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Xcel Energy should use solar for peak power
Article, Resource filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | 4 Comments | Updated on Apr 17, 2013

New Peak Power Capacity Should Use Solar, Not Gas

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/peak-power-capacity-solar-gas/

It’s parochial, since I’m a Minnesota resident, but I just can’t stand that our state’s largest utility, Xcel Energy, is planning to use ratepayer money to buy three new natural gas fired peaking plants instead of a) installing solar power or b) supporting the proposed solar energy standard.  Share the graphic below if you agree:… Continue reading

Article, Resource filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Oct 18, 2012

More Clean Energy for Minneapolis

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/clean-energy-minneapolis/

Click here for a more detailed article. ILSR Senior Researcher John Farrell presents to a big crowd at “Green Ideas and Ham,” a breakfast policy forum in Minneapolis, about the opportunity for the city to dramatically increase its control over its energy future.  In a short time, the city’s monopoly energy contracts with its electric… Continue reading

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Article filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | 3 Comments | Updated on Jul 4, 2012

Energy Independence or Clean Energy Self-Reliance?

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/energy-independence-clean-energy-self-reliance/

Update August 7, 2012: I’d like to this this qualifies as Friedman’s response to this column. In Thomas Friedman’s latest column, he praises Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts because he “took one for the country.”  Friedman sees that “America today is poised for a great renewal” if only it can get some “big, centrist,… Continue reading

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Article filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | 4 Comments | Updated on Jun 14, 2012

Phase-Out of the Federal Wind Tax Credit a Good Thing?

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/phase-out-federal-wind-tax-credit-good-thing/

Energy and Environment News has a very long story on a new angle for the federal wind tax credit debate: a phaseout. This article raises several issues, apart from that policy strategy, that are worth a quick discussion. 1. Why Would Wind Compete with Natural Gas? The article waxes long about the trials of the… Continue reading

Article filed under Energy | Written by John Farrell | No Comments | Updated on Nov 8, 2010

Cost of Fossil Fuels Makes Renewables a Harder Sell?

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/cost-fossil-fuels-makes-renewables-harder-sell/

This story on Sunday suggests that utilities are pulling back from investments in renewable energy over concerns about the cost. 

Invenergy…had a contract to sell [wind] power to a utility in Virginia, but state regulators rejected the deal, citing the recession and the lower prices of natural gas and other fossil fuels.

“The ratepayers of Virginia must be protected from costs for renewable energy that are unreasonably high,” the regulators said. Wind power would have increased the monthly bill of a typical residential customer by 0.2 percent.

Based on what price forecast?  The following chart illustrates the complexity of relying on fossil fuel prices when making decisions about renewable energy.  Note that wind and solar prices are relatively stable (i.e. zero).

The chart does a good job of showing the futility of predicting natural gas prices, but the timeline smooths out coal price changes, particularly by region.  Here’s a closer look at coal prices since 2007, courtesy of the federal EIA:

Utilities that are making shortsighted decisions about renewables based on current fossil fuel price trajectories are going to get burned, and so are their ratepayers. 

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Article filed under Energy, The Public Good | Written by David Morris | No Comments | Updated on Oct 9, 2008

How T. Boone Pickens’ Energy Plan Just Got Killed

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/how-t-boone-pickens-energy-plan-just-got-killed/

The financial bailout bill passed by Congress may have once and for all put an end to T. Boone Pickens’ energy plan. Let me explain.

Until the financial meltdown obliterated all other news coverage, T. Boone and his energy plan were everywhere. His book, The First Billion Is the Hardest, is number two on the bestseller list. During the Republican and Democrat Conventions his press conferences were attended by a fawning media, virtually all of who filed stories with the theme "oil man turns wind energy advocate."

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Article filed under The Public Good | Written by David Morris | No Comments | Updated on Sep 12, 2008

T. Boone talks a lot about wind, but gas is what he’s really about

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/t-boone-talks-a-lot-about-wind-but-gas-is-what-hes-really-about/

T. Boone talks a lot about wind, but gas is what he’s really about By David Morris, originally published in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, September 12, 2008 T. Boone Pickens visited St. Paul during the Republican Convention for the same reason he visited Denver during the Democratic Convention —to peddle his energy plan. In… Continue reading