Reminding everyone of what they do and
what VSU President McKinney said,
Students Against Violating the Environment
has
a new website.
S.A.V.E. is an environmental activist organization based on the
campus of Valdosta State University (VSU). It is composed of
students from all majors, and any VSU student is welcome to join
regardless of race, gender, age, or sexual orientation.
The mission of the organization is Continue reading
Solar already provides peak power at peak load, and through distribution
is resilient, and that plus ever-decreasing prices will drive solar
deployments up exponentially for a decade or so yet.
If we add an inexpensive metal-free battery,
solar will take over even faster.
And that’s what Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has just
published as a discovery.
Harvard SEAS PR of 8 January 2014,
Organic mega flow battery promises breakthrough for renewable
energy:
Harvard technology could economically store energy for use when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine,
The paper reports a metal-free flow battery that relies on the
electrochemistry of naturally abundant, inexpensive, small organic
(carbon-based) molecules called quinones, which are similar to
molecules that store energy in plants and animals.
And much less expensive, reported CBC News 9 January 2014, Continue reading
The same Edison Electric Institute that warned electric utilities
that distributed solar is already eating their lunch has codified
a net metering talking point that utilities are pushing to try
to shade solar power.
It’s not working.
Power play: Utilities want solar users to pay up
Mark Koba wrote for CNBC yesterday,
Power play: Utilities want solar users to pay up,
But some experts say the mere fact that utilities—
which generate $360 billion a year in energy sales—are battling with
solar indicates the threat it now poses to them.“The success of solar power is forcing utilities to rethink their
business model and push for the changes,” said Franc Del Fosse, an
energy industry lawyer and partner at Snell & Wilmer. “If you have
an individual putting solar panels on the roof, it’s easy to suggest
that a utility is making less money.”The effort for higher fees on solar panel users could backfire, Continue reading
The incumbent is not running for election for the northern district of Lowndes
County, so it’s an open seat.
Here are
district maps; District 2 is mostly west of Bemiss Road and north of Valdosta.
To see which districts you’re in, go to
VALOR GIS Election Boundary Map,
in Layers On-Off turn on Lowndes County Commision Districts,
and zoom in on your address.
The appended letter was
received Monday via Commissioner Demarcus Marshall. -jsq
From: Richard Raines
Sent: Saturday, January 04, 2014 11:06 PM
To: Bill Slaughter; Joyce Evans; Crawford Powell; John Page; Demarcus Marshall; Joe Pritchard; Paige Dukes
Cc: kay.harris@gaflnews.com
Subject: Announcement Continue reading
The Valdosta City Council votes Thursday on
a contract for flood mapping
related to the
series of secretive Army Corps of Engineers meetings,
plus bids for water and sewer and smoke testing sewers.
They’re also swearing in winners of the recent
election and electing a mayor pro-tem (probably the same one),
along with
a change to the
Entertainment Ordinance
and
public hearings to close an alley
and
abandon part of a street,
and the usual
City Manager’s Report,
Council Comments,
and
Citizens to be Heard.
No detail in the city’s agenda about the flood mapping, but
at the Lowndes County Commission
Work Session 11 November 2013
Emergency Services Director Ashley Tye said
the current agreement wouldn’t obligate any payment, merely to reserve the right to contract at a later date if that seemed to be in the county’s best interests,
and at the
Regular Session 12 November 2013
the county approved getting
LIDAR
data from
NOAA Coastal Services Center.
Neither the county nor the city has published this agreement.
Here’s
the agenda: Continue reading
Colorado, California, North Carolina: when will Georgia catch up in solar power?
What will it take to get the Georgia legislature to realize all Georgians
will benefit economically from much more solar power than
GA PSC in July required Georgia Power to buy?
And why should we permit
a methane gas pipeline to gash through Georgia
to profit executives in Houston and Juno Beach, Florida
when we could be deploying solar everywhere in Georgia
for
local jobs, profit, lower electric bills, and clean air and water?
Here’s
the study
that showed solar benefits outweigh costs in North Carolina,
The Benefits and Costs
of Solar Generation
for Electric Ratepayers
in North Carolina,
by R. Thomas Beach and
Patrick G. McGuire for Crossborder Energy, 18 October 2013.
Wholesale solar PPA prices provide perhaps the most dramatic
evidence of the continued decline in solar PV costs. Solar PPA
prices have fallen dramatically over the past several years, to the
point that, in some regions of the U.S., solar is now competitive
with other generation resources, including wind and natural gas.
Xcel Energy in Colorado recently announced that it is proposing to
add 170 MW of utility-scale solar to its system, with its CEO
stating “[f]or the first time ever, we are adding cost
competitive utility scale solar to the system.”33
The
California electric utilities make public each year the average PPA
prices for renewable contracts approved by the CPUC in the prior
year. Figure 3 shows the trend in the prices for their solar PV
PPAs; CPUC contract approval can occur up to a year or more after
bids are received, so the figure is indicative of prices through
roughly 2011.34
2012 solicitations for solar PPAs in California in
the 3 MW to 20 MW size range through the Renewable Auction Mechanism
(RAM) have yielded market-clearing prices in the
8 to 9 cents
per
kWh range.3
The Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) conducts and publishes
regular national surveys of the installed costs of solar PV; these
surveys include Continue reading
Received today, with this note.
FYI—this is now open to any residents of Lowndes County, not
just City of Valdosta. Please spread the word. It is a great way to
learn a LOT more about your local government.
Tim Carroll
Councilman District 5
City of Valdosta
Here’s
the application. Continue reading
And the same is true in Georgia, despite Georgia Power and Southern Company.
John Downey wrote for
Charlotte Business Journal 23 October 2013,
Study: Solar benefits outweigh costs in NC
An independent study published by a nationally known energy
consultant asserts that adding 500 megawatts of solar generation in
North Carolina would save utility ratepayers about $26 million
annually.It notes the gains from solar projects — such as lower
transmission and distribution costs, avoided emissions, lower losses
of electricity in transmission.
The study calculates that such benefits
outweigh the costs by 30 percent to 40 percent.
Update 2017-04-25:
Energy NC seems to have removed or moved its copy of that report,
but fortunately SEIA lists it
on
a backup website, and I’ve linked it into the quotation above, plus a copy on the LAKE website.
SEIA also lists many other studies for other states, such as
one for Virginia which is on the
MDV-SEIA website, and now also has
a copy on the LAKE website.
For Georgia SEIA lists the testimony of GSEIA before the Georgia Public Service Commission in 2013.
For Florida SEIA lists only a very old (2003) study with a broken link,
which can be found as a google book, but now would mostly be worthwhile as a museum piece.
Duke’s own actions in Florida in 2016 and 2017 indicate
Duke Energy knows the sun is rising even on the Sunshine State.
The study considered two intertwined solar methods: Continue reading
A county
no bigger than Lowndes County has
agendas and minutes online for
its Board of Commissioners, Board of Health, Local Emergency Planning Committee,
Board of Adjustment,
Board of Elections,
Social Services Board,
and yes, its Planning Board.
Why can Nash County, NC afford this yet Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter
says Lowndes County can’t afford to put agendas and minutes online for
the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission?
And if a county can require a solar farm to follow stormwater management
and numerous other regulations, why can’t a county require a natural
gas pipeline to follow local regulations?
It can, if its elected officials actually stand up for their citizens.
And why can Nash County, quite a bit north of Lowndes County,
install solar farm after solar farm while there are none in Lowndes County?
The Nash County online documents also include the details of what the
various boards were considering, such as in the
Agenda and Minutes of the Nash County Planning Board 21 October 2013,
which include this item:
Conditional Use Permit Request CU-130901 (Previously Tabled Item).
Made by Chris Killenberg With Community Energy Solar on Behalf of Castalia Solar LLC to
Develop a Solar Farm on an Approximately 22.91 Acre Portion of Two Tracts Located on
the West Side of N NC Highway 58 and South of NC Highway 56 in the A1 Agricultural
Zoning District.
And not just the agenda item, also
extended discussion in the meeting, including: Continue reading
Utilities are trying increasingly desperate tactics in their
losing battle against distributed rooftop solar power.
It’s time for them to get out in front and lead instead.
Clare Foran wrote for NationalJournal
Are Utilities Wilting From Heat of Solar Competition?
Regulatory battles over solar power payment models played out in
several states this year. And as the dust settles, solar providers
are claiming victory. Utilities, on the other hand, are trying to
reframe the conversation entirely by insisting they aren’t an enemy
of solar.
After discussing utlities’ attempts to bash net metering, she notes
the
Sierra Club
hard-won
victory over the
ALEC solar tax:
In November, Georgia Power
backed down Continue reading
