What do the Georgia Tea Party, low-income advocates, faith leaders, and green business have in common? They were all at the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) this week calling for more clean energy in Georgia Power’s long term energy plan – some for more solar, some for expanded efficiency programs, some for retirement of coal [...]
Do you want to invest in solar, but you can’t? Maybe your roof doesn’t point south, or it’s shaded most of the time. Maybe you rent. Maybe you just can’t come up with the up-front cost of a solar system. Well, if your local distributor is Duck River EMC, all those problems are solved! Duck [...]
With energy efficiency, of course! A couple of weeks ago, we showed you how Southern Company “squirrels” the energy efficiency debate. One of our fantastic readers sent us an ad from the New Yorker, in which Southern Company tries to persuade its customers in New York City that it is promoting energy efficiency by selling [...]
Last week I had the privilege of accompanying experts from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) on a three-day tour of Georgia and Alabama to highlight coal plants that should be considered for retirement. UCS is a national, science-based non-profit that advocates for policy decisions that are based on credible research. UCS’s report, Ripe for [...]
Clean Energy. We’re all for it. In fact we’re the Southern Alliance for it. But what is it? I’m not talking about the “clean” part. That one word deserves its own essay. I’m talking about the “energy” part. We all have some idea about what energy is. We all pay utility bills. What we’re paying [...]
The Southeast utilities are starting to step up their game in energy efficiency. I am pleased to report that three of the major utilities here in the Southeast not only met their 2012 energy efficiency goals, they exceeded them by 2-22%! The idea of energy efficiency goals in the South was just a glimmer in [...]
A new report from the Arise Citizens’ Policy Project released March 1, “Public Utility Regulation Without the Public: The Alabama Public Service Commission and Alabama Power” [PDF] details ways Alabama’s utility regulatory system leaves customers paying some of the highest bills in the country and Alabama Power profiting far more than other utilities nationwide. According [...]
In a bizarre reversal last Wednesday, the Louisiana Public Service Commission repealed the energy efficiency rules they had just passed in December, thereby undoing their first and only step toward saving customers money through efficiency.
Members of Volunteer Energy Cooperative should be pleased with their efforts, as their Cooperative is leading the way on energy efficiency among the power distributors served by TVA. Late last year VEC, at the urging of their members, sent a letter to the Tennessee Valley Authority supporting a goal to reduce residential load by 1% with energy [...]
‘Squirreling’ is banned at the World Schools Debating Championships. What, you don’t know what squirreling is? Or what it has to do with energy efficiency? Well, today is your lucky day! According to those who set the rules for debate competitions, squirreling is the unreasonable redefinition of a term in debate in favor of the team [...]