January 27th, 2012 › Coal, High Risk Energy, Utilities › Amelia Shenstone › 1 comment ›
Late on the evening of January 24, the board of directors at Cobb EMC made an unprecedented about-face, and voted to freeze the EMC’s funding for two coal-fired power plants: Plant Washington and Plant Ben Hill. Without their biggest investor, these coal plants are now more on the ropes than ever.
A consortium of utility co-ops (Electric Membership Corporations or EMCs) known collectively as POWER4Georgians, LLC (P4G), has been promoting the projects since 2008. Now P4G is down to four members (originally there were nine), as Cobb EMC is the fifth co-op to pull out of P4G and the coal plants. It’s time for the rest to follow Cobb EMC’s lead; hopefully, Snapping Shoals EMC, Central Georgia EMC, Washington EMC, and Upson EMC can now see the light and will stop spending money on this dead-end project. Read more…
Tags: air pollution, alford, clean coal, Coal, coal plant, Cobb EMC, dean, Dean Alford, dwight brown, Georgia, Plant Washington, power plant, Power4Georgians
January 25th, 2012 › Clean Energy, Energy Efficiency, Utilities › Jeannie McKinney › 1 comment ›
An example VEC bill, with key elements marked.
Not all electricity bills are created equal, and today we’d like to commend a local utility company on providing their customers with an exceptionally detailed one. Volunteer Energy Cooperative (VEC) provides information and advice beyond what the average national utility bill presents. Last November, John Wilson, SACE’s Research Director, shared with you a study about the lack of details that utilities publish on their customer’s bills. Conducted by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), the study found that, even though these monthly or quarterly statements are often a utility’s only consistent form of communication with their customers, there is very little useful information actually being shared. The chart below outlines the several possible elements of a billing statement that ACEEE considers valuable, and shows the percentage of utility bills that actually contain each component.
Read more…
Tags: ACEEE, electric bill, electric rates, Energy Efficiency, Volunteer Energy Cooperative
January 19th, 2012 › Coal, High Risk Energy, Utilities, water › Amelia Shenstone › no comments ›
In Georgia, another coal plant is dead, and murmurs from Cobb EMC indicate that the tide may be turning against construction and pursuit of Plant Washington and its twin coal-fired power plant proposal, Plant Ben Hill.
Plant Longleaf, a coal-fired power plant proposed near Blakely, GA, was canceled in December 2011 after millions of dollars and more than ten years were spent attempting to acquire state permits. LS Power, the independent generator behind the proposal, said, “economic conditions right now just don’t support continuing development.” The announcement marks a huge victory for environmental groups, citizens, and electricity customers.
Read more…
Tags: air, Ben Hill, Coal, cobb, EMC, Georgia, p4g, plant, Pollution, Power4Georgians, washington, water
January 16th, 2012 › Climate Action, Coal, High Risk Energy, Utilities › Ulla-Britt Reeves › 2 comments ›
Last week EPA released a very comprehensive tool by which any member of the public can now easily see just how much global warming pollution their neighborhood coal plant is emitting. Many of the largest GHG emitters are not surprisingly right here in the Southeast. Below is a reposted blog from National Wildlife Federation’s Kendall Mackey. Also, a comprehensive NY Times article can be found here about the excellent new resource.
Top 11 Coal Plant Polluters for 2011
courtesy greenscroll.org
Polluters have been denying their effect on climate change for too long. One of the reasons that power plants have been able to get away with the amount of greenhouse gas emissions(GHG) is largely in part because we are unable to see all of the pollution with our own eyes.
But what if greenhouse gas emissions weren’t invisible?
This year, power plants will no longer be able to deny what we can now see–they are polluting the air we breathe. Even in areas where asthma rates are directly correlated to a near-by power plant, they still deny their role in diminishing our public health. But now the EPA has released a new GHG reporting program that allows people to see the amount of pollution in their backyards.
How Much Do Power Plants Pollute Your State?
“The GHG Reporting Program data provides a critical tool for businesses and other innovators to find cost- and fuel-saving efficiencies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and foster technologies to protect public health and the environment.”
–Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation
The Worst Offenders: Top 11 Carbon Polluters for 2011
Click map to learn more
Click on the map to find out more information
1. Scherer coal plant in Juliette, Georgia. Total greenhouse gas emissions: 22,800,875 MtCO2e.
2. Bowen coal plant in Cartersville, Georgia. Total greenhouse gas emissions: 20,863,476 MtCO2e.
3. Miller coal plant in Quinton, Alabama. Total greenhouse gas emissions: 20,595,125 MtCO2e.
4. Martin Lake coal plant in Tatum, Texas. Total greenhouse gas emissions: 18,603,904 MtCO2e.
5. Gibson coal plant in Owensville, Indiana.Total greenhouse gas emissions: 17,853,899 MtCO2e.
6. Monroe coal plant in Monroe, Michigan. Total greenhouse gas emissions: 17,714,052 MtCO2e.
7. Labadie coal plant in Labadie, Missouri. Total greenhouse gas emissions: 17,233,324 MtCO2e.
8. Colstrip coal plant in Colstrip, Montana. Total greenhouse gas emissions: 16,994,687 MtCO2e.
9. Gen J M Gavin coal plant in Cheshire, Ohio. Total greenhouse gas emissions: 16,744,942 MtCO2e.
10. Rockport coal plant in Rockport, Indiana. Total greenhouse gas emissions: 16,539,699 MtCO2e.
11. W A Parish coal plant in Thompson, Texas. Total greenhouse gas emissions: 16, 459,497 MtCO2e.
January 11th, 2012 › Clean Energy, Climate Action › Jennifer Rennicks › no comments ›
With Iowa’s caucuses and New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primaries both in the rear view mirrors, GOP presidential candidates and the media now set their sights on South Carolina, which hosts the next nominating primary on January 21. Candidates and pundits can’t afford to ignore the Palmetto State: South Carolina Republicans have accurately predicted the party’s eventual nominee since its first-in-the-South primary status was cemented in 1980 – a perfect record in 8 election cycles.
In the past 6 months, 20 debates have provided ample opportunities for the candidates to distinguish themselves on a range of economic, national security and social issues, but climate and energy issues have rarely made it into the top tier of debate or media coverage.
Just as South Carolina has been a bellwether for presidential nominating contests, the Southeastern United States may be a bellwether for climate-induced or climate-accelerated impacts ranging from sea level rise and salt water intrusion to declines in crop yields and prolonged drought. While primary voters may not pay careful attention to where candidates stand specific to climate change and energy policy, the people, the economy and the ecosystems of the Southeast need leaders who are willing to confront the climate challenges posed to our region and seek workable, bipartisan solutions instead of fanning the flames of climate denial.
As all eyes shift to South Carolina, and then further south for Florida’s January 31st primary, take a few minutes to see where the remaining GOP candidates stand on climate and energy issues: Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Jon Huntsman, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry.
Tags: climate change, climate science, Gingrich, GOP, Huntsman, Paul, Perry, primaries, Romney, Santorum
January 10th, 2012 › Climate Action › Chris Carnevale › 7 comments ›
Jennifer Rennicks contributed to this post.
Dear Coastal Citizens:
If you love the place we call home, please read on.
This image shows projections for 1.5 meters of sea level rise in Charleston, SC created through a collaboration between the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and Architecture 2030
I sympathize with those who feel that sea level rise sounds like “doomsday scenario” scare tactics or with the thought that a rising sea enveloping our beloved communities sounds like futuristic science fiction. I must assure you, however, that sea level rise is a very real phenomenon and that it’s happening as you read these words.
In fact, two detailed and very revealing reports were released in 2011 confirming why sea level rise is becoming a major mainstream issue that coastal communities must address. Just a few highlights from those recent reports will illustrate the magnitude of what’s at stake if we do not adequately prepare for the impacts of sea level rise in the coming years.
In October 2011, the Center for Environmental Studies at Florida Atlantic University published a report called “Southeast Florida’s Resilient Water Resources,” which details the challenges that sea level rise brings to water management infrastructure. It points out that a few of the major problems associated with sea level rise include reduced capacity for water drainage out of human-use areas, thus leading to flooding and major economic damage, saltwater intrusion of drinking water supplies, and conversion of freshwater wetlands to saltwater wetlands. Read more…
Tags: Charleston, climate change, climate mitigation, Florida, ice sheet melt, National Climate Assessment, saltwater intrusion, sea level rise, South Carolina, thermal expansion
January 2nd, 2012 › Clean Energy, Energy Efficiency › Sam Gomberg › no comments ›
The Government Accountability Office's report on TVA includes key recommendations to improve TVA's energy efficiency effort and capital expenditure planning.
The federal Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report in December that takes a hard look at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) energy efficiency efforts and capital expenditure planning. The report recommends that (1) TVA complete its energy efficiency potential study and use that to inform its future energy efficiency efforts, and (2) that the agency prepare a formal capital expenditure plan that would help TVA forecast the true cost of planned asset additions and the source of funding for those expenditures.
The GAO is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress to investigate how the federal government uses taxpayer dollars. As a federally-owned corporation, TVA is subject to federal oversight and the GAO periodically reports on various aspects of TVA, usually at the request of members of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) that has oversight authority for TVA.
To those of us that keep a close eye on TVA and have seen them struggle to develop the Valley’s efficiency resources and make sound financial decisions, GAO’s recommendations come as no surprise. In fact, GAO’s recommendation mirror what SACE has been advocating for several years now: A more sophisticated and transparent approach to to both energy efficiency and financial planning. Read more…
Tags: Congress, Energy Efficiency, Tennessee, TVA, utility regulation
December 31st, 2011 › Climate Action › Jennifer Rennicks › no comments ›
[A recent SACE blogpost on extreme weather and climate change has been modified/updated to serve as a year-end climate action/policy recap for 2011]
Image copyright WSAV/NBC.com
Setting records is typically an accomplishment we celebrate: running the fastest mile, being the first to achieve a goal or even recovering from the brink of extinction/extirpation. But in 2011, we set records in all the wrong places when it came to climate and weather disasters. In the year that ends today, the U.S. was battered by 12 separate natural disasters that each sported (at least) a $1 billion price tag. Put another way: there were as many billion-dollar climate/weather disasters in 2011 as in the entire decade of the 1980s. The final number could be higher still as damages from Tropical Storm Lee and a rare Halloween weekend snowstorm in the Northeast are still being tallied, and a source at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) indicates both are very close to the billion dollar mark. It is little comfort to those impacted by these disasters that 2011 is likely to rank as ‘only’ the third costliest weather year (with $52 billion in costs) despite the record-setting number of events.
Few regions escaped 2011 unscathed, but the year was particularly damaging for the Southeast as our region suffered through (1) five tornado outbreaks in April and May, (2) flooding along the Mississippi River during the summer, (3) another tornado outbreak in June, (4) storm damage from Hurricane Irene in August and (5) extensive flooding damage in the Gulf states from Tropical Storm Lee in September. Read more…
Tags: climate change, climate policy, extreme weather, global warming, Hurricane Irene, NOAA, Tropical Storm Lee
December 29th, 2011 › Clean Energy, electric cars › Dr. Stephen A. Smith › no comments ›
OK. I must admit I hate driving but the LEAF has made driving fun again. If you have been following our little holiday adventure and the learning experience we had, you will be glad to know we are back in Knoxville safe and sound. Well, at least my mother, who was keeping Warren for an extended visit, was relieved. On the return trip home all the technology work flawlessly. To start, 
I had “trickle charged” the LEAF overnight to 100% of charge before we headed back to Knoxville approximately 180 miles away. After driving around 30 miles or so in Nashville to visit some family, Libby and I headed for the Lebanon, TN, Cracker Barrel Blink network Fast Charger. As you remember this was the one that was out of service when we drove to Nashville on Dec 26th, and is critical to making the 50 mile jump from Lebanon to Cookeville. When the Blink representative called me on Dec 27th to tell me that the charging station was fixed, I asked him about his experience driving his LEAF on this stretch. I knew that this leg included climbing some of the Cumberland Plateau. His advice was to charge to 90-100%, drive in ECO mode, set the cruise control on 60 miles per hour, keep the climate control off and we’d be fine. So that is what we did. We charged the LEAF to 98%, set the cruise and off we went with fingers crossed and Libby with her new Christmas mittens on. Climbing the hills was no problem and when we started to hit more level ground 15 miles outside of Cookeville, it was clear we were going to make it, no problem, so we cranked the heat up and pulled into the Cookeville Cracker Barrel with about 10 miles of range to spare. As we pulled up to the charging station several people were looking at the charging unit and with the car being so quite they did not hear us pulling in and jumped when they saw the lights right behind them. This was how it went at several stations. People really want to talk about this technology; they have lots of questions and are very interested in how it works. All the fast chargers worked great. Read more…
Tags: electric cars, electric vehicle, EV
December 27th, 2011 › Clean Energy, electric cars › Dr. Stephen A. Smith › no comments ›
So we made it to see all the family yesterday. The LEAF is now in Nashville. The trip took a little longer than we planned, about 5.5 hours, including an hour for lunch. We planned for it take a little over 4 hours with the addition of the “charge-up” stops. Driving on the dirty fossil stuff, it usually takes about 3 hours to make the drive. We arrived for the rendezvous with the family with about 6 miles of range remaining so the first thing I asked my brother for was an extension cord as we all laughed. They had been reading our updates as the Tennessean tracked our progress across the state. I left the LEAF at my brother’s to “trickle” charge overnight.
There are a few interesting lessons learned from our trip so far…..
Leaf Panel, range indicator to the lower right
First the LEAF’s range indicator fluctuates with driving conditions and can create anxiety which takes some getting use to. I believe the indicator sheds miles more quickly at a higher state of charge, i.e., you may lose 10 miles of range when you have only driven 5 miles in the car, and then it appears to be slower to shed miles as the state of charge decreases. This all is impacted by a number of conditions, e.g., speed, hills, outside temperature, inside climate control, etc. Read more…
Tags: electric cars, EV
