Prodromus

Our monopolized electric utilities are one of the major sources of energy waste in our country.  There is a built-in system that allows them to build larger and larger power plants, passing along those costs to the consumer.  Because most utilities make a fixed percentage on their total revenue, as mandated by local state utility commissions, the only way to make additional profit is to sell you more energy!  These utilities have no built-in incentives to help consumers lower their overall energy use, as that would clearly take away from their profits.

Like many energy and pollution related matters, California has been leading the way at solving these issues.  Often derided as wacky, California has provided much needed leadership in re-thinking the energy monopoly that the utilities control.  Some measures have failed, everyone remembers the rolling blackouts earlier in the decade, however in other areas they have had very positive results.

Specific new regulations allowed utility company profits to no longer be tied to how much electricity they sell.  This is often called “decoupling”, and allows utilities to take a share of any energy savings they help consumers and businesses achieve.  Now California utilities make money when their customers save money.

So why is this a big deal?  Now the utility can make investments in increasing energy efficiency, and make a profit on the long term energy savings.   For example if the utility spends $5 million to replace all state traffic lights with new high efficient LED traffic lights, they than can profit in the $10 million yearly savings, not only in the first year, but in future years as well.  This causes energy-efficiency investments to become just as important to the utility as building a new power plant.

Sound like a good idea?  Some experts are saying that the US could reduce our overall electrical usage by almost half if adopted nationwide.  This is a realistic, and actionable, way that we can move towards energy independence.  If you agree, call or write your elected officials today and tell them that you want the public service commission in every state to allow utilities to receive the same profits on energy efficiency as they are allowed to receive on generation.

Nancy Pelosi

Our Congressional leaders sure wanted us to know that they were working hard this weekend.   In scanning just some of the headlines in various publications, they kept using the phrase, “the Senate in a rare weekend session”.  Are they trying to make us think they are actually working hard for us?  Or do they feel sorry for themselves?

It all reminds me of co-workers who send email messages to the CEO at 2AM to “impress” him with how hard they work.  Give me a break…  Our elected representatives need to be working harder for us, they need to spend less time worrying about getting re-elected, and more time worrying about our nation’s problems.  And in my opinion, the issue everyone should be focused on is energy independence.

So what was Nancy Pelosi working on this weekend?  Uh, making sure that Congress does NOT vote… Instead of dealing with the issue of offshore drilling, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a staunch opponent of well, everything, has simply decreed that she will not allow an offshore drilling vote to take place on the House floor.   So, why will she not allow a simple vote?

“What the president would like to do is to have validation for his failed policy,” said Nancy yesterday when asked that very question. “What we’re saying is, ‘Exhaust other remedies, Mr. President.’ . . .

We can debate if offshore drilling will solve our issues, but at least bring the topic up for vote.  Ignoring the problem, and hoping that other remedies just show up, is short-sighted, and anti-democratic.

Share your views here.

The new FCX-Clarify holds a lot of promise, potentially fulfilling the dream of California’s CARB that clean, hydrogen-powered cars would be zipping around the state.  However, many skeptics still say that the technology is to far ahead of its time.  They point to limited supply of hydrogen, the Clarify will only be sold in Southern California to start, and the challenges that Honda will face in scaling the production of the high-tech fuel cell carried on-board.

Let’s hope that the FCX succeeds, and helps propel the development of the next generation hydrogen vehicles.