Prediction: Coal has fallen. Nuclear is next then Oil.

[eevee-fan]

Democrats pushed climate action. Then utility bills skyrocketed.

Electricity bills are biting lawmakers in coastal, Democratic-leaning districts.

www.politico.com

Or is it actually that the fossil fuel industry conspired to limit production so fossil fuel prices will rise then they can run Faux News on why green energy that reduces fossil fuel demand somehow raises fossil fuel prices. Seems totally opposite of how markets work.

Oh, must be green agenda that says to maximize profit, nothing to do with green movement. LOL

Natural-gas prices jump more than 12% after Chesapeake cuts production outlook

Natural-gas futures ended sharply higher Wednesday after Chesapeake Energy, a major shale producer, cut its production outlook.

www.marketwatch.com

 

[eevee-fan]

Rooftop PV could serve 45% of US electricity demand, says Environment America

Environment America says in a new report that rooftop solar could meet 45% of US electricity demand, despite currently only accounting for just 1.5% of electricity consumption.

www.pv-magazine.com

Every roof should have solar. I do wish the power company would install them on my roof then I get discounted rate for power.

 

[mspohr]

Privatize the profits... socialize the losses. Capitalism at its best.

The Rising Cost of the Oil Industry’s Slow Death

Unplugged oil and gas wells accelerate climate change, threaten public health and risk hitting taxpayers’ pocketbooks. ProPublica and Capital & Main found that the money set aside to fix the problem falls woefully short of the impending cost.

capitalandmain.com

Until wells are properly plugged, many leak oil and brine onto farmland and into waterways and emit toxic and explosive gasses, rendering redevelopment impossible. A noxious lake inundates West Texas ranchland, oil bubbles into a downtown Los Angeles apartment building and gas seeps into the yards of suburban Ohio homes.

But the impact is felt everywhere, as many belch methane, the second-largest contributor to climate change, into the atmosphere.

But an analysis by ProPublica and Capital & Main has found that the money set aside for this cleanup work in the 15 states accounting for nearly all the nation’s oil and gas production covers less than 2% of the projected cost. That shortfall puts taxpayers at risk of picking up the rest of the massive tab to avoid the environmental, economic and public health consequences of aging oil fields.

 

[eevee-fan]

Chart: Nearly all new US power plants built in 2024 will be clean…

Renewables, batteries and nuclear will add up to 96% of all new power capacity constructed this year, per federal data.

www.canarymedia.com

This is great news! Electric utilities need to get away from being held hostage by the fossil fuel industry as fast as possible. Both electric and natural gas utilities are getting bad press for increasing their prices... guess why, because the fossil fuel companies are intentionally not keeping pace with increase demand so they can raise prices for record profit. And seems the House is also for higher natural gas prices as they seek to override President Biden's LNG export moratorium.

Good thing we, including the electric utility, have an alternative!

BTW, good news for home owners...

U.S. residential solar prices drop, strong interest in storage

 

[eevee-fan]

Electric utility is in favor of renewables, just not for others to build it.

Georgia utility “adamantly opposed” to community solar

An APS rate increase and rooftop solar surcharge are on the way. Here's how much your bill could rise

 

[eevee-fan]

Blow to Putin as Europe breaks free of Russian oil for good

Switching suppliers is probably a net loss in energy efficiency. However, Europe is doing well in expanding renewables so they can be more self sufficient.

 

[mspohr]

Why a clean energy giant based in Florida is battling a green project in New England

No one in the U.S. builds more solar and wind farms than NextEra Energy. It’s waging ferocious battles to keep the crown.

www.politico.com

NextEra’s campaign has delayed the power line’s construction for almost two years, leaving the region overwhelmingly dependent on natural gas. Its opposition highlights an uncomfortable reality for climate advocates: Powerful allies can turn into cutthroat adversaries when their profits are threatened. “It just shows you that these companies are not fundamentally allied with the climate movement, not fundamentally on the side of climate progress,” said Leah Stokes, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who has studied utility opposition to climate policy. “They are just monopolies who sit on the bridge like a troll and try to protect their own profits.”

 

[mspohr]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/02/21/homebuilders-energy-efficiency-climate/?utm_source=newsshowcase&utm_medium=gnews&utm_campaign=CDAqDwgAKgcICjCO1JQKMLfRdDDnnfMB&utm_content=bullets

Across the country, the home-builder lobby is mobilizing its 140,000 members against state and local efforts to save energy and ease the transition to cleaner technologies, such as wiring homes to support electric car charging. Since poorly designed and insulated buildings tend to leak and waste energy — one reason homes account for nearly one-fifth of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions — climate advocates say the home builders’ repeated victories will have a lasting impact, locking in practices that could hurt consumers and the planet for decades.

There’s no debate that boosting the energy efficiency of new homes often increases upfront costs, but the builders appear to be inflating the numbers. A federal study found that North Carolina’s proposed code update would have added at most about $6,500 to the price of a newly built home, not $20,400. According to the analysis, these changes would have paid for themselves through lower power bills and, during the first year alone, reduced carbon dioxide emissions by the equivalent of taking 29,000 cars off the road.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Why a clean energy giant based in Florida is battling a green project in New England

No one in the U.S. builds more solar and wind farms than NextEra Energy. It’s waging ferocious battles to keep the crown.

www.politico.com

NextEra’s campaign has delayed the power line’s construction for almost two years, leaving the region overwhelmingly dependent on natural gas. Its opposition highlights an uncomfortable reality for climate advocates: Powerful allies can turn into cutthroat adversaries when their profits are threatened. “It just shows you that these companies are not fundamentally allied with the climate movement, not fundamentally on the side of climate progress,” said Leah Stokes, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who has studied utility opposition to climate policy. “They are just monopolies who sit on the bridge like a troll and try to protect their own profits.”

Mainers voted against it because it's just hydro for Mass, which is willing to pay Quebec Hydro more money. That it means more renewables in the New England didn't matter. It wasn't doing anything for Maine even though we're the neighbor. The sop to Maine was some discounted power, but as far as I am aware, the annual transmission capacity exceeds Maine's total consumption.

Here's a link to NRCM's opposition:

CMP Corridor Proposal: A Bad Deal for Maine

In April 2023, a Cumberland County jury ruled in CMP's favor during a court case that very likely will decide the future of the company's controversial transmission corridor. The decision was based on technical legal

www.nrcm.org

That links to a post explaining opposition, based on the fact that Quebec Hydro isn't building new capacity for this:

Explainer: Why the CMP Corridor is a Bad Deal for Maine and the Climate

Central Maine Power’s (CMP) proposed transmission corridor through Western Maine is a bad deal for the North Woods, it’s a bad deal for our climate, and it’s a bad deal for our clean energy future.

www.nrcm.org

 

[mspohr]

Mainers voted against it because it's just hydro for Mass, which is willing to pay Quebec Hydro more money. That it means more renewables in the New England didn't matter. It wasn't doing anything for Maine even though we're the neighbor. The sop to Maine was some discounted power, but as far as I am aware, the annual transmission capacity exceeds Maine's total consumption.

Here's a link to NRCM's opposition:

CMP Corridor Proposal: A Bad Deal for Maine

In April 2023, a Cumberland County jury ruled in CMP's favor during a court case that very likely will decide the future of the company's controversial transmission corridor. The decision was based on technical legal

www.nrcm.org

That links to a post explaining opposition, based on the fact that Quebec Hydro isn't building new capacity for this:

Explainer: Why the CMP Corridor is a Bad Deal for Maine and the Climate

Central Maine Power’s (CMP) proposed transmission corridor through Western Maine is a bad deal for the North Woods, it’s a bad deal for our climate, and it’s a bad deal for our clean energy future.

www.nrcm.org

NextEra is defending their profits at any cost.

In New England, the power line, called New England Clean Energy Connect, represents potential competition for NextEra’s fleet of power plants.

It operates Seabrook Station, a massive nuclear power plant in New Hampshire; an oil-fired power plant in Maine; and renewable facilities across the region. The company challenged the legality of the line’s power contracts in Massachusetts, contending they failed to meet state requirements for clean energy. The argument reached the state’s highest court, where NextEra lost.

But analysts said NextEra’s fight against the transmission line resembles its opposition to rooftop solar in Florida. A joint investigation by the British newspaper The Guardian and the U.S.-based environmental news site Floodlight found that a lobbyist for Florida Power and Light, a NextEra subsidiary, had written large parts of a bill that would have gutted the state’s rooftop solar industry. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed the bill.

One of the groups, Alpine Initiatives, failed to register as a political action committee before making a $150,000 contribution to the Maine Democratic Party, a move that ethics officials said masked the source of payment from the public. The contribution was an attempt to ingratiate the consultants to Democratic officials as they looked for allies in their fight against the power line, the commission said. As part of a consent agreement, officials with Alpine Initiatives agreed to pay a $160,000 fine in exchange for not having to admit guilt.

 

[eevee-fan]

We need a new slogan to push renewables. Bush Jr should be in the commercial and he would say "There's a saying in TX. Fuel me once, shame on you. Fuel me twice, shame on me."

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

NextEra is defending their profits at any cost.

In New England, the power line, called New England Clean Energy Connect, represents potential competition for NextEra’s fleet of power plants.

It operates Seabrook Station, a massive nuclear power plant in New Hampshire; an oil-fired power plant in Maine; and renewable facilities across the region. The company challenged the legality of the line’s power contracts in Massachusetts, contending they failed to meet state requirements for clean energy. The argument reached the state’s highest court, where NextEra lost.

But analysts said NextEra’s fight against the transmission line resembles its opposition to rooftop solar in Florida. A joint investigation by the British newspaper The Guardian and the U.S.-based environmental news site Floodlight found that a lobbyist for Florida Power and Light, a NextEra subsidiary, had written large parts of a bill that would have gutted the state’s rooftop solar industry. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed the bill.

One of the groups, Alpine Initiatives, failed to register as a political action committee before making a $150,000 contribution to the Maine Democratic Party, a move that ethics officials said masked the source of payment from the public. The contribution was an attempt to ingratiate the consultants to Democratic officials as they looked for allies in their fight against the power line, the commission said. As part of a consent agreement, officials with Alpine Initiatives agreed to pay a $160,000 fine in exchange for not having to admit guilt.

I understand that. Companies are going to support anything that helps them make money.

I just wanted to give some context to the local opposition, in case the article made people think that opposition was tied to the shell. I certainly don't agree with NRCM on everything, but the whole thing sucked.

 

[mspohr]

Gas’s future looks cloudy as demand and prices tumble

A conference this week will discuss a market being transformed by green energy, LNG and milder winters

www.theguardian.com

The annual International Energy Week conference will see bosses gather at a hotel in Mayfair amid a tense debate over the pace of oil and gas firms’ transition to low-carbon energy. Last year, then BP boss Bernard Looney (since defenestrated) defended its fossil fuel spending over the sound of noisy protests outside. Activists later let off a smoke bomb at a black-tie dinner, forcing executives on to the street in front of protesters.

A multitude of factors have contributed. “European demand remains very low with the second mild winter on the trot,” says Tom Marzec-Manser, head of global gas analytics at consultancy ICIS. “A lot of gas is normally used for heating homes and businesses across Europe, and it hasn’t been used this year.” Warmer, windier weather has also reduced the need for gas-fired power stations to generate electricity, with the under-pressure windfarm industry stepping in. As a result, storage levels in Europe’s gas facilities remain high.

At the conference, an eye-catching discussion on the future of natural gas will examine methane emissions reduction and prospects for low-carbon alternatives. Green campaigners will hope it is more than just hot air.

 

[mspohr]

These people in West Virginia would rather have coal trains rumbling through town than look at windmills

https://www.npr.org/2024/02/26/1233128242/coal-renewable-energy-west-virginia-inflation-reduction-act-climate

But at the same time, there's all this green energy money that's coming to West Virginia and the last two years has seen more economic development announcements than I can remember in this state." Those "green energy" dollars funneling into a predominantly conservative state with a historic connection to coal have created political dynamics that Kercheval describes as paradoxical.

 

[mspohr]

The Rising Cost of the Oil Industry’s Slow Death

Unplugged oil and gas wells accelerate climate change, threaten public health and risk hitting taxpayers’ pocketbooks. ProPublica and Capital & Main found that the money set aside to fix the problem falls woefully short of the impending cost.

www.propublica.org

In the 165 years since the first American oil well struck black gold, the industry has punched millions of holes in the earth, seeking profits gushing from the ground. Now, those wells are running dry, and a generational bill is coming due.

Until wells are properly plugged, many leak oil and brine onto farmland and into waterways and emit toxic and explosive gasses, rendering redevelopment impossible. A noxious lake inundates West Texas ranchland, oil bubbles into a downtown Los Angeles apartment building and gas seeps into the yards of suburban Ohio homes.

But the impact is felt everywhere, as many belch methane, the second-largest contributor to climate change, into the atmosphere.

There are more than 2 million unplugged oil and gas wells that will need to be cleaned up, and the current production boom and windfall profits for industry giants have obscured the bill’s imminent arrival. More than 90% of the country’s unplugged wells either produce little oil and gas or are already dormant.

 

[kpanda17]

you can leak but cannot hide, satellites are seeing methane leaks and ratting them out

 

[SVMike]

A federal study found that North Carolina’s proposed code update would have added at most about $6,500 to the price of a newly built home, not $20,400. According to the analysis, these changes would have paid for themselves through lower power bills and, during the first year alone, reduced carbon dioxide emissions by the equivalent of taking 29,000 cars off the road.

The savings of $6500 in the first year is highly suspect. This means, on average, a homeowner would save over $500 per month. I have had solar for over 8 years so I have a near zero bill now...but I never even had a bill that high for combined electric + NG, much less been able to save that much per month.
Googling "average utility bill in North Carolina" gives a number of $372.
I do agree that home builders resist code changes that require energy efficiency and that they are likely to overstate the costs, but it does no good for the other side to overstate the benefits.

A better plan would be to give an Energy Star rating (maybe A thru F) that is party based on the proper installation of various energy savings equipment and building techniques as well as that builder's history in prior similar homes

 

[mspohr]

The savings of $6500 in the first year is highly suspect. This means, on average, a homeowner would save over $500 per month. I have had solar for over 8 years so I have a near zero bill now...but I never even had a bill that high for combined electric + NG, much less been able to save that much per month.
Googling "average utility bill in North Carolina" gives a number of $372.
I do agree that home builders resist code changes that require energy efficiency and that they are likely to overstate the costs, but it does no good for the other side to overstate the benefits.

A better plan would be to give an Energy Star rating (maybe A thru F) that is party based on the proper installation of various energy savings equipment and building techniques as well as that builder's history in prior similar homes

The wording is a bit awkward but I think it means to say the CO2 saving is for the first year, not the dollar savings.

Home Energy Score

Lead Performers: U.S. Department of Energy – Washington, D.C.

www.energy.gov

 

[eevee-fan]

This Colorado community is already living in the all-electric future

"That’s something echoed by Geos resident Parker and his partner Ann Katzburg, both retired educators. They paid $735,000 for their Geos home, which they moved into last June. They love the neighborhood, which boasts a community garden and public fruit trees that anyone can pluck from, and organizes summer potlucks and weekly game nights. They and other residents have banded together to take climate action locally, including showing up to testify at city council meetings and door-knocking for a pro-climate candidate in an Arvada city election."

This is the place to be if you got the money.

 

[David_Cary]

Agree the wording was about carbon savings. It still sounds somewhat overstated. Obviously one more efficient home does not take 29,000 cars off the road with the first year savings. I am thinking they meant that 50,000 new homes(1 years worth?) built to a better standard would be equivalent to 29,000 cars.

Builders have only one thing in mind - to make profit. They have to be forced by regulation to build efficient houses. They will always overstate the cost - it is their fiduciary duty - at least the ones that are publicly traded. The article sort of points out the very obvious. It is the system we live in. The NC legislature is one of either the stupidest or most corrupt group of people that you can imagine. I am surprised the builders didn't say it would cost $50k per house because they would probably find a majority to think that was correct - or at least say that it is correct.