About the CEC & Incentives in General [RE-wrenches]

Tue Apr 5 16:16:47 PDT 2005

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William,

RE: > Is it just us, or are others experiencing problems?

Count a bunch of folks I know and deal with in the "it's not just you"
category.... Ditto to each and every one of the issues you described.
Repeatedly.  Daily occurrence.

Sad thing is, all the program structure/administration "improvements" that
have been implemented seem only to exacerbate the problems.  One of the key
issues is that the exponential growth in numbers of applications and models
of equipment, combined with all the ways the system has been improperly
taken advantage of over the years on both sides, results in band-aid style
modifications.  None of which will comprehensively fix it, since it is
administered by Buron Butts (zero accountability) who are always looking
over their shoulder out of fear for their jobs.  To top it off, they staff
it with part-time interns, so there is no way to build a core base of
knowledeable, professional, reasonable personnel.  

Dis-Incentive is right...

Put quite simply, the CEC is NOT capable of effectively and efficiently
doing this anymore.  Haven't been for about two years in my observation.
It's too big and they don't have any semblance of an "in the real world"
clue.  They don't and they won't.  Any other Gubment-ruin (not a typo)
feel-good incentive program will face the same things if they do it long
enough.  Especially if it is modelled after the CEC program in any way,
starting primarily with the "capacity-based" incentive structure.  

For those of you who think the gravy train just pulled up in front of your
shop with a big "REBATES" banner on the side of it.... Be careful what you
do with those short-term dollars!

The $$$ and where it flows in CA is very likely to change and soon.  The
days of complaining about the CEC ERP program are numbered.  They were
intended to be from the start (foster the initial development of an emerging
industry), and should be.

What we really need is to protect net-metering long-term and vote for
utility rates that pay the true costs of the energy at the meter.  We need
to force the energy sector to clean up the environmental messes they have
made and truly prevent making more in the future.  We need to demand that
the government not subsidize transmission upgrades or natural gas pipeline
construction.  These costs need to be paid by those who use the energy
coming through them.  

We need to demand that all forms of "pollution credits" are banned, outlawed
and rescinded without compensation. Yes, that includes the dreaded "REC's".
They all allow "not cleaning up the mess" at a lower per-unit cost though
this artificial currency.  Meanwhile, the messes linger and continue to get
worse.... Cleaning them up later than sooner will only cost more.

I hold that, given a fair net-metering law combined with energy costs that
reflect the TRUE COST of that energy will create a far more favorable,
healthy, and sustainable RE Industry in the shortest amount of time
possible.  WITHOUT REBATES!  This includes Solar Thermal, by the way.

I believe that the "pay at the pump" and "pay at the meter" approach should
extend to all energy sectors, including transportation.  People sure gripe
about the "high cost of gas", but meanwhile they have the nozzle stuck in
the tank of their Hummer.  They bitch about it, but they don't stop driving!
And just think... $2.50 per gallon is only a third or less of what it is in
other countries.  Meanwhile, the cost of "securing" the world's second
largest oil reserve isn't even in the budget!  

So, when are we going to pay for that one?  I propose that we take the full
$ cost of the Iraq mis-understanding to date and divide it by the gross # of
gallons of raw petroleum used in products that have been used domestically
(including plastics, etc.) since the intitial deployment to the region began
and divide that by the number of days that has been.  

This would be the effective $/Gallon War-Tariff-1 imposed on each and every
gallon of non-domestic petroleum-content products, at their port of entry or
well-head (if pumped domestically) from today until all US "security"
expenditures are completed in the region plus a period of days not less than
the number passed between start of deployment and today.

$/Gallon War-Tariff-2 is equal to the "daily burn rate" for all "security"
related expenditures in that region divided by the number of gallons of raw
petroleum used in products that have are used domestically.  This Tariff is
independent of the other and would extend until every single dollar is
repaid.  

These are only the "War-Tariffs" to repay the actual "non-budgeted" dollars
spent on "hidden subsidies"... And they would be charged across the board.
Foreign and domestic.  These tariffs do not, in and of themselves, stop the
mess.  They only filter down to the end user, which in turn makes
alternatives get a second look.  This in turn and over time, reduces the
number of gallons used, which drags out the War-Tariffs.  Since voting with
dollars is the ONLY way you will ever get to vote, a defacto "informed" vote
is placed via the use of alternatives.  

Energy is embedded in everything we have and do.  Whether it's raw
materials, transportation, or our electricity or natural gas.  Since
petroleum (I can't think of anything else Iraq has to offer... Bin Laden
sure wasn't found there... Well, there is a supposed shortage of sand...
Errr silicon....) is so embedded in all this, it only stands to reason that
petroleum should be the vehicle by which the costs are paid back.  

This is broad for many reasons.  Alternatives come in many forms.  Think
about that polyester in your shirt... The rest of the plastics and
petro-chemicals that we all depend on, like our computers and the better
half of our cars, including the tires.  And what about the asphalt itself?
The end-user cost will actually be a compounded factor of the original
War-Tariff, since everybody along the way from "well to you" gets hit with
an ever-compounding version of it in the raw materials and services they
use.  They have to pass those costs along.

By forcing end-users of those products to equitably pay for "services
rendered" on behalf of those products, natural and efficiently recyclable /
re-usable will be more equitably represented.   

Electricity and heat are perfect for this.  PV, wind, hydro.... Solar & geo
on the thermal side.

What happens when they put effective emissions controls on gas water
heaters?  And no-BS auto emissions.  Or power plants?  It's all possible and
it's all necessary!

We don't need no stinking rebates!  All we need is a true, Pay at the Meter
/ Pay at the Pump policy!  

Or a winning Lotto Ticket!

Matt Lafferty
mlafferty at universalenergies.com
(415) 252-0343
(415) 748-6010 Cell
(916) 914-2247 Fax

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