In an earlier post, I asked readers to consider four thought experiments regarding the reprioritization of our public-policy work on energy. Here is my response to your much-appreciated comments and a proposed path forward.
Thought Experiment 1. Let’s demote oil and climate change to secondary status as analytical issues.
To my surprise, no one seemed to disagree with my proposal. Yet popular media coverage of these issues is probably 90+%.
Thought Experiment 2. Let’s elevate the dialogue about fundamental electric industry reform to primary status.
… Continue ReadingAgain to my surprise, no one seemed to disagree with my proposal, which leads me to wonder why this issue does not get the attention it deserves. My best guess is you cannot boil the solution down to a three word sound bite (Drill Baby Drill!
Dear Fellow Shareholders:
By now you have heard news reports of Consolidated Utilities (ConU)’s $1 billion cost overrun on the construction of our nuclear plant. However, that’s just part of the good news we have to report. If all goes according to plan, we will be able to overrun another $1 billion before the project is complete. You are, of course, aware this extra $2 billion in our capital base will mean higher earnings for decades to come with increased dividends for us all. We are, indeed, a green company.
This achievement brings with it challenges that your management team is well equipped to handle. While these cost overruns and associated incremental profitability is our fiduciary duty in our world of public-utility regulation, they come with increased public criticism, large expenditure of political capital, and problems for our regulatory allies.…
Continue Reading“Unfortunately the [wind] industry has begun letting workers go up and down our American manufacturing supply chain…. Congress must [extend subsidies] now to give wind energy a stable business environment… to … save 37,000 American jobs by the first quarter of next year.”
– Denise Bode (AWEA), Press Release, August 9, 2012
“He who lives by a legalized sword, will perish by a legalized sword.”
– Ayn Rand, “The Moratorium on Brains II,” Ayn Rand Letter, 1971
The wind industry is imploding, and the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) is providing the details. Suffice it to say that there will be no Jay Leno at the next AWEA confab.
With accumulating layoffs, extending the Production Tax Credit (PTC) is increasingly becoming too late. AWEA has been warming about 10,000 job losses by September 1, and now the number is 37,000 in the next seven or so months.…
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