Utilities

Public Takeover Of PG&E: A Radically Common-Sense Proposal

January 19, 2019 Johanna Bozuwa, Truthout.org Create! Protests, Public ownership, Utilities

California’s large investor-owned utility, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), announced it would be filing for bankruptcy by the end of the month after being faced with $30 billion in damages related to a series of fires over the past two years, including last fall’s deadly Camp Fire, which was allegedly sparked by the utility’s old, faulty transmission lines. That fire killed 86 people, destroyed 14,000 homes in the town of Paradise, and stands as the deadliest and most destructive fire in the state’s history. PG&E’s bankruptcy forces a critical choice for new California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state leaders. They could opt to bail out PG&E, or break up the gargantuan company into presumably more manageable pieces.

Can California Utilities Burn Down The State And Make The Public Pay For It?

September 18, 2018 Matt Stannard, Occupy.com Educate! California, Climate Change, Fossil Fuels, Utilities

The fossil fuel industry knowingly alters the climate, exacerbating fire risks in the American West, including massive wildfires across California. Energy utilities (presently private corporations) play a more immediate role in sparking fires that, thanks to climate volatility, rage out of control. Then, these private corporations dodge strict liability regulations by getting the California legislature to allow them to charge customers for that liability. The lesson is clear: Oil companies heat and dry up the planet, power companies start fires on the dried up land, and we pay the bills. Once it is signed into law by California Gov. Jerry Brown – who is fresh off the successful Global Climate Action Summit, held last week in San Francisco – that is exactly what new state legislation will do.

Utilities Have A Problem: The Public Wants 100% Renewable Energy, And Quick

September 18, 2018 By David Roberts, Vox.com Create! Renewable Energy, Utilities

Renewable energy is hot. It has incredible momentum, not only in terms of deployment and costs but in terms of public opinion and cultural cachet. To put it simply: Everyone loves renewable energy. It’s cleaner, it’s high-tech, it’s new jobs, it’s the future. And so more and more big energy customers are demanding the full meal deal: 100 percent renewable energy. The Sierra Club notes that so far in the US, more than 80 cities, five counties, and two states have committed to 100 percent renewables. Six cities have already hit the target. The group RE100 tracks 144 private companies across the globe that have committed to 100 percent renewables, including Google, Ikea, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Nike, GM, and, uh, Lego.

U.S. Utility Solar Contracts ‘Exploded’ In 2018 Despite Tariffs: Report

September 14, 2018 Nichola Groom, Reuters.com Create! New Economy, Solar Energy, Utilities

(Reuters) - Procurement of solar energy by U.S. utilities “exploded” in the first half of 2018, prompting a prominent research group to boost its five-year installation forecast on Thursday despite the Trump administration’s steep tariffs on imported panels. A record 8.5 gigawatts (GW) of utility solar projects were procured in the first six months of this year after President Donald Trump in January announced a 30 percent tariff on panels produced overseas, according to the report by Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables and industry trade group the Solar Energy Industries Association. As a result, the research firm raised its utility-scale solar forecast for 2018 through 2023 by 1.9 GW. The forecast is still 8 percent lower than before the tariffs were announced. A gigawatt of solar energy can power about 164,000 homes.

After Latest Water Rate Hike, A Call To Pugh And Young For Help

July 3, 2018 By Fern Shen, Baltimorebrew.com Resist! Baltimore, Utilities, Water

A City Council bill to give poor residents a break on fast-rising water rates – promised a year ago by President Jack Young – is yet to be drafted As Baltimore water bills rose for the third year in a row, jumping nearly 10% yesterday, advocates for water customers again asked city officials to give poor residents some relief. Last summer they made the same plea for income-based billing legislation – and thought they were being heard. Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young promised then to work with advocates on a measure that would limit rates for poor customers. But after a couple of months, those talks petered out and no bill has been introduced. “Since January, there’s been no movement,” said Molly Amster, of Jews United for Justice. A news conference held under a blasting-hot July sun in front of City Hall today drew about 25 activists and water customers.

Utilities Kill Solar Bill Despite Majority Support In SC House

April 14, 2018 Sammy Fretwell, Thestate.com Educate! Legislation, Solar Energy, South Carolina, Utilities

Under pressure from the state's major utilities, the S.C. House killed a solar bill Tuesday that was intended to protect thousands of jobs and save customers money on their monthly power bills. The bill's defeat, a stunning reversal from a House vote last week, brought withering criticism from many lawmakers, who said the House caved in to opposition by Duke Energy and SCE&G, derailing the legislation. Utilities have expressed concern about how competition from solar could affect them. State Rep. James Smith, the bill's chief sponsor, also blamed Republican Gov. Henry McMaster. Smith, a Democratic candidate for governor and potential opponent to McMaster in November's general election, said the Republican urged some lawmakers not to vote for the bill — a point McMaster's office hotly disputed.

Boulder Takes Closer Look At City-Owned Broadband

December 12, 2017 Alex Burness, dailycamera.com Create! FCC, Internet, Net Neutrality, Utilities

It's going to cost somewhere between $70 and $140 million, officials estimate, to build out the underground fiber-to-the-premises network that Boulder needs to make community-wide broadband a reality. The question for the City Council has never been whether this pursuit is worthwhile, as voters and elected leaders clearly agree on the value of open-access, affordable, high-speed internet — the introduction of which would put pressure on the incumbent Comcast-CenturyLink duopoly to lower their prices and offer higher speeds. Rather, the question is: Who is going to pay for this build-out? And, for much of the past year, based on advice of a consultant Boulder has paid $186,000 to date, the most likely answer seemed to be that the city would partner with an outside provider willing to pay for the build-out. But now, Boulder is taking its closest look to date at another path, in which the city finances the build and owns the network. "We've heard from people saying, hey, what would it look like for the city to do it alone?" said Chris Meschuk, assistant city manager. "We had not done a ton of analysis of that option, so right now we have a consultant doing that." Meschuk has assumed the responsibility on the project once held by Don Ingle, the information technology director who is no longer with the city.

Why The Internet Should Be A Public Utility

November 30, 2017 Umair Haque, eand.co Educate! FCC, Internet, Net Neutrality, Public Utilities, Utilities

By Umair Haque for Eudaimonia - Now. Where does this approach — lower prices leading to the greater good — leave America? Well, it leaves it unable to provide utilities well, or genuinely, really, at all. Lower prices are always thought to be provided by competition, hence, instead of utilities being things are provided by a working social contract to everyone, they are deregulated. The invisible hand, it is hoped, will provide them. The problem is that utilities are all natural monopolies: it’s always cheaper for there to be one energy or water or news provider than for a dozen, because laying those lines and pipes costs money. And precisely the same is true for the net: market competition cannot lead to lower prices, because the internet is a natural monopoly, hence, you have at most two choices of providers in most markets, if that. The invisible hand becomes a fist. The result is that Americans don’t really enjoy utilities in the same way as the rest of the world at all: they are fleeced for the basics, by natural monopolies, who never lower prices, only raise them — and eviscerate the quality of what they are supposed to provide. Flint has no clean water. Puerto Rico has no power. California was sent into crisis by manipulated energy “markets”, which weren’t markets at all. America has no BBC or National Health Service, again because “competition will lower prices” — only there is no competition, and prices only rise, while quality falls.

Public Power As A Vehicle Towards Energy Democracy

November 7, 2017 Johanna Bozuwa, thenextsystem.org Create! Democracy, Energy, Public, Public Utilities, Utilities

By Johanna Bozuwa for The Next System Project - “We would line up all of our inhalers in a row on the benches before we would go run, just in case,” recounts Kristen Ethridge; an Indiana resident near some of the most polluting power plants in the country. Asthma rates are so bad from the toxic emissions that many students cannot make it through gym class without their inhalers. Cancer and infant mortality rates in the area are through the roof. These plants are owned by some of the biggest names in the utility business including groups like Duke Energy and AEP. Gibson Power Plant, the worst of them all, emits 2.9 million pounds of toxic compounds and 16.3 million metric tons of greenhouse gases a year. What’s more, most of the energy generated in these plants is transported out of state, leaving Indiana with all the emissions and very little gain. Indiana’s power plants provide a window into how our current electrical system works. It is a system dominated by a small number of large powerful companies, called investor-owned utilities. Their centralized fossil fuel plants are at the heart of our aging electricity grid—a core contributor to rapidly-accelerating climate change. The carbon emissions associated with these power providers are but one symptom of larger systemic issues in the sector. Investor-owned utilities are traditionally profit-oriented corporations whose structures are based on an paradigm of extraction.

Utah Utility Wants To Triple Monthly Charges For Solar Customers

August 10, 2017 Mark Hand, www.thinkprogress.org Educate! Solar Energy, Utah, Utilities

By Mark Hand for Think Progress - Utah’s largest electric utility company wants to place new charges on rooftop solar customers, a proposal that critics say would unfairly penalize the customers; in addition, they fear it could lead to a scenario similar to the one that recently played out in Nevada, with rooftop solar companies abandoning the state after policymakers weakened the net metering system. Rocky Mountain Power’s plan would nearly triple monthly customer charges and peak-time usage charges for rooftop solar customers, although the company says the new charges are necessary to create an equitable system between solar and non-solar customers. The Utah Public Service Commission is holding a hearing on Wednesday to get public input on the company’s controversial proposal. Next week, the commission plans to hold a multi-day hearing where Rocky Mountain Power, solar companies, and other official intervenors in the case will get to state their positions. Under Rocky Mountain Power’s proposal, new solar customers would pay a $15 per month service charge, compared to $6 per month now; a $9.02 per kilowatt demand charge for “on-peak” demand; and a 3.81 cents per kilowatt hour charge for electricity. From May to September, on-peak periods occur from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. From October to April, on peak occurs from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Forces Fighting Local Renewable Energy; Ways To Fight Back

August 2, 2017 John Farrell, www.ilsr.org Strategize! Renewable Energy, Utilities

By John Farrell for ILSR - Across many economic sectors, we at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance identify ways that cities can take charge of their local economy. In energy, that includes ideas like a city takeover (municipalization) of the utility, banning fracking, or increasing franchise fees charged to private, monopoly utilities for use of public property to deliver energy services. Unfortunately, some state legislatures have decided to reduce local authority to make these moves. Through municipalization laws passed decades ago, states preempted or limited local authority to take over utilities, instead favoring state regulation and oversight. State lawmakers In Colorado in 2016 passed a law that overturns local bans on gas fracking. In 2017, the Minnesota legislature considered a bill that would add complexity when cities consider changes to franchise fees, despite ample public notice and deliberation required by cities that have such fees. While there aren’t numerous examples of local energy policy preemption, we fear it may grow as states become more accustomed to preempting cities, or making it expensive for local governments to exercise authority.

Bringing Power To The People: The Case For Utility Populism

July 8, 2017 Kate Aronoff, www.dissentmagazine.org Create! New Economy, Utilities

By Kate Aronoff for Dissent - One glaring omission in the postmortem handwringing about the 2016 election is the fact that most poor people in America—of all races and genders—simply didn’t vote. They were prevented from doing so by a number of structural barriers—voting restrictions, second and third jobs, far-flung polling locations—as well as a lack of excitement about two parties they saw as having abandoned them. Enter: twenty-first-century electric cooperatives, a perhaps unlikely player in the contest for power between progressives and conservatives in the heart of so-called Trump country in rural America. If there’s one thing poor, rural communities tend to have in common, it’s where they get their power—not political power, but actual electricity. Over 900 rural electric cooperatives (RECs)—owned and operated by their members—stretch through forty-seven states, serving 42 million ratepayers and 11 percent of the country’s demand for electricity. They also serve 93 percent of the country’s “persistent poverty counties,” 85 percent of which lie in non-metropolitan areas.

Utility CEOs Try To Rob Shareholders Of Rights To Express Climate Concerns

June 26, 2017 David Pomerantz, www.energyandpolicy.org Resist! CEO, Climate Change, Utilities

By David Pomerantz for Energy and Policy Institute - The Business Roundtable, a group of CEOs that lobbies for policies that support the fossil fuel industry, is attempting to restrict shareholders’ rights as utilities and fossil fuel companies face increasing scrutiny from investors over climate change. Fossil fuel and utility CEOs, facing unprecedented levels of activism from shareholders who are worried about the risks posed to their investments by climate change, have responded by trying to pass legislation that would curtail investors’ rights to register their concerns. The main purpose of The Financial CHOICE Act is to gut the consumer protections passed by the Dodd-Frank law of 2010, but a section of the bill would produce a significant change in what kind of shareholders are able to file resolutions for changes in the company. Currently, any shareholder that owns 1 percent of a company, or $2,000 worth of shares – hardly a paltry sum, but one that is within the realm of possibility for many investors – is able to file shareholder resolutions calling on the company’s management to make changes. The resolutions are generally not binding, but when they garner significant support, say over 20%, management tends to take them as serious signals of shareholder sentiment, and often respond accordingly.

EU Utilities Pledge To Stop Building Coal Plants In 2020

April 7, 2017 Anamaria Olaru, www.eurelectric.org Create! Coal, European Union (EU), Utilities

By Anamaria Olaru for Eurelectric - In a statement adopted by the Board of Directors, the sector reiterates its commitment to deliver on the Paris Agreement. In addition, it announces its intention not to invest in new-build coal-fired power plants after 2020. “The power sector is determined to lead the energy transition and back our commitment to the low- carbon economy with concrete action,” said EURELECTRIC President and CEO of the Portuguese energy group EDP, António Mexia. “With power supply becoming increasingly clean, electric technologies are an obvious choice for replacing fossil fuel based systems for instance in the transport sector to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” he added.

Utility Survey: Trump Will Not Stop the Clean Energy Transition

April 2, 2017 Gavin Bade, www.utilitydive.com Create! Coal, Distributed energy, Energy, Gas, Nuclear, Oil, Solar, Utilities, Wind

By Gavin Bade for Utility Dive. Today, President Trump is poised to release a long-anticipated executive order to roll back the Clean Power Plan, the Obama administration’s signature climate initiative. The order is expected to be accompanied by directives to lift a moratorium on federal land coal leases and to cease the use of the social cost of carbon — all part of a broad campaign to dismantle environmental regulations on the power sector that Trump blames for the decline of the coal economy in the United States. But while rescinding the rules could help slow coal power’s decline in the short term, analysts say it is unlikely to reverse its long-term downturn, mostly due to the economics of natural gas and renewables. That attitude is shared not just by market observers, but by electric utilities themselves.

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