Tag Archives: Economy

Solar Oakland Schools expect 45% savings

Maybe local school districts would like to do this. Dublin, GA High School did. Lowndes County School District has the bond rating to do it.

SunPower PR in WSJ today, Oakland Unified School District Plans to Reduce Electricity Costs by Nearly Half with SunPower Solar Systems at 16 Schools,

SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) today announced that it is designing and building high efficiency SunPower solar power systems for 16 schools in the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) in Oakland, Calif. Once completed in 2014, the district estimates it will reduce electricity costs at those facilities by 46 percent.

“Our contract with SunPower will enable Oakland Unified School District to Continue reading →

Two more nukes cancelled: Darlington in Ontario

Two cancelled, excuse me, “defer construction”, two others may not be refurbished, and six more may get shut down soon. Yay Ontario!

Jim Ostroff wrote for Platts today, Ontario to indefinitely defer new Darlington nuclear reactors: energy plan,

Ontario will indefinitely defer construction of two new nuclear power reactors at Ontario Power Generation’s Darlington site; back away from firm plans to refurbish operating units at Darlington and Bruce Power’s Bruce A site; and may order the shutdown of OPG’s six-unit Pickering plant prior to the units’ scheduled 2020 closing date, the provincial government said in a long-term energy plan issued late Monday.

The province, which owns OPG, said that advances in energy conservation, enhanced efficiency and a slowdown in electricity demand growth have prompted it to revise a 2010 long-term energy plan that called for building two new reactors at Darlington, as well as refurbishment of 10 units combined at that station and at Bruce A.

Hm, conservation and efficiency. Not even shale gas.

We already know Georgia could get on with efficiency and conservation if Southern Company and Georgia Power would get out of the way. Which they will once they admit Plant Vogtle (new and old) has always been a boondoggle.

-jsq

I am committed to developing a culture of sustainability on this campus –VSU President McKinney @ SAVE 2013-11-15

At installation of VSU’s solar canopy, the president of VSU answered SAVE’s question:

You’ve heard about how these kinds of projects can yield a relatively quick return on investment. And you all need to know that, so long as I am president, I am committed to developing a culture of sustainability on this campus. I do not believe for a moment that environmental sustainability and the long-term economic well-being of the university are contradictory goals.

He offered an autobiographical tidbit:

I began my career in academia… as a professor of environmental ethics. I didn’t leave that behind when moved into the role I’m in now. I still hold dear to that kind of thinking. I still hold dear that kind of open dialog. And I remain committed to these kinds of projects. The sun is something we have in abundance here. And I think it is something we can continue to take advantage of.

Now I will take a little bit of credit. I remember probably the most opposite of the day we have today. Back over the summer, and early in the morning, and it was already extremely hot, and we were walking around trying to decide where we were going to put the array, and we looked a couple of spots, and then we came back here.

Smokestack And the first thing that struck me from an academic perspective was the juxtaposition of having a solar panel and the old physical plant. Just from a metaphorical perspective, I just thought that was unique. But then we started talking about the fact that we could have shelter, power, for what is in many ways an academic hub of the university, the library. And generate some power in the process.

And be able to have not only the event that we have today, but I would hope other kinds of events, because I really do see this as a starting point.

He thanked everybody involved, especially SAVE and its president Danielle Jordan for her leadership, and in absentia plant operations.

Continue reading →

More solar jobs already than coal, or oil and gas extraction

Want jobs? Invest in solar power.

There are more people in the U.S. employed in the solar energy marketplace than mining coal. The banal argument that transitioning to a clean energy economy will cost us jobs is simply false. Solar is growing more than 10 times faster than the American economy.

Solar already employs more than coal, and that gap is widening. In 2012, solar added 14,000 new jobs, up 36 percent from 2010 and the industry will add another 20,000 jobs this year. The fossil fuels industry cut 4,000 jobs last year. So when it comes to employing Americans, solar is winning.

That 119,000 jobs in the solar industry is also more than the 106,400 “production and nonsupervisory employees” in the oil and gas extraction industry, and gaining rapidly Continue reading →

Great Promise and Leadership at Industrial Authority @ VLCIA 2013-11-19

Really; those are the names of two of the organizations they spoke before: Great Promise Partnership and Leadership Lowndes. And what is the mystery Project XX2?

Here’s the agenda:

Valdosta — Lowndes County Industrial Authority
Tuesday, November 19, 2013 5:30 p.m.
Industrial Authority Conference Room
2110 N. Patterson Street
Continue reading →

Why south Georgia actions start in Lowndes County and Valdosta

The biggest population center for 80 miles around is Valdosta and Lowndes County.

Map of population around Valdosta and Lowndes County Albany to the northwest actually has more people than Valdosta, but Dougherty County has fewer than Lowndes County. Beyond Albany it’s Columbus and then Auburn is about the same size as Valdosta.

Farther north it’s Warner Robins and Macon. Due west Dothan it’s Dothan. The closest bigger place is Tallahassee and Leon County, Florida to the southwest. Farther south it’s Gainesville, then Orlando and Tampa. East it’s Savannah, and of course Jacksonville.

History of population around Valdosta and Lowndes County

On this handy interactive google population comparison chart, you can see in the 3-6,000 range: Adel, Ashburn, and Lakeland.

14-20,000: Americus, Brunswick, Moultrie, Thomasville, Tifton, and Waycross.

55-60,000: Auburn and Valdosta.

67-80,000: Continue reading →

Valdosta force main GEFA loan awarded

Valdosta city PR today, City Receives $36.7 million GEFA Loan to Move Forward with Force Main Project,

The City of Valdosta was awarded a $36.7 million Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) loan by the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA), on Nov. 14, 2013.

The city will use the low-interest loan to finance the construction of two major pump stations, two minor pump stations, a 6-mile 32-inch and 40-inch force main, a headworks structure with grit removal and bar screens, and a 6-million gallon equalization basin. Wastewater will be gravity fed to the existing site of the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) for final treatment and discharged utilizing the existing plant outfall, until the relocation of the plant is completed in November 2015.

Easement Exhibit Context

This project will Continue reading →

Mississippi PSC required spending docs for Kemper Coal: what about Plant Vogtle?

Maybe Georgia PSC could do about Georgia Power’s nuclear Plant Vogtle what Mississippi PSC did about Mississippi Power’s Kemper Coal: hold their parent Southern Company accountable for cost overruns. And for pipelines!

Sam R. Hall blogged for Daily Ledes 1 November 2013, Sources: U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to visit Kemper coal plant,

The PSC voted unanimously to require Mississippi Power to provide additional documents justifying their spending on the Kemper plant. The hearing is set for May 2014, when the plant was originally supposed to go online.

“If the PSC rejects some of the spending as imprudent, it could add to the $1 billion in costs that shareholders have already agreed to absorb,” the Associated Press reported last month.

Meanwhile, GA PSC Continue reading →

LEDs vs. the entire U.S. nuclear fleet (and gas pipeline)

All U.S. nuclear power reactors could be replaced by LED lighting with a few clever on-off controls. More evidence Plant Vogtle is a boondoggle good for nothing but propping up profits for Georgia Power and Southern Company.

Michael Kanellos wrote for Forbes 28 October 2013, Can LED Bulbs Make Nuclear Plants Obsolete?

One $7 billion nuclear plant like one of Georgia Power’s 1.2 GW units would add a little over 1 percent of capacity. The bulb solution would cost $60 billion, and around $36 billion two years from now, and require only that consumers know how to screw in a light bulb. Nuclear would cost $105 billion, probably more, and take decades.

So maybe it’s not just weather that’s pushing down your demand, Southern Company: maybe Continue reading →

Southern Company missed earnings: weather and Kemper Coal and nuclear Plant Vogtle

SO CEO Tom Fanning continued to blame slow sales and earnings on mild weather (air conditioners running less), but the big boondoggle going bad is Kemper Coal, which has slipped six months from May 2014 to Q4 2014, and even the Wall Street Journal calls it “possibly the most expensive fossil-fuel power plant ever built in the U.S”. How bad will SO’s stock tank when SO’s even more expensive nuclear Plant Vogtle slips even more? Dividends can’t prop up SO’s share price forever, not when PSCs are revolting against the rate hikes and guaranteed profit hikes that prop up those dividends. When will Southern Company and Georgia Power get out front and lead in solar and wind power? Before or after the public, state public service commissions, and investors make them do it?

Justin Loiseau wrote for DailyFinance 4 November 2013, Southern Company Earnings: A $5 Billion Blunder? Continue reading →