Changing the Rules on us... [RE-wrenches]

Joel Davidson joeldavidson at earthlink.net
Sat Jun 7 16:38:44 PDT 2003


Matt / Wrenches

Imagine working for a utility company or a bureaucracy. You may have started
working with enthusiasm, idealism, dedication and a desire to do the best
work and to make the world a better place. But eventually you spend most of
your time doing routine tasks that perpetuate your bosses' status quo. You
learn that not making waves is less painful than trying to change things.
You don't want to be labeled a trouble-maker. You want to be liked or at
least not hated by people who you wouldn't spend most of your days with if
you had a choice.

No matter how high you rise, you will still be below someone in the pecking
order and the higher you rise, the greater you threaten the peckers above
you. You go to work and hide behind a door, cubicle wall, computer or a
stack of papers and hope that your bosses don't hassle you. Your days are
full of the same "oh my god" soap-opera gossip and boredom. You are happy
when the hours fly by and it's time to go home, but you feel that your life
is slowly draining away like sand in an hourglass.

You will do just about anything to make sure your chair and coffee cup are
waiting for you Monday morning and your paycheck keeps coming. You think,
"Just 20 or 30 years and I can retire and do what I really want to do," but
it sounds as hollow as when your parents said, "When you are an adult, you
can do what you want but until then you'd do what I tell you to do." You
resent people above you because you know they are not superior. You are
envious of people who are passionate about their work and are afraid to get
passionate about your job because you could get laid off or downsized
without notice. You give as much as you get which ain't very much. But what
the hell, it's just a job, and maybe someday things will get better or
something will happen or whatever...

Every once in a while in your quest to promote solar power, you find a
utility worker or in a state bureaucrat who really wants to make the world a
better place. When you find that special someone, encourage him or her
because you really do get what you give.

Best regards,
Joel Davidson
"The opposite of love is not hate. The opposite of love is indifference."





mlafferty at universalenergies.com wrote:

> Nick / Wrenches:
>
> The element of "changing the rules with every job" is not limited to the
> CEC.  The Utilities also do this.
>
> I believe the CEC's reason for this is a lack of effective internal
> leadership and the limitations of bureaucracy, to be honest.  While
> others may assume a similar condition within the Utilities... I'll go
> out on a limb here... (I can hear the saw running between myself and the
> trunk right now!)  I believe it is a much larger and subversive, if not
> sinister, attempt to de-rail all RE DG.
>
> I have watched and experienced this "phonomena" for the last couple of
> years very closely.  The Utilities change Net Metering Program
> Management as frequently as those of you who elect to waste waste water
> and laundry detergent change your underwear!  This is not a rant, as
> much as it may sound.  It's just the cold, hard fact!
>
> Tell me if you've ever had to deal with "special circumstances".... By
> the time you've worked your arse off to establish a trusting
> relationship with a Utility Net-Metering Manager on behalf of your
> customers and the "big picture"... Wham, somebody new.  Start over.  New
> Rules.  Somebody new to educate. It is my belief that one of the
> "reasons" for this is that the Utilities understand that RE is appealing
> on a human level.  Humans inherently believe it is "the right thing to
> do".  Utility program managers are not immune to this.  Often, they come
> to the program with a positive frame of mind.  By the time they get to
> the point they understand "it" and the program, they generally have
> become friendly and supportive to Net Metered Customers.
>
> "Time to move them to another program.  We can't be having RE Friendly
> program managers, now, can we?"
>
> This comes into play especially when dealing with larger projects.  The
> Utilities literally have a 19th Century view of electrical
> distribution... "If it isn't 100MW of conventional-fuel dispatchable
> generation we don't want to deal with it."  Hell, until late in the 20th
> Century, dispatchable meant somebody had to get on a horse or in a car
> and ride/drive to a generator and flip switches..... They were literally
> "dispatched to go turn it on".  While times have changed, this mentality
> and culture have not.  I sincerely hope everybody working at the
> Utilities doesn't have to die before we see a new generation and "up
> with the times" perspective.  I know this sentiment is not shared by all
> an this list (the dying part) but I hope that what we are doing now
> makes a difference between now and the time I'm no longer around to see
> it happen.
>
> The stories I can tell, as well as others I know, would curl your hair
> and make everybody give up, I'm afraid.  I'll forego storytelling here
> and just offer this as insight into just one of the issues that we must
> face if we are to "come out of the woods and do this in town".  (OK,
> Gorillas...Your turn!)
>
> Please know there are true warriors fighting this and the other issues,
> as we speak.  I encourage all who are doing the right thing, in a
> responsible manner, to continue.  One way to support this is to install
> quality, safe, reliable, and code-compliant systems.  The eyes of many
> are upon us!
>
> Pray for a very large earthquake to transform San Francisco into a
> modern day Atlantis!
>
> Matt Lafferty
> Universal Energies Institute
> mlafferty at universalenergies.com
> (916) 422-9772
> (916) 628-7694 Cell
> (916) 914-2247 Fax
> www.universalenergies.com

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