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Electricity

Obama May Privatize New Deal Gem, Tennessee Valley Authority

June 9, 2015 Joel Yudken, www.epi.org , , , ,
By Joel Yudken in The Economic Policy Institute - The Obama administration is considering whether to divest all or part of the federally owned Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) as a means to pay down the U.S. debt. The selling off of all or part of the TVA to private ownership would have far-reaching consequences, especially for the 9 million people in the 80,000-square-mile region—encompassing parts of Tennessee, northern Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia—to whom the TVA provides electricity and other services. The proposal has sparked a debate about the benefits and problems that divestiture might bring. Conservatives have long opposed the TVA on the grounds that it is an illegitimate government intrusion into the marketplace.

Grassroots Activists In D.C. Take On A Corporate Titan

April 15, 2015 Joan Shipps, www.huffingtonpost.com , , , ,
Exelon is America's largest producer of nuclear power. But its plants are several decades old now, and getting expensive to maintain. And the increasing cost competitiveness of solar means Exelon's nuclear offerings just aren't as appealing to consumers anymore. How's the owner of an aging fleet of nuclear reactors support to ingratiate itself to profit-hungry shareholders in the face of looming obsolescence? Buy up America's energy distribution network, piece by piece, and then sell itself its own power. Well, that was Exelon's initial plan, and it was working pretty well for a while. Over the last several years and without substantial opposition, Exelon expanded in size and geographic scope by acquiring several major regulated utility companies, including Baltimore Gas & Electric, Illinois' Commonwealth Edison, and the Philadelphia Electric Company.

Solar Is Cheaper Than Grid Electricity In 42 Of 50 Largest US Cities

January 18, 2015 Anastasia Pantsios, www.ecowatch.com ,
Now a new report called Going Solar in America, prepared by the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative, shows how the plummeting costs of going solar could already make it the more economical choice for energy consumers in 42 of the U.S.’s 50 largest cities. It found that in those cities, a fully financed solar system would cost average residential consumers less than they would pay for electricity from their current local utility. “Most Americans are unaware of the true financial value of solar today,” said study authors Jim Kennerly and Autumn Proudlove. “Seen by many as a technological luxury, solar energy is not seriously considered as an option by most homeowners in the U.S. However, our analysis shows that, in 46 of America’s 50 largest cities, a fully-financed, typically-sized solar PV system is a better investment than the stock market, and in 42 of these cities, the same system already costs less than energy from a residential customer’s local utility.” The study found that 9.1 million single-family homeowners in the 50 cities live in a place where buying a solar system outright would cost less than their current utility bill over the life of the system, and 21 million would pay less if low-cost financing were available.
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