga.us with the subject line “Plant Vogtle.”
See below for videos of what people said at a recent public hearing.
Mary Landers wrote for SavannahNow.com 7 May 2014, Nukes thirst for Savannah River water, Continue reading
Time to break out of the utility death spiral by breaking
away from cost overruns at Kemper “clean” Coal
and the Plant Vogtle nuclear boondoggle
and getting on with real renewable solar and wind power.
UBS wrote 5 May 2014, Southern Company: Kemper Tantrums; Reducing to Sell,
Reducing to Sell on continued delays for the Kemper IGCC project
With further delays and increased costs for the Kemper IGCC project resulting in yet another $380M of writedowns (further slippage costing $25M/month) and now the likely loss of $120M-$150M of bonus depreciation as well, we view the current premium P/E multiple as untenable.
While the Vogtle nuclear project appears to be on track, the presence of two major risky projects, Continue reading
If we need less electricity and we already getting almost all new energy from solar power, why not shut down some more coal, oil, and nuclear plants, and not build any destructive, hazardous, and unnecessary natural gas pipelines?
See
U.S. Electricity Use is Declining and Energy Efficiency May be a Significant Factor
by American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy,
February 25, 2014.
See also
Changes in Electric Power Annual (EPA) 2012 by the U.S. Energy Information Association (eia),
especially
Table 1.1. Total electric power industry summary statistics,
which says U.S. electric power net generation from all sources went down by 1.3% from 2011 to 2012.
The biggest declines were in Petroleum Coke (30.6%), Hydroelectric Pumped Storage (22.9%), Petroleum Liquids (16.7%), Coal (12.7%), and Nuclear (2.6%).
The biggest increases in generation were from Wind (17.2%),
Natural Gas (20.9%), and Solar (138%). Continue reading
This month’s eia report confirms that solar did exactly what former FERC Chair Jon Wellinghoff predicted: “That’s what is happening in solar. It could double every two years.” Wellinghoff’s further prediction remains on the money: “…at its present growth rate, solar will overtake wind in about ten years. It is going to be the dominant player.” Because of exponential growth like compound interest caused by ever-falling solar PV costs, solar will win like the Internet did.
U.S. Energy Information Administration (eia) wrote 22 April 2014, Solar-electric Generating Capacity Increases Drastically in the Last Four Years,
U.S. solar capacity increased significantly in the last 4 years. In 2010, the total solar capacity was 2,326 MW which accounted for a comparatively small fraction (0.22%) of the total U.S. electric generating. capacity. By February 2014, this capacity increased 418% to 12,057 MW, a 9,731 MW gain, and now accounts for almost 1.13% of total U.S. capacity. Reported planned solar capacity additions indicate continued growth
12,057 / 2,326 = 5.18 times, which is more than 2 * 2 = 4, ergo Wellinghoff was right. Continue reading
We have all the technology right now that we need to power
the U.S. state by state and the world with solar, wind, and water power.
No burning coal or oil or fracked natural gas and no nukes.
No need for any new destructive and hazardous methane pipelines.
No waiting for batteries.
All we have to do is get on with it.
100% RENEWABLE ENERGY IS FEASIBLE AND AFFORDABLE, ACCORDING TO STANFORD PROPOSAL,
Stanford University researchers led by civil engineer Mark Jacobson have developed detailed plans for each state in the union that to move to 100 percent wind, water and solar power by 2050 using only technology that’s already available. The plan, presented recently at the AAAS conference in Chicago, also forms the basis for The Solutions Project nonprofit.
“The conclusion is that it’s technically and economically feasible,” Jacobson told Singularity Hub.
The plan doesn’t rely, like many others, on dramatic energy efficiency regimes. Nor does it include biofuels or nuclear power, whose green credentials are the source of much debate.
The proposal is straightforward: eliminate combustion as a source of energy, because it’s dirty and inefficient. All vehicles would be powered by electric batteries or by hydrogen, where the hydrogen is produced through electrolysis rather than natural gas. High-temperature industrial processes would also use electricity or hydrogen combustion.
The rest would simply be a question of allowing existing fossil-fuel plants to age out and using renewable sources to power any new plants that come online….
“The greatest barriers to a conversion are neither technical nor economic. They are social and political,” the AAAS paper concludes.
For Georgia, that’s 40% solar PV plants, 35% offshore wind, 13% rooftop PV (6% residential and 7% commercial), 5% concentrating solar plants, 5% onshore wind, and 1% each wind, tide, and conventional hydro power. Plus 210,200 construction jobs and 101,000 operation jobs. And saving $14.3 billion per year Continue reading
It’s unlikely a U.S. town has any direct power over a siting decision in Canada, but a small Michigan town made its views known anyway, because it would be affected. Local governments affected by the Sabal Trail methane pipeline could do the same.
Lori Maranville wrote for the Milan News-Leader 22 February 2014, MILAN: Council approves resolution opposing nuclear waste site in Canada,
In October, U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry showing their concern for the proposed nuclear waste site.
“The placement of this nuclear waste storage facility is of great concern given its location near Lake Huron and the importance of the Great Lakes to tens of millions of U.S. and Canadian citizens for drinking water, fisheries, tourism, recreation, and other industrial and economic uses,” they wrote in the letter.
In passing a resolution opposing the site, Milan elected officials brought the issue to light for the city’s residents.
Continue reading
Less than two years after
Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning assured us
It is not in a seismic-sensitive area.
Fanning also claimed the technology was safe, before SO failed to get a reactor vessel from Savannah to the site, and before a renewed scandal revealed Korea’s document-forging Doosan supplies that “safe” nuclear technology. How safe will Plant Vogtle be in a bigger earthquake? How safe is it even without an earthquake? Not safe for the ratepayers or the taxpayers of Georgia or the U.S.
Mark Sandritter wrote for SBNation yesterday, Augusta National water tower leaking after Georgia earthquake, per report, Continue reading
While ten nukes were shut down or cancelled in 2013, solar power continues its compound-interest-curve ever-faster deployment. Zero (0) new nukes were built in 2013 and in October all new U.S. utility-scale power was solar. Unfortunately, the biggest of those was Southern Company’s Campo Verde, which powers California, not Georgia or the southeast, but that is changing now.
Todd Woody wrote for The Atlantic 26 November 2013, Solar Energy Was America’s Sole New Power Source in October: Get ready for a photovoltaic building boom.
In October, power plants generating 530 megawatts of electricity came online in the United States. And every single electron put on the grid came from the sun, according to a report released today.
That’s apparently not even counting rooftop solar.
The report is Solar the sole capacity completed in October, at 530 MW, by Althena Enguerra for SNL 25 November 2013. Continue reading