This blog was written by SACE intern Jeannie McKinney. Well readers, it’s that time of year again: the time when temperatures go way down, lights come on earlier, and energy bills go way up. In addition to encouraging winterizing your house for the colder months, we here at SACE wanted to share with you some [...]
As discussed in the main post, Price signals don’t always work, creating a meaningful connection between energy price signals and consumers is challenged by a number of market barriers. Those market barriers are particularly acute when it comes to energy waste (but are also present for customer-sited renewable energy); overcoming barriers to energy efficiency requires [...]
Bob Inglis’ call to rely on a carbon tax as the main weapon to fight climate change is based on the idea that price signals, or the “power of free markets,” are central to the solution to climate change. Paradoxically, ensuring that price signals connect meaningfully with the energy consumer often requires government regulation, mandates, [...]
This blog was written by SACE intern Jeannie McKinney and Natalie Mims. Our nation has seen an exponential rise in environmental activism and energy problem solving within the last decade, and the Southeast is no exception. Today, community groups are starting to create their own energy and sustainability solutions to local and national environmental problems. [...]
A fascinating new study from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy takes a look at what’s on the bills that electric utilities send to their customers. OK, you have got to be an energy geek to appreciate this kind of insight, but here are two observations. ACEEE’s report, “The State of the Utility Bill,” [...]
According to a new study from Citizens for Tax Justice, Duke Energy led five other Southeastern utilities in avoiding federal corporate income taxes. Compared to the statutory 35% corporate tax rate, Southeastern utilities paid about 10.5% of pre-tax profits in federal taxes during the 2008-10 time period. Duke’s effective tax rate of -3.9% (that is, [...]
Senator Bob Corker recently held a forum at UT Chattanooga’s campus to discuss the state’s electricity issues and what that means for job creation in this area. Unfortunately, the roundtable was more of a half-circle as it did not include a single representative from the state’s multi-billion dollar (and growing) renewable energy and energy efficiency [...]
This blog was written by SACE intern Jeannie McKinney and Natalie Mims. Finding best practices in utility-led energy efficiency programs usually means looking beyond our region. Sadly, most of the leading programs are developed and demonstrated by peer utilities in other regions of the U.S. It has been particularly distressing to see that the great [...]
Yes, Solyndra was disappointing. But we must not forget the many successful projects that have also received taxpayer support. Here are a few great examples of REAP solar projects in the Southeast region.
Just a brief update for those who are interested in why Florida is moving so slowly on energy efficiency. As recently noted by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, “regulators in Florida … took actions to render their energy savings target ineffective.” Similarly in response, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is protesting [...]