February 2nd, 2012 () Nuclear › Sara Barczak › No Comments
After nearly two years of stonewalling by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) continues to press ahead with our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation so that U.S. taxpayers can learn the full extent of the risks to which they are exposed in the massive commitment of $8.33 [...]
February 1st, 2012 () Clean Energy, Offshore Wind, Wind energy › Guest Post › No Comments
This blog is a guest post by Herman K. Trabish originally posted at greentechmedia. New technologies make the Southern states’ wind resources a new frontier for developers. The U.S. has nearly 45,000 megawatts of installed wind capacity. There is a total installed capacity of 29 megawatts in the southern block of states of Arkansas, Louisiana, [...]
December 13th, 2011 () Coal, High Risk Energy › Dr. Stephen A. Smith › No Comments
National Public Radio’s Morning Edition ran a story today on how Southern Company is putting its corporate policy of aggressively fighting beneficial health standards ahead of mothers and children, as well as fish and other living organisms. The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed new standards to limit emissions of mercury, a toxic heavy metal, and [...]
December 6th, 2011 () Coal, High Risk Energy › Josh Galperin, Esq. › No Comments
Georgia Power Company (GPC) operates a fleet of old coal plants. Their oldest coal units, Yates units 1 and 2, are 61 years old. Unlike wine, cheese or a savings account, coal plants do not get better with age. They become more expensive to maintain, less efficient and more damaging to human health and the [...]
November 8th, 2011 () Utilities › John D. Wilson › 1 Comment
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, [...]
August 8th, 2011 () Nuclear, Wind energy › Aaron Sarver › No Comments
Safety questions post-Fukushima have created a significant amount of uncertainty regarding the future of nuclear power in the US, as other countries such as Germany move to ban nuclear power. Construction costs, liability claims and many other factors that affect the cost of building a nuclear plant remain unclear, yet a number of utilities are [...]
July 30th, 2011 () Clean Energy, Coal, High Risk Energy › Josh Galperin, Esq. › 1 Comment
There are two facts that the hawkers of “clean coal” don’t want you know. First, there is no such thing as clean coal. Second, the salesmen of clean coal would not want such a thing if it did exist. Its seems paradoxical but it makes perfect sense. The “clean coal” campaign is simply an effort [...]
July 7th, 2011 () Clean Energy, Green Economy, Renewable Energy, Wind energy › Simon Mahan › 3 Comments
This blog was co-authored by Katie Stokes. This is the last of five blogs in a series where the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy has highlighted states throughout our region and their role in the wind industry. Georgia’s wind resource is vast; however, no large-scale wind farms have been built onshore or offshore of the [...]
June 20th, 2011 () Climate Action, Coal, High Risk Energy › Josh Galperin, Esq. › 1 Comment
The Environmental Protection Agency is imbued with significant authority to limit climate pollutants, according to the United States Supreme Court, but it must remain vigilant against political pressure lest we lose our best defense against the growing levels of greenhouse gas emissions. Earlier today the United States Supreme Court reaffirmed its 2007 ruling that the [...]
June 17th, 2011 () Coal, High Risk Energy › Josh Galperin, Esq. › 2 Comments
Coal utilities like American Electric Power (AEP) and Southern Company are making big threats. They threaten to protect our air, our water and our health. They threaten to provide us with a more stable and diverse portfolio of energy generation, and they threaten to make good business decisions by closing down the oldest and least [...]