Take a look at this story on The Daily Beast blog at Newsweek's Web site.

In 2008, 33,500 rooftop solar systems were installed in the United States, a 63 percent increase over the amount of capacity installed in 2007. In California, the solar capital of country, the increase was 95 percent.

Meanwhile, the outlook for the other side of the solar industry—the large, centralized power plants—isn't so sunny. These megaprojects—think acres of desert landscape covered in thousands of solar panels sending electricity through transmission lines—controlled mostly by utility companies that have had a monopoly over the country’s electricity grid since the turn of the last century, were supposed to be the key to the future of the solar industry. So far, they're getting vastly outpaced by the decentralized rooftop approach. According to the Interstate Renewable Energy Council's 2006-08 count, consumers added 522 megawatts to the grid; whereas utility generated sites added just 96 megawatts.

Are power companies making an extra effort to increase investment in solar to catch up with homeowners and distributed generation?  No.

The disparity has utilities worried about losing their grip on the country's energy industry, and the $130 billion residential electricity market. In some cases, utilities are actually taking direct steps to thwart rooftop solar. Two weeks ago in Colorado, the state's biggest utility, Xcel, tried passing a surcharge on homes and businesses using rooftop solar power. The public went ballistic, and with pressure from Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter, the proposal was eventually shelved. In early July, New Mexico's biggest utility, PNM, filed an official request to dramatically reduce incentives for businesses and homeowners to install solar panels, and is now fighting with state lawmakers over whether it has the right to exclusively own solar panels systems hooked up to its grid.

So far, all of the innovation in solar power in the US has come from homeowners, small businesses that install solar generating equipment, and local innovators.  The media lead us to believe that business innovation involves some whizbang technology.  It doesn't.  Business innovation is almost always figuring out how to get the best products into the hands of the most people.

Right now, some of the most advanced business innovation in solar power is coming out of the People's Chapel in Philippi, WV.  Here's the story from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  Ruston Seaman and John Prusa have created a charitable business called New Vision that puts solar power in the hands of local people for a fraction of the cost of a manufactured, turnkey system.  They use innovative labor credits and partial assembly of PV panels to make their products available to nearly everyone.

Here is real business innovation that cannot be matched by power companies operating our obsolete, centralized grid:

Families who receive solar panels pay for them with two currencies: money and time.

One home can cost between $7,000 to $10,000 to outfit, with trees to clear and supplies to buy. Families pay for the panels with some of the savings they start to see on their electric bills each month. The money goes into a general community fund that finances more solar panels on more homes.

"Once 10 families start paying back, there's enough for Family Eleven," said Mr. Seaman.

Ten families are already slated to receive the panels, and already nine mission trips are planned this summer for groups from Pennsylvania and West Virginia to come and help install more.

In addition to those upfront expenses, outfitting a home also takes manpower; Mr. Seaman calls it Philippi's version of Amish barn building.

To pay back their neighbors for their time, families must volunteer by either installing solar panels somewhere else or putting in community time at the church.

Mr. Prusa printed "dollar bills" that are exchanged as currency for the volunteer hours.

Here is the closing comment from a solar installer in the Daily Beast story:

"We're buying panels at prices I didn't think we'd see for at least another decade," says John Berger, founder of Standard Renewable Energy, a Texas-based company that provides homeowners and businesses ways to reduce their energy costs, including on-site solar generation. Berger expects to have revenues of $50 million in 2009, this after doing $11 million in business last year, and only $1.5 million in 2007. He gets particularly agitated when talking about the utilities. "When solar came along, they thought they could ignore it. Then they thought they could just monopolize it. But the private sector is giving them competition, and now they're scared."

Power companies should worry even more now that innovators like New Visions are in the solar power game.

by Bill

Take a look at this CNN video about how California school systems, facing continuous operating budget cuts, are investing in massive solar panel installations to cut their operating costs.

The anti-education property tax situation in CA is crushing public school budgets, but school systems can take advantage of low interest rates to issue bonds to raise money for capital investments.  As a result, CA school systems are cutting their operating budgets by investing in solar systems to produce their own electricity.  The fact that the cost of solar panels has dropped 30% in the last year is also a factor in these decisions.

Homeowners and businesses face much the same decisions when they consider installation of their own electricity producing systems.  They are shifting money from future payments to someone else for their electricity to an investment now in producing their own.  The main factors in the decision are:

1. the cost of photovoltaic cells, cables and inverters,
2. projections of future electric rates
3. and if you have to borrow money for the installation, interest rates.

Here are some facts about the current situation:

1. Electric rates for APCo customers in WV have gone up 30% in the past five years, mainly because the price of coal is rising.  The price of coal is projected to rise for at least the next ten years.  Electric company executives and the WV PSC chairman say electric rates will continue to rise in WV.
2. With the phasing out of feed-in tariffs in Germany, sales of solar panels in Germany have fallen and, as noted above, solar panel prices are at an all time low.
3. Mortgage interest rates, for people with good credit, are the lowest they have been in decades.  Several solar installers in WV have special deals with banks to provide even lower rates for solar power installations.

The only negative on the solar power front right now is the collapse of the out of state SREC market and the lack of any solar renewable credit market in WV to provide a continuous income flow from selling renewable credits.

So, do the math.  What do you think will happen to our coal-fired rate increases in the next 20 years?  What if solar panel prices fall even further in the next year? 

Here is something else to consider.  China is now the world's leader in the manufacture of solar panels.  The Obama administration is allowing this strategic industry leave the US before it even gets a foothold here.  Republicans in Congress are even trying to gin up a scandal about how the Obama administration gave too much federal help to Solyana. 

What if the prices of solar panels continue to fall and you decide to install your own system and there is a shortage of panels, because they have to be imported?  What customers do you think Chinese manufacturers will serve first, US or Chinese customers?

If you are going to stop thinking like a consumer, you have to become a decision maker.  Here on the Coalition blog, we will try to keep providing the facts to help you make your decisions as a new power producer.

by Keryn

If you've been following the EPA/AEP battle over the new Clean Air rules here, I hope you caught the testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee today.  Two panels of experts testified and were subsequently questioned by Congress.  This was in consideration of AEP CEO Michael Morris's TRAIN Act (you know, clean air will cause a TRAIN WRECK of monumental proportions with mass unemployment, sky high electric bills and blackouts).  The TRAIN Act calls for a delay in implementation of the rules in order for Congress to study their effect, and will cost the taxpayers a couple million bucks to complete.  The study isn't important, just the delay in implementation it will cause.  Can't we just give AEP that two million to clean up their plants instead?  When you add the cost of the TRAIN Act to the amount of money AEP has poured into a spin campaign to delay the rules, you could make some serious headway into cleaner air for everyone.

Someone sent me a link to the video feed of the hearing.  I just couldn't resist watching this spectacle live!

The first panel consisted of the five FERC Commissioners, who said expected retirements were not going to cause a major, widespread reliability crisis (excepting Commissioner Moeller, a Bush-era appointee).  They said a "reliability safety valve" that has been requested by RTOs to temporarily except certain plants from the rules that are needed for reliability reasons would take care of any small-scale, localized issues.

The second panel consisted of four state PSC Commissioners, the head of ERCOT (the Texas RTO), and a couple of scientific consultants, one of whom formerly worked at the Pennsylvania DEP (or something similar).  Among the state Commissioners testifying was WV's Jon McKinney.  You can read his testimony here.  As Clean Air Watch said a few months ago, it looks like it came right out of the old AEP word processor.

The partisan circus was definitely in town today when it came to questioning the panel.  Depending on the party of the Congressperson asking the question, and bias of the witness answering it (and yes, they all leaned heavily one way or the other), questioning was either harsh and slanted, or soft and leading.  Reminded me of a junior high school lunchroom on mystery meat day -- I expected the food to start flying at any second.

Here are some of the thoughts our Commissioner McKinney expressed in response to questions:

1. The deadlines can't be met without reliability issues.  The industry just doesn't have time to make changes necessary.
2. On jobs:  He quoted a study paid for by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (not a reliable source - heh!) - 1.4 million jobs will be lost.
3. Question:  PJM's forward capacity market auction for 2014-15 had more than enough capacity to maintain reliability - 19.6% over needed capacity.  Does the WV-PSC have any analysis that disputes this?  Answer:  There may be local impacts, then he starts referring to coal plant shutdowns in DC.  Even if you have adequate capacity, if you can't get it to load, it's useless.  The "reliability safety valve" is needed.  So, in short, McKinney's answer was.... No.
4. He was asked if the EPA had reached out to him to understand his local issues.  His answer was no.
5. He was asked to respond to the points made by Dr. Tierney, one of the scientific consultants.  He disagreed with all but one point, which turned into 2 by the end of his answer.  He said that there weren't "years of notice" that these rules were coming because until the rules were finalized, no action at all could be taken.  He touted how much money West Virginia utilities had already put into cleaning up their plants and passed onto ratepayers, and it still wasn't enough to meet these rules.  He talked about his background in generation for the chemical industry and stated that when he compared converting coal generators to gas, it was too expensive and the conversion caused a 4:1 job loss ratio.
6. The Congressman from Colorado stated that the EPA issue wasn't a partisan thing, and to prove it he asked McKinney to share his party registration.  McKinney is a Democrat (in name only?).

This is our Public Service Commission improving our standard of living and quality of life.

Have you called or emailed Governor Tomblin yet to share your preferred candidate for his appointment of the next Commissioner to fill the expired seat of Jon McKinney?

by Keryn

The WV PSC issued an order today denying Staff's petition to require FirstEnergy and American Electric Power to provide an assessment of the condition of their high voltage transmission facilities in the state within 30 days.

The Staff's petition was filed in accordance with a WV legislative Resolution that urged that the West Virginia Public Service Commission act to review the condition of the Pruntytown to Mt. Storm 500kV transmission line owned by Monongahela Power, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy, and order the rebuilding and reconductoring of that transmission line as soon as is practical.  It was also expanded in Staff's petition to include all AEP and FirstEnergy facilities in the state in order to seize the opportunity that currently exists to take some lines out of service for rebuilding and modernizing.  This opportunity currently exists due to decreased demand and the recent energizing of the TrAIL line, providing enough slack in the system to get the necessary work accomplished.  This opportunity isn't going to last forever.

Rebuilding of existing lines that are over 40 years old will not only provide a safer environment for the West Virginians who live in the vicinity of this decrepit infrastructure, it will also increase the capacity and improve the efficiency of these transmission lines and save energy that is currently wasted due to line loss on these antique facilities.  Improving transmission lines in West Virginia will also serve as a proactive step toward preventing future proposal of new transmission lines, such as PATH, in the state.

Both of the power companies agreed to evaluate their facilities and provide reports to the PSC, however they wanted more time -- 120 days instead of 30.

The WV PSC denied the petition and in its place reaffirmed their 2008 decision in the TrAIL case directing TrAILCo and its corporate affiliates to submit a plan for reconductoring or otherwise upgrading their respective transmission facilities within one year of the in-service date of TrAIL.  TrAIL was energized on May 19, 2011, which would make FirstEnergy's report due on May 19, 2012.  Note that the TrAILCo order only applied to TrAILCo corporate affiliates (the FirstEnergy companies) and lets AEP completely off the hook for any responsibility to evaluate the condition of their own aging transmission facilities.

The WV PSC is utterly abandoning their statutory responsibility to ensure that utilities under their jurisdiction provide safe and reliable service to the citizens of West Virginia.  If our current Commissioners don't want to do their jobs, it is incumbent upon our Governor to appoint ones who will serve the citizens of this state.

The term of Commissioner Jon McKinney expired on June 30, 2011.  It is up to Governor Tomblin  to promptly name his successor.  West Virginia utility attorney Robert Rodecker was suggested to Governor Tomblin for the available position by The Coalition for Reliable Power and endorsed by members of the legislature back in June, before the expiration of McKinney's term.  Roedecker's nomination was also enthusiastically endorsed by numerous citizens who contacted the Governor's office expressing their support.  Despite this, Tomblin has failed to act, and the PSC is now shirking their statutory responsibilities.

It's time for YOU to act!  Please call or email (or, for good measure, do BOTH) Governor Tomblin and let him know that you support the appointment of Robert Rodecker to fill the expired term of Commissioner McKinney effective immediately.  The Governor's office may be reached at 1-888-438-2731 or by submitting an email at this link.  DO IT NOW!

The WV PSC and Governor Tomblin are clearly ignoring the will of the citizens that has been expressed through their elected representatives, and changes need to be made.  Change begins with YOU!

by Bill

Unlike whiny AEP executives, Dominion Virginia Power sees their coal plant closings as an opportunity for business growth and diversification of their sources of power.  Here is a news story about Dominion's plans.

Dominion is making a big commitment to new natural gas generation including "12 smaller natural gas-fired turbine units coming into service between 2020 and 2026 at locations to be determined."  Compare this plan with plans by AEP's WV subsidiary APCo to build no new natural gas plants in WV because they can't build a big monster plant.

Dominion's plan is not perfect.  The company appears to only be giving lip service to expanding solar and wind capacity, but they do include new initiatives in their plan.  And they are still talking about a third reactor at their North Anna plant which is built directly over an active earthquake fault.  If you don’t think this is a good idea, after the recent earthquake centered near North Anna, take a look at this report of how Virginia Power, now owned by Dominion, lied about the fault to get permits to build the first two reactors.

There is no reference in the article about any Dominion whining about the EPA.  Dominion clearly sees this as an opportunity to strengthen their electrical system through diversification and beginning a move to smaller generating units.

AEP's APCo operates in part of East Virginia, and APCo will have to present a similar plan to the VA SCC.  Here is the final sentence of the article: "Appalachian Power, the state's second-largest utility, planned to file its plan with the SCC Thursday, but officials said uncertainty in federal environmental regulations could change its plan dramatically."  Of course, more whining.

by Bill

As you may have heard, following the continuing nuclear disaster in Japan, Germany has decided to reduce its dependence on nuclear power.  Instead of rising to the challenge of providing new sources of power and increasing Germany's already advanced efficiency, German power company executives are whining about blackouts and brownouts.  Here is the story from this morning's New York Times.

We're used to power company whining, and it is pretty boring.  Here are some of the interesting parts from the article:

Germany’s planners believed they could forgo nuclear energy in large part because of the country’s remarkable progress in renewable energy, which now accounts for 17 percent of its electricity output, a number the government estimates will double in 10 years. On days when the offshore wind turbines spin full tilt, Germany produces more electricity from renewable sources than it uses, according to European energy monitors. Germany has “exceeded everyone’s expectations on renewable power,” said Mr. Varro, showing that it could be cost effective and reliable.

Until it closed the reactors, Germany was Europe’s leading energy exporter.

With a total of 133 gigawatts of installed generating capacity in place at the start of this year, “there was really a huge amount of space to shut off nuclear plants,” Harry Lehmann, a director general of the German Federal Environment Agency and one of Germany’s leading policy makers on energy and environment, said of the road map he helped develop. The country needs about 90.5 gigawatts of generating capacity on hand to fill a typical national demand of about 80 gigawatts a day. So the 25 gigawatts that nuclear power contributed would not be missed — at least within its borders.

To be prudent, the plan calls for the creation of 23 gigawatts of gas- and coal-powered plants by 2020. Why? Because renewable plants don’t produce nearly to capacity if the air is calm or the sky is cloudy, and there is currently limited capacity to store or transport electricity, energy experts say.

New coal and gas plants will use the cleanest technology available and should not aggravate climate change, government officials said, because they will operate within the European carbon-trading system in which plants that exceed the allowed emissions cap have to buy carbon credits from companies whose activities are environmentally beneficial, thus evening out the environmental ledger.

Electricity prices are expected to rise by 35 to 40 euros ($50 to $60) per household each year, or less than 5 percent, the government estimates. Though nuclear energy generally costs less than newer options, German law has long stipulated that renewable energy must be purchased first even if it is costlier.

This passage contains a lot of information that is contrary to power company mythology in the US.

• Germany now gets 17% of its electricity from renewable sources.  US power companies claim that renewables can never produce that much power.  And Germany plans to double that percentage in ten years
• This massive switch to renewables and efficiency will cost German consumers rate increases of less than 5% per year.  That's only a little more than the rate increases that WV consumers have faced in the last 5 years.
• The switch back from nuclear to some new gas and coal generation will be blunted because Europe has a functioning carbon credit system in place that will help neutralize new carbon sources.  Not the best option but probably better than operating dangerous old nuclear plants.  The US has no plan to deal with carbon emissions at all, largely as a result of power company interference in the political process and the media.

Germany is embarked on a major challenge, and no one should minimize the risks.  This is the time for Europe's electrical industry to step up instead of standing around whining.

by Keryn

The Coalition for Reliable Power and Energy Efficient West Virginia hosted a public forum, Real Solutions to Rising Electric Rates, in Martinsburg last night. 

The forum was well attended and the audience got all fired up when they heard that FirstEnergy/Potomac Edison, as required by stipulations in their merger settlement, is proposing an ineffective Energy Efficiency Program in West Virginia that is much weaker than programs FirstEnergy is required to comply with in neighboring states.  The program will be paid for by residential consumers, including its marketing and administrative costs and reimbursement for resulting lower sales revenue to the company.  Benefits offered to consumers via the program are extremely limited.  Their program offers assistance to commercial/industrial customers with upgrading lighting (although this class of customers will not contribute to the cost of the program in their rates).  It also offers free CFL bulbs and faucet aerators for low-income residential customers.  That's it -- there's nothing in it for the rest of the residential customers who will finance this program through new rate increases.  In fact, the audience was so outraged and motivated, several checked back in with me on the way out to make sure we had their e-mail address for future calls to action.  Even if you missed the meeting, we're still asking you to take action detailed below.

Now that I've given you the punch line first, here's the background that we covered last night.  We explained how a regulated utility systems works and the mission and procedures of the PSC in a rate case.  Next we explained how the FirstEnergy subsidiaries operate in the state -- how electricity gets to your house and where it comes from.  Cathy Kunkel of EEWV gave a very informative talk explaining the ratemaking process, the different types of rate cases, why rates have increased over 30% in the past couple of years (the cost of coal!), and informed us that Potomac Edison & Mon Power will be filing for another rate increase next month.  Mike Harman of EEWV talked with the audience about energy efficiency measures and how they can dramatically reduce electric bills.  If FirstEnergy had a more effective program that helped more consumers with energy efficiency measures, even those who did not participate would benefit through lower bills.  As long as our consumption of electricity continues to rise, we are subject to higher costs to purchase peak power and the cost to build additional generation plants and transmission lines.  If we can reduce our use overall, we can avoid higher prices because the cheapest power plant and transmission lines are the ones that FirstEnergy doesn't have to build.  Mike also introduced the concept of demand response, where consumers of large amounts of power agree to lower their usage at times of peak demand in exchange for payments from the power company.  He shared many success stories of West Virginia businesses and school systems who have scored big financial benefits from energy efficiency and demand response programs.  He compared FirstEnergy's program goals in West Virginia with those FirstEnergy is required to comply with in neighboring states, which shocked the audience about what FirstEnergy is trying to get away in this state.

Cathy wrapped things up with a call to action for all Potomac Edison and Mon Power customers:

• Read more about this issue here.
• Send a letter to the Public Service Commission asking them to order FirstEnergy to bring their proposed program in line with standards and benefits offered in other states.
  

Get involved with EEWV and the Coalition for Reliable Power -- visit their websites and sign up!

Additional meetings are being planned around the state this fall.  The next meeting will be in Lewisburg at City Hall on August 31 at 7:00 p.m.  Check out the complete meeting schedule here.  If you'd like to attend another meeting offered in the Eastern Panhandle, let EEWV and the Coalition know!

Here's a link to The Journal's article about the forum.  The meeting was also covered by WEPM radio.

PUBLIC FORUM FOCUSES ON ELECTRIC UTILITIES AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS

“Real Solutions to Rising Electric Rates,” a public forum on electric utilities, rising rates and approaches to energy efficiency, will be held Tuesday, August 23 at 7pm at the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Public Library.  Doors open at 6:45.
 
Participants will learn about what has been driving electric rate increases over the past few years, how utilities are regulated by the Public Service Commission (PSC), how energy efficiency programs and incentives can help utility customers save energy and save money on their bills, and why citizens need to push for stronger programs.

“There is a lot of misinformation out there about why electric rates are going up and what the Public Service Commission can do to control rates,” said Bill Howley, spokesman for the Coalition for Reliable Power.  “We want the folks at the meeting to leave with a better sense of how energy efficiency programs can help, and how we can get those programs up and running for Potomac Edison and Mon Power,” he said.
 
The West Virginia Citizen Action Group (WV-CAG) formally intervened in the PSC case regarding the Allegheny Power/FirstEnergy merger that was approved by the PSC in 2010. As a result, the PSC ordered FirstEnergy (now the parent company of Mon Power and Potomac Edison) to propose a plan for energy efficiency and demand management in West Virginia.

“This is a very weak plan, and if the PSC approves it, it will lock Potomac Edison customers into five years of poor energy efficiency programs and a lost opportunity to save energy, save money, and lower future utility costs,” said Mike Harman, an active retiree who helped WV-CAG launch Energy Efficient West Virginia last year. “Our efforts resulted in new efficiency programs started up by Appalachian Power in 2010. We think the customers in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia deserve a plan that is comparable to efforts of nearby states.”  

Business customers, local governments and schools, as well as residential households, can benefit greatly from financial incentives and targeted programs to upgrade old HVAC systems, lighting, hot water, refrigeration, and insulation, according to EEWV and the Coalition. Cost-effective energy efficiency programs with firm but achievable goals can help moderate the growth in electric power demand, reduce the need for expensive new power plants and save consumers money.
 
The groups are also planning meetings in Lewisburg, Morgantown and Parkersburg.   For more information visit www.eewv.org or www.forreliablepower.com

See story in today's Martinsburg Journal.  Note:  Forum will be held on Tuesday, August 23.  There is an error in the Journal's story.  A correction will be printed.

The Coalition's Bill Howley scored a press trifecta yesterday in the State Journal.  When contacted by a reporter doing a story about the WV Public Service Commission, Bill gave her his opinion, and a whole lot more.

Energy-Concerned Group Presses Rodecker for PSC

West Virginia Public Service Commission: Good? Could Be Better?

West Virginia's Pathways to Regulation

The reporter was especially interested in our campaign to have Governor Tomblin appoint Robert Rodecker to the PSC because of the grassroots actions of all of you!

"When the governor’s office fills positions on the state’s hundreds of boards and commissions, nominations are a routine part of the process and calls and letters are accepted.

However, those typically amount to 20 at most, in the recollection of Scott Cosco, who handled such appointments for Gov. Joe Manchin.

So far, the CRP’s Web-based form for supporting Rodecker’s nomination has generated 39 communications to Tomblin’s office, Howley said.

“About half of them are people we’ve never heard of before,” he said.

Rodecker is on vacation this week and was unavailable to comment.

The governor’s office did not indicate whether he is on its list or not.

“We do have a number of candidates under consideration but I’m not going to go further into your questions because we’re talking personnel issues,” said Tomblin spokeswoman Kimberly Osborne.

“We’ll treat this appointment like any other, which is, it takes as long as it takes,” she said."

How long do you think it should take for Governor Tomblin to hear the voice of the citizens over the din coming from the utility industry?  Let him know what you want!  It will only take a minute using our quick and easy web form to email the Governor with your wishes.  Do it now!