Free Republic

The futures don’t look so hot this morning before the opening bell. As of 8:50 a.m. EST, Dow futures are down nearly 70 points. S&P and NASDAQ futures look pretty much as bad, down nearly 9 and 20 points respectively. While yesterday’s action seemed relatively benign, it wasn’t, as lots of sectors were getting hammered but, due to low semi-holiday volume, this wasn’t readily apparent. Our utilities got hit so hard we had to exit via percentage stops, and we’ll probably need to pare back what energy and banking issues we still have today. The “fiscal cliff” again is the...

02:34 AM Via Twitchy, read about Alabama TV station WAFF’s report on non-union utility crews who traveled from the South to help restore power to Hurricane Sandy victims — only to be turned away because they were non-union.

The Massachusetts attorney general is seeking a nearly $10 million in fines from electric utility NStar for what she calls "inadequate" responses to two major storms last year that left hundreds of thousands of customers without power, some for days. Attorney General Martha Coakley's office made the recommendation in a brief filed Tuesday with the Department of Public Utilities, which has the authority to impose the fine. The attorney general says NStar failed to properly anticipate the severity of Tropical Storm Irene in August and a late October snow storm; failed to communicate effectively with customers and government officials; and...

Some two weeks after Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta warned of a potential “cyber-Pearl Harbor” involving a possible attack on the electric grid, Mother Nature took the cue and hit the East Coast with a storm that left millions of us for days without electricity from the grid. Some said silent thanks for that old generator they’d thought to stick in the garage. Though it wasn’t a cyberattack, but Mother Nature gave parts of the grid a good lashing anyway. On my country road south of Annapolis, two transformers were blown down from their perches on telephone poles, and...

Last fall’s monumental storms affected almost everyone in Connecticut. People were inconvenienced, impatient, and angry. The ill, elderly, and disabled were exposed to significant risks. We were shocked at how long it took to restore service, and how hard it was to get answers. First responders and town organizations rose to the occasion, but they were stretched to their limits. Schools were closed for days on end. The situation got old very fast. No one wanted to go through the same thing again, ever. Not surprisingly, there was an initial clamor for action. Several of us called for public hearings,...

As scientists warn of an impending solar storm between now and 2014 that could collapse the national power grid, thrusting millions into darkness instantly, a debate has flared up between utilities and the federal government on the severity of such an event. NASA and the National Academy of Sciences previously confirmed to G2Bulletin that an electromagnetic pulse event from an intense solar storm could occur any time between now and 2014. They say it could have the effect of frying electronics and knocking out transformers in the national electric grid system. Already, there are separate published reports of massive solar...

State lawmakers are proposing new standards for power restoration and steep penalties for utility companies that fail to meet them. "We have some of the highest electric rates in the country but we don't have the best service,'' House Speaker Chris Donovan said at a press conference this morning at the state Capitol complex. "You would think for the highest rates we would have better service.''Donovan and state Rep. Vickie Nardello, co-chairwoman of the legislature's energy and technology committee, are proposing the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority establish a series of benchmarks for power companies. The proposal is modelled on...

(Utilities across the country need more money for grid updates and pollution controls, and are passing the huge bill on to consumers. Laura Colarusso on why electricity bills are rising.) Already weary of high gas prices and 9.1 percent unemployment, many Americans are about to get another kick in the wallet thanks to large increases in their electricity bills.From Alaska to Georgia and Wyoming to Florida, utilities are seeking permission to pass on hundreds of millions of dollars in new charges to customers to help upgrade aging infrastructure and build new or retrofitted power plants that comply with tougher environmental...

Should energy consumers pay extra taxes to fund government-mandated and subsidized renewable energy technologies? "Absolutely yes," says John Bryson, President Obama's nominee for Commerce Secretary. He made the remark at a meeting of the Commonwealth Club of California in 2009 and went on to extol the virtues of hidden rates in California, a state encumbered with some of the nation's highest electricity and unemployment rates. Bryson, retired CEO of the electric utility Southern California Edison (SCE) and its parent company Edison International, excused the practice, saying, "That's been a part of the regulatory environment for the investor-owned utilities for as...

Will the governor sign the death certificate for his brainchild? The House unanimously voted late Monday to accept Senate changes to House Bill 1201, Rep. Lois Kolkhorst's legislation that would remove all references to the Trans-Texas Corridor from state statutes. And, oh yes, allow an 85 mph speed limit on certain roads completed after June. The bill now goes to Gov. Rick Perry for his signature, or his veto. For now, the only road likely to qualify for the 85 mph limit will be the southern 40 miles of the Texas 130 tollway, now under construction between the southeast outskirts...

Since 2002, California's utilities have committed to spend about $6 billion more on renewable power contracts than they would have paid to buy the electricity from new power plants burning natural gas, .. The report, from a division of the California Public Utilities Commission, examines the costs of a state law that required the utilities to get 20 percent of their power from renewable sources such as the sun and the wind by the end of 2010. Since the law was passed, 59 percent of the contracts the utilities have signed with renewable power developers have been more expensive than...

The fact that the lame-duck Congress balked at endorsing "cap-and-trade" legislation didn't deter California from approving its own version of the extreme green scheme for restricting industrial emissions. The move bolsters the state's reputation as the left coast's home for ideas out of left field. Soon Americans will witness what happens when global-warming hysteria worsens an already sick economy.California's Air Resources Board approved a cap-and-trade system on Dec. 16 that covers 360 businesses at 600 locations statewide. In its first phase, starting in 2012, electric utilities and other large manufacturers will receive free permits allowing emissions at their current...

* Averge household will pay 60 euros more/year for power * Germany top world market for solar, 16% of power green BERLIN, Oct 15 (Reuters) - A surge in Germany's renewable energy capacity this year will lead to a more than 70 percent jump in the levy consumers pay on their electricity bills for green power, according to data from grid operators on Friday. The levy, which consumers pay as a subsidy to producers of wind and photovoltaic and other types of renewable energy, will rise to 3.53 cents per kilowatt hour (kw/h) in 2011 from 2.05 cents, said the...

California boasts some of the toughest standards in the nation for boosting the use of renewable power. Getting utilities to meet those mandates is proving to be even tougher. State law requires the Golden State's three large investor-owned utilities to procure 20% of their retail electricity sales from clean sources by the end of 2010. But with less than six months left to meet that requirement, even government watchdogs don't expect the power companies to make it. Pacific Gas & Electric Co., Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. are likely to end this year with a...

Households that get their power from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power could see their electric bills go up between 8.8% and 28.4%, depending on where they live and how much energy they use, under a plan unveiled Monday by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Appearing with labor and environmental leaders, Villaraigosa said the proposed increases would ensure that the DWP meets his goal of securing 20% of its energy from renewable sources by Dec. 31. The increased revenue would help pay for new environmental initiatives, including more aggressive conservation programs and a solar initiative designed to create 16,000 jobs....

When Pacific Gas and Electric Co. announced it was installing smart meters, they weren't exactly giving customers the option of turning down the device. But one Bay Area man demanding his constitutional rights told CBS5 that he doesn't want a new meter. Period. "To me it's unconstitutional, it's an invasion of my privacy," said Mark Dieteman. The smart meter allows PG&E to watch energy usage remotely and lets customers monitor how much electricity they use. However, residents have blamed the devices for a dramatic increase in their bills, prompting calls for an investigation. A Bakersfield man also filed a class-action...

A new U.S. EPA analysis requested by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) is spawning a lobbying frenzy among Midwestern utilities that claim the document shows they will be treated unfairly under federal climate legislation. They say the assessment (pdf) reveals that states like California will receive a financial windfall under a global warming bill, while states like Wisconsin will not get enough help and will have to spike electricity rates as a result. "The EPA document just confirms the formula will disadvantage Midwest states for decades to come while the coastal states will hit a 'federal jackpot' every year over the...

For Utilities, the Future Is Now Generating power from the sun and burying carbon underground are two old concepts on the cusp of reality. By Jim Ostroff, Associate Editor, The Kiplinger Letter September 29, 2009 National Security Space Office, study on space based power Note two exciting energy technology developments whose times have come: Space based power plants and a coal burning facility that emits no carbon dioxide. Both are likely to be key elements in helping electric utilities meet expected stringent U.S. emissions requirements without having to mothball a large number of existing coal fired power plants. Power plants...

KENYON -- Russ Foss has lived on his 500 acre farm, southeast of Kenyon, for more than 42 years. A dairy farmer, Foss has kept busy serving time on the local co-op board and growing crops in his field. But Foss is clear to say that his 500 acres will never be home to what some are calling a "second crop," -- wind energy. "When they (the turbines) came out, I myself thought it was a good idea," he said. "Wind sounds like a good idea, until you really look into it. Then there are just so many holes in...

A frowny face is not what most electric customers expect to see on their utility statements, but Greg Dyer got one. Patty Nolan and David Rabkin and their children, Alexis and Joshua, prize energy efficiency. He earned it, the utility said, by using a lot more energy than his neighbors. “I have four daughters; none of my neighbors has that many children,” said Mr. Dyer, 49, a lawyer who lives in Sacramento. He wrote back to the utility and gave it his own rating: four frowny faces. Two other Sacramento residents, however, Paul Geisert and his wife, Mynga Futrell, were...