Real Industry [RE-wrenches]

Mon Feb 10 08:07:19 PST 2003

it is great that you have a memory you need to write a short history for
these young pups  gator tom
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joel Davidson" <joeldavidson at earthlink.net>
To: <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
Sent: Friday, February 07, 2003 3:53 PM
Subject: Re: Real Industry [RE-wrenches]

> Dear Dana,
>
> Laughing at Californians is a past time even Californians enjoy, but
fighting
> polluting monopoly utilities, their suppliers and the rich and powerful
people
> behind these companies is serious business.
>
> In 1972, California Governor Reagan was gutting the state environmental
and
> education programs. When I I heard that my job teaching building
construction
> was being cut back, I left California to live in the Ozark National
Forest. The
> Arkansas hills and hollers are not as grand as the country around Ridgway,
but
> they are a pretty nice place and seemingly far away from it all. Anyway, I
had
> my PV homestead and PV mail order business and was going along nicely
until
> President Reagan and the Republican Congress began shutting down national
> renewable energy and environmental programs. There was no getting away
from
> people who put short-term profit over long-term social and environmental
needs,
> so I moved back to California in 1982 to get more PV in use right in the
belly
> of the beast.
>
> Californians may sometimes seem silly, but some of us are very serious
about
> making PV a part of the grid mix. We fought hard against monopoly
utilities and
> won net metering in 1996 and the PV rebate in 1998.
>
> Here is some information about the so-called subsidy. The California PV
and
> small wind emerging renewables buydown rebate comes from a $0.0025/kWh
charge
> on everyone's electric bill. The money is used to pay for public benefit
> programs that help low-income people pay their electric bills and to pay
for
> electric research and development, electric energy efficiency and
renewables.
> The charge was initially imposed on ratepayers March 1998 because the
state's
> three investor-owned utilities (San Diego Gas & Electric, Pacific Gas &
> Electric and Southern California Edison) that sell electricity to 80% of
rate
> payers in their monopoly territories did not want to charge for and
administer
> the public benefit programs. Their reason was simply that public benefit
> programs are not profitable.
>
> The public benefits law was enacted for 4 years. In 2001, the law was
reviewed,
> voted on, almost unanimously approved and extended until 2012.
Californians
> almost universally agree that paying a few dollars more a month (600
kWh/month
> x $0.0025 = $1.50) to help low-income people, encourage electric energy
> efficiency, support electric research and development and support electric
> renewables is very important, affordable and has a good return on
investment.
>
> The buydown rebate is a subsidy only in the sense that almost all
Californians,
> through their elected representatives, agree to put a few bucks a month
into a
> pool that anyone who meets the requirements can dip into. If you can't pay
your
> electric bill, your utility company will dip in for you and pay your bill
and
> even use the money to give you compact fluorescent bulbs to help reduce
your
> consumption. If you are a business, you can dip in for money to pay part
of the
> cost of electric efficiency improvements to reduce your expenses so you
can
> compete against businesses elsewhere that use cheaper and dirtier
electricity.
> Granted, only 12% of California's utility electricity comes from biomass,
> waste, geothermal, small hydro, solar and wind resources which cost more
than
> dirty electricity (another 11% comes from large hydro, but we are working
to
> remove some dams and rebuild the environment). Part of the public benefit
> charge is spent on electric R&D which the utility companies dip into so
they
> can pay their stockholders slightly larger dividends rather than pay for
R&D to
> improve the product that they sell to ratepayers.
>
> Only 10% of the $540 million collected in 4 years for public benefit
renewables
> goes to the emerging renewables buydown program. If you have an electric
meter,
> you are eligible for the PV and wind buydown rebate. Electric utilities
are not
> eligible for the emerging renewables buydown rebate, but they do spend
public
> benefits money to administer the rebate program and they do take some of
the
> 90% allocated for renewables.
>
> You ask what will happen if the government changes its mind? Do you mean
what
> will happen when rich and politically powerful people take the law into
their
> own hands against the will of the people? 70% of Americans wanted the
Vietnam
> war to end, yet it took 10 years of protesting to stop the war. For
decades,
> over 70% of Americans have wanted solar electricity and are willing to pay
a
> little more for it, but energy companies refuse to serve their needs. So
people
> are protesting utility companies' unwillingness to change by putting PV
into
> the grid with systems on their homes and businesses.
>
> What did I do before the incentive program? I sold PV by mail order. If
the
> California PV rebate goes away and the grid PV market collapses, I will go
back
> to selling PV by mail order.
>
> Best regards,
> Joel Davidson
>
> Dana Orzel wrote:
>
> > "A problem will occur if and when the
> > subsidies have dropped below a level that provides enough incentive for
> > new PV construction.  This will present a dilemma for solar contractors,
> > how do we provide free service calls if there is no more income being
> > generated by new PV system installations? "
> >
> > "Graham Owen"
> >
> > Q - What did you do before the incentive program?
> > Those of us in states without any government $ solar programs are
laughing
> > at this kind of California whine [ or is it the California wine]. So the
> > question is really,
> > "Is this a real industry or a government subsidy program?"
> >
> > If the root of the income source is government, and gov't. changes its
mind
> > [as it does] then what?
> >
> > Responsible Technologies for Responsible People.
> > Great Solar Works, Inc.
> > dana at solarwork.com - 970.626.5253
> > Ridgway, CO, USA
> >
> > - - - -
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> >
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> >
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> >
>
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>
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>
>
>
>

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