Tag Archives: John S. Quarterman

AT&T 4G LTE now in Valdosta @ VLCIA 2013-07-16

Verizon won’t be the only 4G LTE access in Valdosta anymore: AT&T has turned theirs on. It’s not clear how far out of town that extends (looks to me like I still need to go stand by my west gate if I want on), but at least it’s a start of competition, and maybe T will get around to increasing its coverage (see next post). If Softbank + Sprint + Clearwire comes here, as well, maybe we’ll see something like a competitive market. It’s not clear even that will be enough to get fast affordable access everywhere in south Georgia. For that, maybe our local elected and appointed officials will continue with the advocacy they started back in February.

Andrea Schruijer and the AT&T 4G LTE PR As mentioned at the Industrial Authority yesterday evening by Executive Director Andrea Schruijer (video to come), here’s AT&T’s PR of 2 July 2013, AT&T 4G LTE Available In Valdosta: Customers to benefit from nation’s fastest 4G LTE network on the latest devices,

VALDOSTA, Ga., July 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — AT&T* has turned on the nation’s fastest 4G LTE network** in Valdosta, bringing customers the latest generation of wireless network technology. Watch here to see several of the benefits AT&T 4G LTE provides, including:

  • Faster speeds. LTE technology is capable of delivering mobile Internet speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G***. Customers can stream, download, upload and game faster than ever before.
  • Cool new devices. AT&T offers several LTE-compatible devices, including new AT&T 4G LTE smartphones and tablets.
  • Faster response time. LTE technology offers lower latency, or the processing time it takes to move data through a network, such as how long it takes to start downloading a webpage or file once you’ve sent the request. Lower latency helps to improve services like mobile gaming, two-way video calling and telemedicine.
  • More efficient use of spectrum. Wireless spectrum is a finite resource, and LTE uses spectrum more efficiently than other technologies, creating more space to carry data traffic and services and to deliver a better network experience.

“Wireless infrastructure investment is critical to Georgia’s future and I am very pleased to see AT&T investing in Valdosta and Lowndes County and bringing LTE service to our community,” said Andrea Schruijer, Executive Director of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority. “Advanced technology like LTE will help stimulate our economy and provide new tools and services that we need to compete for business.”

“We continue Continue reading

More solar at VLCIA tonight? @ VLCIA 2013-07-16

Will the recent increase in solar requirements by GA PSC on Georgia Power produce any more solar projects in Valdosta? And what’s in the VLCIA annual report? Maybe a list of jobs created?

Here’s the agenda.

Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority
Agenda, Tuesday July 16, 2013 5:30 p.m.
Industrial Authority Conference Room
2110 N. Patterson Street
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SO’s plan to make the Southeast a net exporter of the energy from solar and wind? –John S. Quarterman @ SO 2013-05-22

SO CEO Tom Fanning didn’t budge from nuclear and coal, but he did announce a tiger team to get on top of distributed solar and wind through a smart grid, headed by SO’s COO, at the 22 May 2013 Southern Company Stockholder Meeting.

Next question --Tom Fanning Mr. John S. Quarterman from Lowndes County, Georgia, and he holds 220 shares of Southern Company.

TF: Hello, John. Good to see you again this year.

jsq with SO fade jsq: Hi. I’ve come to compliment Tom Fanning and Paul Bowers. Last year, Tom Fanning was so persuasive I ran out and bought $10,000 worth of stock.

TF: Bless you. [Applause]

However, apparently because of SO’s admission a few minutes before in that same meeting that it was going to have to eat Kemper Coal cost overruns, SO stock tanked that same day, causing my stock to stop out, and Standard & Poor’s downgraded SO the following day because of Kemper Coal, noting that if the same thing happened with SO’s nuclear project at Plant Vogtle, S&P’s would probably Continue reading

Re-evaluate Plant Vogtle and move to wind and solar power –Courtney Hanson @ GA PSC 2013-06-18

Re-evaluate Plant Vogtle, especially its water use, and move to efficiency, wind, and solar power instead, said Courtney Hanson of Georgia Women’s Action for New Directions (GA WAND) at the Georgia Public Service Commission meeting Tuesday 18 June 2013.

She reminded GA PSC Plant Vogtle 3 and 4 are late and over budget, and then:

I want to add my voice to the chorus of folks here who are concerned about water issues. We know that Vogtle 3 and 4 will require an additional withdrawal of as much as 74 million gallons a day from the Savannah River and most of that water will not be returned. We know that the central Savannah River area where Vogtle is located is already very prone to droughts and the plant has been close to shutting down several times due to drought conditions. Georgia is also already struggling to supply enough water for our homes, businesses, industries, and farms.

In addition, the Savannah River is Continue reading

It is not enough to add a little solar and wind on top of fossil and fission fuels –a German @ GA PSC 2013-06-18

A German national residing in Georgia asked for a serious effort on energy efficiency and conservation while switching to real renewable energy sources instead of fossil fuels and nuclear, at the Georgia Public Service Commission meeting Tuesday 18 June 2013.

She said increasing fires and floods were part of climate change, and we need to do something about it.

I always hear this phrase “growing energy demand” as if it’s something, some matter of fact. A growing economy means growing energy demand, and that means consequently growing waste, growing pollution, growing inequity, and so on. Any thinking person should notice that we need to find a way out. For anyone concerned about our future, business as usual is no longer acceptable. We need drastic changes in our energy supply. We need to use less.

Only a month earlier, Tom Fanning, CEO of Georgia Power’s parent company Southern Company reemphasized yet again that

To us, growing the economy is how we’re going to make profit.

Yet GA PSC could do something about that antique attitude, as this speaker pointed out: Continue reading

More solar, less nuke cost overruns –Glenn Carroll @ GA PSC 2013-06-18

Glenn Carroll of Nuclear Watch South asked GA PSC to raise the 2 MW solar cap and to get Georgia Power to build solar in Georgia rather than in distant states, plus efficiency and conservation, at the Georgia Public Service Commission meeting Tuesday 18 June 2013.

She said they’d gotten a lot of national attention on Plant Vogtle, which was having a legendary bad year, in procurement, costs, etc. She praised Sierra Club, Georgia Watch, and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) for intervening in Georgia Power’s IRP.

The world has changed really really fast and Georgia Power is being isolated. It is protected financially of course because of the small business and residential customers that are covering all of the risks that they are taking. We want solar power here, not Arizona and New Mexico.

She recommended conservation and efficiency programs at Port Angeles, presumably the one in Washington State.

Here’s the video:

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Increased investment in demand-side reduction –a homebuilder @ GA PSC 2013-06-18

Paul[?] Matthews said he’s been green since before it was cool, first in an earlier Georgia Power program (EarthCraft), and now in EarthCents. He thinks the program is good, with both environmental and economic benefits, but he asked for it to be extended to become a model for the south, at the Georgia Public Service Commission meeting Tuesday 18 June 2013.

He spoke about his company’s investment in sustainable efficiency and conservation, and asked GA PSC and Georgia Power to also do more.

A much more efficient way and cost-effective of reducing power is by reducing energy used. We’re not only looking at tripling the savings over the next ten years, but we’re also looking at job growth….

…a sustainable and long-term growth approach.

Let’s make the rebates and also the tax credits so they’re a model for Georgia and also for the south.

Here’s the video:

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EarthCents has taken a lot of power bill mystery away –a contractor @ GA PSC 2013-06-18

A contractor who does homeowner education as part of Georgia Power’s Earth Cents program praised that program at the Georgia Public Service Commission meeting Tuesday 18 June 2013.

He said homeowners tend to complain about power bills:

And this Earth Cents program has, in my experience, taken a lot of that mystery away. The homeowners that I touch and I deal with come away with an understanding that leaves them less concerned about the rate hikes that I’m sure keep you guys up at night when it comes to a vote and more concerned about where the money is actually going.

I’m guessing he means homeowners are more concerned about what Georgia Power is using to generate the power.

Earth Cents, according to Southern Company:

Introduced in 2008, EarthCents energy efficiency programs help our customers save energy and money while reducing greenhouse gases. EarthCents comprises a set of standing and new programs—and educational efforts—to reduce residential and commercial electricity consumption.

Here’s the video:

Continue reading

Does SO have a business model for energy conservation? –Dan Everett @ SO 2013-05-22

SO has done a lot about energy efficiency, but can it do more, and how will it profit by doing so? Prof. Dan Everett asked this at the 22 May 2013 Southern Company Stockholder Meeting.

Prof. Dan Everett speaking I have Mr. Dan Everett from Athens, Georgia, and he holds 11 shares of Southern Company.

TF: Talked to Dan earlier today. Dan is a professor at the University of Georgia, right?

DE: Right.

Dan Everett striding to the microphone He’s Daniel M. Everett, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, UGA Athens. The SO Annual Stockholders Meeting apparently doesn’t get many professors.

TF: Fantastic. Well, welcome.

DE: Oh, thank you very much. And as a guy who has some professional interest in this stuff, I totally applaud the research that y’all are doing on energy technologies and renewable energies and efficiency technologies because it does take a while to deploy those.

My specific question is about energy conservation. I’ve noticed Continue reading

Coal and natural gas cost effective vs. energy efficiency, wind, and solar power? –Stephanie Coffin @ SO 2013-05-22

SO CEO Tom Fanning is a true believer in “all of the above”, yet a skeptic about natural gas. However, he really doesn’t have much faith in renewables, as he indicated at the 22 May 2013 Southern Company Stockholder Meeting and even more strongly in the Wall Street Journal.

retirees and stockholders in the room wonder about the $13 million salary --Stephanie Coffin This question is from Stephanie Coffin of Atlanta, Georgia, and she holds 18 shares of stock.

TF: Hello, Stephanie.

SC: How are you, Tom?

TF: Dynamite. How are you?

your income --Stephanie Coffin SC: Last year, I came to this meeting to ask a question and to listen to the Southern Company reports. And so before I came I got to thinking about what has changed since the last meeting. I think two things, and then I’ll ask my question.

The first is the chairperson’s salary increased 34 percent, over $13 million a year. I’m sure the retirees and stockholders in the room wonder about the $13 million salary and see that as negative PR in the face of continuing recession. $13 million a year, most of us are on fixed income. I mean, your income My income --Stephanie Coffin is fixed, too, but it’s very high. Mine is pretty low and we all have to pay electric bills.

The second change, and then I’ll ask my question, is that now 70 — 97 percent of all scientists believe that climate change — that is, global warming — is real and caused by human activity and this is a big shift. Last year we were the climate deniers, we’re in control, and now 97 percent of all scientists say it’s real, it’s coming, you better get ready. In the face of this scientific consensus the Southern Company has maintained its reliance on fossil fuels, mountaintop coal, old coal plants and pushing nuclear power with huge wattage demands and the dangers of nuclear wastes.

While I applaud the Southern Company’s baby steps Continue reading