Pelosi, Pickens and the Corruption of Green Energy

The Virginian ^ | 8/13/2008 | Moneyrunner

[moneyrunner]

Ah so!

It seems T. Boone Pickens is not the disinterested environmental pioneer that his ads make him out to be. Michelle Malkin exposes the grand scale corruption that is behind Nancy Pelosi’s desire not to drill for more oil. It seems that she has stock in companies that create and run wind farms – T. Boone Pickens companies.

Though she seemingly backtracked on labeling drilling a "hoax" this week, Pelosi refuses to consider GOP energy proposals that don't include massive government subsidies for so-called eco-alternatives that have never panned out.

Which brings us to Madame Speaker's 2007 financial disclosure form. Schedule III lists "Assets and 'Unearned Income'" of between $100,001-$250,000 from Clean Energy Fuels Corp. -- Public Common Stock. Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (CLNE) is a natural gas provider founded by T. Boone Pickens. Yep, that T. Boone Pickens -- former oilman turned wind-power evangelist whose ads touting a national wind campaign are now as ubiquitous as Viagra promos.

It seems a another Pickens company, Mesa Power is becoming the biggest owner and operator of wind farms in the country.

Dallas-based Mesa Power LLP, a company created by energy executive T. Boone Pickens, has placed an order with GE to purchase 667 wind turbines capable of generating 1,000 MW. GE plans to deliver the 1.5 MW wind turbines in 2010 and 2011.

So those T. Boone Pickens "public service announcements" are anything but. They are ads for his company. And with the blatant connivance of Democrat Speaker Pelosi, he's reaching in your pocket and mine for subsidies for his projects. With literally billions of taxpayer dollars involved, this is corruption on a grand scale; making the government graft in the Mexican oil industry small in comparison.

This is "Teapot Dome" writ large.

[moneyrunner]

And despite the millions that Pickens has poured into his ad campaign, I have yet to read a word about his financial interest in the wind industry in the MSM. So I would say that the blogosphere is doing as good a job in its infancy as the MSM is doing in its dotage.

[rodeo-mamma]

Shouldn’t Nancy be in trouble for this? It sounds like she might be breaking some sort of law.

[Bobarian]

Let's just call him T. Boondoggle Pickens.

Are there any manufacturing engineers in the house? Given the brazillion tons of steel that are smelted by a coal-fired electric arc furnace to produce a single tower, I'd like to know if a wind generator can produce enough electricity in its lifetime to build, say, a wind generator.

[lowbridge]

bump

[Bommer]

I'd like to know if a wind generator can produce enough electricity in its lifetime to build, say, a wind generator.

Oh yeah definately! It can do it in less than 5 years, provided it running in hurrican gale force winds for 365 straight, no problem!

The funniest part of the T. Boone-doggle is that we are going to scar the country side with these ugly contraptions and at best get only 20% of our energy needs, and that is very very hopeful at best!

[DungeonMaster]

I'd like to know if a wind generator can produce enough electricity in its lifetime to build, say, a wind generator.

Yes and I belive the number was about 6 months to produce that much energy, but it may have been less.

[Matchett-PI]

I agree on the natural gas thingy - it’s the wind farms that are a loonie idea (unless there’s something about them that I don’t already know).

Natural Gas Provides Solutions to High Gasoline Prices ( Sen. James Inhofe )
humanevents.com ^ | 08/12/2008 | Sen. James Inhofe
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?print=yes&id=27985
Posted on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 8:13:58 AM by kellynla
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2061062/posts

Fellow Oklahoma native T. Boone Pickens is back in the news and hitting the airwaves with an energy idea that I believe is pure common sense.

Pickens believes, like I do, that as Americans continue to suffer from high gas prices, we need to take advantage of our abundant, domestic supply of natural gas for use as a transportation fuel. The promise of natural gas as a mainstream transportation fuel is achievable today — not 15 or 20 years from now. From Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered cars, to semi-trucks running on liquefied natural gas (LNG), no other commercially viable fuel burns cleaner.

America has massive reserves of natural gas. The latest report (Sept. 2007) from the Potential Gas Committee at the Colorado School of Mines identifies 82 years of natural gas supply at current rates of production. Canada’s reserves hold an additional 40 years’ supply.

Raymond James Equity Research recently reported that they hold a “bearish outlook for U.S. natural gas prices.” After examining the future supply of domestic production, they released a May 19, 2008, energy report which concluded, “...we continue to see unprecedented growth in U.S. gas production that will eventually overwhelm the U.S. gas markets.”

(Excerpt) Read more at humanevents.com ...

[mo]

It gonna take a lot to drag this across newspapers and television in an election year....

http://moneyrunner.blogspot.com/2008/08/pelosi-pickens-and-corruption-of-green.html

Much more than sloganeering on the House floor....and if they DO the issue justice this fall, the Pubbies have the opportunity to re-take the House.

[libstripper]

The funniest part of the T. Boone-doggle is that we are going to scar the country side with these ugly contraptions and at best get only 20% of our energy needs, and that is very very hopeful at best!

It gets even funnier. I suspect that 20% number is based on a simple calculation of adding up the total megawatt hours (MWH) of windmill power, adding them to the total MWH of conventional (nuclear included) power and then dividing the MWH of wind power by the total MWH of all power. That, however, is a scam because conventional plants are required to run at their full output to cover the low spots of wind production when the wind doesn't blow. Hence, the only real extra power a wind farm provides is the lowest output it consistently runs at, all the other output having to be constantly duplicated by backup conventional sources. I'm a lawyer, not an engineer. However, I spent the last 15 years of my career representing a public utility and have checked this with one or more technical people at my former employer whom I know. My source(s) have confirmed this.

[texas booster]

If Pickens builds on his property in Amarillo, then there is yet another issue facing Texas and the US.

Texas is on its own grid and has but a few interconnects with the FERC grids.

Amarillo is NOT on the Texas grid but is on the FERC Western grid.

If his plan to build a power line to Dallas works out - and Dallas pays high congestion fees - then there is a concern that the Texas grid may have to merge with FERC Western.

No more Texas grid. Very hard to swallow for those of us in independent Texas.

It is not a certainty, but the idea has cropped up again.

[palmer]

I'd like to know if a wind generator can produce enough electricity in its lifetime to build, say, a wind generator.

A decent sized windmill has decent EROEI, see for example figure 2 here: http://www.theoildrum.com/story/2006/10/17/18478/085

[thackney]

Already been addressed, ERCOT will remain.

http://www.ercot.com/news/press_releases/2008/nr04-02-08

http://www.seco.cpa.state.tx.us/re_wind-transmission.htm

[mnehring]

If anyone had any doubt that T-Bone just wanted to have a monopoly on future energy production, this sould sweep that doubt away.

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

CLNE also happens to be the sponsor of Proposition 10, a ballot initiative in Pelosi's home state of California to dole out a combined $10 billion in state and federal funds for renewable energy incentives -- namely, natural gas and wind.

I didn't know natural gas was considered a renewable.

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

That, however, is a scam because conventional plants are required to run at their full output to cover the low spots of wind production when the wind doesn't blow.

They have to be "fired up" and operating, but not necessarily operating at full output. i.e. "full load". But they must be ready to supply "full load" at a moments notice. IOW they are on stand by.

I have experience in electronic power systems at the kilowatt level not the megawatt level of public utilities. But the principles are the same. Except for the huge delay in firing up a fossil fuel generator from a cold shutdown state.

[thackney]

You need to be around some of my friends after they eat in a Mexican restaurant.

[calcowgirl]

I heard him on some show last week saying that he wanted his windfarms on a corridor going from the Mexican to the Canadian border.

No doubt, he will look for Government assistance in his endeavors, for the use of eminent domain at a minimum.

[leb32]

Although I don’t like the the idea of Pelosi and Pickens doing business together, it does not invalidate the plan. I understand T.Boone is going to make out big if his plan is adopted. I expected that. But personal motives aside, what is wrong with PickensPlan? Someone is going to profit no matter what we do. Everyone owns something. So, do we say just scrap a good plan because someone is going to make money? Furthermore, PickensPlan being privately funded. It does not need government money. So what is the corruption? Something has to be done. Drilling is not the answer. Fossil fuels are on their way out. We are going to have to come up with something else. So, if not PickensPlan what else? Anyone got a better idea? Obama says just put air in your tires. So that is going to fix the problem?

[wolfpat]

The industry calls this “Spinning Reserve”. They are required to maintain an amount to cover their largest plant tripping (which can happen at any time, coal or nuke).

[moneyrunner]

First of all, would you agree that there is a conflict of interest between a legislator (especially one of Pelosi’s importance) supporting a program in which he or she is an investor?

Second, I have no objection to anyone making money out of providing low cost energy to consumers. In fact, in a free society that should be the outcome. I object to Pickens’ dishonest attempt to fool people that he is running these commercials as a public service announcement. It’s not: it’s a commercial for a specific kind of energy production that he has a big investment in.

Third, how do you know it’s a good plan? Do you believe Pickens when he claims that he can produce 20% of the nation’s energy with wind farms? What are the economics of wind energy? How efficient is it? What happens when the wind doesn’t blow? I am not aware of any large scale electrical storage devices need to supply electricity when the windmills don’t turn. I am told, and it makes sense, that wind and solar energy need backup sources of electrical generation when the wind does not blow or the sun doesn’t shine; and today those are conventional power plants. What are the economics of that?

And the part about “privately funded” is totally misleading. Pelosi and the rest of the Democrats in congress are working on financial incentives for these alternative energy sources. That means either tax breaks or direct subsidy of these devices.

The current use of ethanol, for example, is forced by government mandates and supported by a huge 51 cent per gallon tax credit. Ethanol for gasoline is only “privately funded” if you ignore the tax give-away.

Which brings me back to the Pickens ads.

Why is he running these ads? If these wind farms were economical alternatives to fossil fuel plants he would not need to convince you to support him. He would just go out and build the wind farms and sell the electricity, right? So why the ads? Simple, to support the government give-aways to his wind farms.

I am in favor of fixing the problem, but at this time it’s largely a government created problem, led by a combination of radical environmentalists and elected and appointed officials who are seeking their votes and lining their pockets at the same time.

For an example of the “Big Lie” fostered by the Greens and the Left, see my post on ANWR.