[Watchdogs] Renewables: Costly but necessary

[Milton Hawkins]

Ken,

*Excellent post!*  You have summed it up well.  PEC is what it is, should do
what it was created to do, and should try to do that as well as it can.
That means supplying *low-cost power* to its owner-members.  Let those who
have the means and will venture into other areas as they please--but at
their own expense, not ours.

As it happens, I had sent this message earlier just after seeing Bill's.
I'm sure someone will supply some reliable information, which we can share
here.

Milton

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Milton Hawkins <milton.hawkins at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Nov 9, 2010 at 8:10 AM
Subject: A Question about the Renewable Power Rate [Pedernales Electric -
Sent using Google Toolbar]
To: Dale Jones <dale.jones at peci.com>, Mike Vollmer <mike.vollmer at peci.com>
Cc: Merle Moden <mlmoden at gmail.com>, Bob Rodi <rjrodi at aol.com>, Bill
Christensen <billc_lists at greenbuilder.com>, Cristi Clement <
clemoore at gmail.com>, Carlos Higgins <PECmem at sbcglobal.net>


Gents:

I have a question.

https://www.pec.coop/About/GreenWorks.aspx

>From the web site:

Green Works is Pedernales Electric’s ongoing effort to encourage the use of
renewable technologies, environmental responsibility, and conservation
activities. Our initiatives include:

Reducing the charge for our renewable power
rate<https://www.pec.coop/About/Rates.aspx>to encourage participation.
We have
*decreased the premium for renewable electricity by 75 percent*, and it is
now only $0.005 (half of one cent) more per kilowatt-hour than standard
energy charges.

I'm wondering: *Does this reduced charge (decreased premium) cover the full
cost of the renewable power we buy, or do all owner-members help to
subsidize the purchase and use of our renewable power?*

FYI: I'm copying *Bill Christensen's Watchdogs message* below.  I think he
asks some good questions.

Here are some different questions to ask:

How much is PEC getting from the opt-in renewable power sales they've
already got going?  I know that *I* pay PEC extra for renewable West Texas
wind power, and I'm sure a fair number of others do.  But I have no idea how
many, or how much money comes in as a result.

Where does that money go?

If it doesn't go directly to providing the renewable power, I believe that
it should.  In fact, I think that if PEC really insists on continuing its
ongoing PR barrage (it seems to be staying the course despite our protests)
it should dump the useless "We're PEC, aren't we great!" ads and instead
push the heck out of the idea of signing up for renewable power - and then
plow the money generated back into purchasing OR generating OR subsidizing
additional renewable electricity.

Then people like Milton wouldn't complain that it's saddling unwilling
owners with avoidable excess costs, as it would be an opt-in program. (They
could of course continue to complain about the ridiculous spending on
advertising - but at least it would have a purpose other than "feel good".)

At least two of our Board likely lean toward green power, based on their
histories:  Cox has long been involved in environmental issues, and Perry's
website cites his membership on the Board of Directors of Western Solar
Utilization Network and his business focus on "energy efficiency and
renewable energy projects" among other things, in his summary of relevant
experience.

The fact that they didn't stress the renewable angle as candidates does not
mean that they're anti-renewables by any means.  Like anyone running for
office, they're going to focus on the issues at hand - and we'll all agree
that PEC has had some serious issues to attend to lately that have taken
more immediate attention than the long term plans for renewable energy.

Milton

-- 
Milton Hawkins  milton.hawkins at gmail.com
P.O. Box 1502
Johnson City, Texas 78636-1502
830-868-9075
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://pec4u.org/pipermail/watchdogs/attachments/20101109/c130211b/attachment.html>