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Friday, March 22, 2013 | 2:01 a.m.
Another view?
View more of the Las Vegas Sun's opinion section:
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Regarding the story “Commissioner: Energy programs are tapping out NV Energy customers”:
It seems to me that state legislators have a much more firm grasp on the costs that ratepayers endure from NV Energy than the Public Utilities Commission has.
Yes, the utility requires ratepayers to cover money spent on efficiency programs, some renewable programs and some subsidies for people in dire need. However, scrapping these programs is short-term, narrow-focused thinking at its worst.
Efficiency programs incur one-time costs. Renewable programs release all of us from air pollution and global warming. Taking care of the neediest of our neighbors is something that is usually held up as the best of human behavior, something that we all want to participate in as far as we are able.
Efficiency programs are particularly important. The long-term benefits are huge for individual customers because weatherizing and insulating measures continue to save them money every month, far into the future. Those customers also benefit from being more comfortable in their homes, with better heating and air conditioning performance, at lower costs. Additionally, all ratepayers benefit when the utility is not forced to build more power plants and transmission lines because we have managed to conserve our energy requirements. There is a real trade-off between efficiency and new infrastructure.
It also makes me wonder who is tapping out whom, when NV Energy reported record-breaking profits this past year.
It’s time for Commissioner David Noble and the Public Utilities Commission to take care of ratepayers just like our elected leaders are aiming to do in Carson City.
The author is the energy chair of the Toiyabe chapter of the Sierra Club.
Jane seem to be upset that the PSC allows the recovery of the capital cost and operating expenses that come from renewable power and conservation effort.
The State mandates renewable and conservation efforts. --- it is not going to be free
Get over it pay your fair share to be an environmentalist.-- Or stop using electricity
Next you will be complaining Obamacare cost to much and you can not find a doctor
Using government price controls where the company being FORCED to provide a product or service at price below the cost to deliver is a recipe for failure
Utilities are monopolies. They set the rates using regulators and legislators as business partners. The inefficiencies of the utilities, whether administrative, research and development, and/or operational all get passed on to the customers in the form of higher rates and bills. Nothing will change that until utilities become market driven through the competition process. That's not going to happen in our lifetimes. As the proverb goes: When rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it.
Carmine D
Obama has told you that electricity costs will "necessarily skyrocket" so enjoy! Mandating expensive, low-density, unreliable, heavily subsidized energy sources will be the enabler.
We should instead utillize the 100 year supply of natural gas and improve it's infrastructure to drive costs downward.
"Efficiency programs incur one-time costs"
Hey....get your head out of the kool-aid clouds and come back to earth.
1st, solar and wind power plants are not reliable energy producers. One must have natural gas and coal plants on stand-by to pick up the load when these systems fail to produce needed power which duplicates capital and operation cost.
An average sized natural gas power plant or coal power plant can produce 10x's more energy than the average sized solar power plant.
The cost of solar or wind power to the consumer is about 2x's the rate of natural gas or coal.
So you do know what would happen to jobs and the economy if the cost of power doubled?
Natural gas is a fairly clean power source.
They just figured out a way to generate power form coal without burning it which will make it cleaner than natural gas.
We don't have to be dumb.
Puleeze! Exactly what is it worth to flip a switch and have instant power to run all those gadgets and necessities you have at your disposal? Care to get along without AC in the summertime? How about no clean water coming out of your taps? Or no natural gas to heat your residence in our "brutal" winters? (OK, so winter is pretty mild here compared to just about anywhere else in the USA.) Get the picture? Without NV Power, SW Gas, the LVVWD, where would we be? Why, just as backward as Afghanistan or many sub-Saharan countries. Yes, the cost for these wonderful & life-saving sources of energy must be as reasonable as possible but, PULEEEZE, quit your whining. Focus on ways to conserve your usage and cut your costs: fix water leaks promptly and set your thermostat a couple of degrees lower in winter and a couple of degrees higher in summer. You'll appreciate the lower utility bills that will arrive as a result. Try thinking of the glass as half-full rather than as half-empty.
The first president to recognize the need for long term conservation was Jimmy Carter. His legislation required that all gas and electric utilities provide in-home energy audits at a minimal cost. The rate payer would receive a listing of home energy conservation measures based upon their specific cost effectiveness and energy conservation rebates. President Ronald Reagan kill the funding for this program. This is what can happen when one president is well ahead of the curve and the other has early onset Alzheimers (as related to me in 1984 by my physician).
Obama's carbon tax should help "skyrocket" energy prices. Coming soon, he has to lower the oceans!
George Carlin once said "somewhere out there in the world is the worst doctor and someone has an appointment with him tomorrow!"
Well if you have ever had the pleasure of meeting the "activists" of the Toiyabe Chapter of the Sierra Club, you have probably met the worst environmentalists out there. Why? Well, they just get behind every renewable energy project out there and won't even consider an alternative of solar over parking lots and on rooftops. They seem to oppose natural gas, but their group took a 26 million dollar donation from the natural gas industry on the national level. They have supported the removal of 2,000 acres of desert tortoise habitat for the Moapa K-Road solar project. That project would also use a lot of water for construction and threaten the Moapa dace.
The people in this group are alarmingly uneducated about the natural and cultural history of Nevada and generally don't seem to be too concerned about most of the acreage in the state. Not that climate change is not an important issue, we just need smarter people who won't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Now, you may be one of those people who just doesn't care about environmental issues and may not know a tortoise from a spotted owl, but surely you would agree that it is kind of weird to listen to members of the Sierra Club cheerlead the removal of habitat for endangered species.. What a twist!
The Sunrise Mountain Wilderness Study Area near Las Vagas may be eliminated. Why? To make way for a large transmissionm line that would transport wind energy from Wyoming to California.
Maybe you don't like wilderness areas but do all people in Vegas want to see an ugly transmission line over Sunrise Mountain for energy that costs more to produce than it actually delivers? Get some solar panels, Sierra Club!
Ms. Feldman - resepectfully - you don't you know you're talking about.
I'd suggest you take a look at these articles:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/dec...
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/may...
Here's the pertinent point:
"A recommendation is going to the state Public Utility Commission on Thursday to allow NV Energy to collect $10.2 million from its customers for electricity they never used."
The law permits utilities to collect revenue lost because of conservation programs that lower electric use."
Got that? Even when you institute programs to increase efficiency, the power monopoly has the right to go to the PUC and beg for a rate hike to make up for the lost revenue. And they charge YOU for that lost revenue.
Sorry for the reality check.
LIHEA is not given to the "neediest" of customers. The Universal Energy Charge added to our bills is used as the State "match" to federal funds. Those same funds are GIVEN TO ILLEGAL families while American seniors are cold and unable to collect. LIHEA in Nevada is based on household size--so a household of illegals with one anchor baby gets $1,000 grant for their utilities bills. NO EXCUSE for NEVADA / LEGISLATURE not to CHANGE THE WAY LIHEA IS GIVEN OUT--should be FIRST TO AMERICANS.
SUSTAINABLE renewable energy programs are those that encourage COST EFFECTIVE repairs and replacements (say windows) that are smart to do without subsidies. It would make much more sense for NV Energy and friends to advertise (a web ad?) how the math works. For example: when a homeowner replaces all the old windows with vinyl, it takes 6-7 years to pay for itself. You save that much on your heating and cooling bills. Any incentive for landlords to replace windows?
Ms. Feldman I'm sold on air pollution but not global warming. Please try again. Thanks.
100% of all researchers agree on one point. Supplies of oil, gas, coal are finite. The disagreement is about specifically how much longer they will last. Ten weeks? Ten years? Ten decades? Doesn't matter. They WILL RUN OUT!
People such as SgtRock seem to suggest that we should do absolutely nothing until the last barrel of oil, the last cubic foot of natural gas, has been removed from the ground. I disagree. We can't wait until then. We MUST start looking for replacements at least twenty years ago.
Yes, the search WILL cost money. And yes, it WILL run into dead ends. And yes, there will be a LOT of money spent, "wasted" if you prefer that word, with no particular result other than identifying yet another dead-end idea. And there will be PLENTY of those! Would any one prefer the alternative? That we burn the penultimate cubic foot, push the very last barrel through the refinery, and only THEN start to look for a replacement energy source?
The sooner we can relegate oil to the status of "an adequate lubricant, but there are more desirable alternatives" the better off we will be.
Respectfully Mr. Reality; Should we rate payers be forced to pay the railroads, the coal companies, and the Texas tycoons ad infinitum for something cheaply obtained in our own area ?
"100% of all researchers agree on one point. Supplies of oil, gas, coal are finite."
Are you sure?
100%?
Not one single researcher?
Desire to place a bet?
"Focus on ways to conserve your usage and cut your costs: fix water leaks promptly and set your thermostat a couple of degrees lower in winter and a couple of degrees higher in summer."
Jerry:
That's the same argument the government used for gas and oil dependence. More efficient automobiles, less dependence on foreign oil, more drilling and exploration here at home. It's all worked. U.S. demand and use of oil is down. What happened to the prices of gas at the pump? They went up, stayed up and likely will go higher!
Carmine D
Carmine really said:
"As the proverb goes: When rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it."
I say:
You read the wrong books of proverbs - what you said is disgusting. Try Proverbs 21:5:
"Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run; hurry and scurry puts you further behind."
Jeff:
I can't take the credit. Many more said it before me. I plagiarized it here. Glad it and I upset you. Good therapy for a privileged white class snob.
Carmine D
Carmine said:
"I can't take the credit. Many more said it before me. I plagiarized it here. Glad it and I upset you. Good therapy for a privileged white class snob."
I say:
Your attempt at blaming someone else for your reprehensible behavior is typical of you. Regarding upsetting me, it is your custom to be lower than a common earthworm in your spreading of your style of "elevated discussion".
Yes I am privileged, no more, no less than any other American, like you. Not really 100% white, and to folks with limited intelligence I come off as snobby once in while, surely less than you.
Once I ascertain those folks with limited intelligence are that way genetically, I will help them however I am able, and then there are people...
As usual Jeff your head is stuck in the sand or another dark place.
Carmine D
Carmine:
What is it with you and other republican leaning politicians trying so hard to trivialize rape?
Is your advice to "Lay back and enjoy your rape" a teaching you do at Sunday school?
A short statement like "My statement about rape didn't belong in a thread about conservatism, and the statement is inappropriate in general" instead of calling me White un-trash would make you more...
...normal.
You're groping Jeff. Quite understandable. Get your head out and breath the fresh air. It will open your mind. Maybe in your case that's stretching it.
Carmine D
Should these girls and women have a cigarette with their rapists too?
Jeff:
You epitomize this saying with your posts here:
If you know the facts, argue the facts. If you know the law, argue the law. If you don't know either, then act the fool.
Carmine D
Carmine:
I point you to Mark 4:3-20
"When they were off by themselves, those who were close to him, along with the Twelve, asked about the stories. He told them, "You've been given insight into God's kingdom--you know how it works. But to those who can't see it yet, everything comes in stories, creating readiness, nudging them toward receptive insight. These are people--
Whose eyes are open but don't see a thing,
Whose ears are open but don't understand a word,
Who avoid making an about-face and getting forgiven."
He continued, "Do you see how this story works? All my stories work this way.
"The farmer plants the Word. Some people are like the seed that falls on the hardened soil of the road. No sooner do they hear the Word than Satan snatches away what has been planted in them.
"And some are like the seed that lands in the gravel. When they first hear the Word, they respond with great enthusiasm. But there is such shallow soil of character that when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.
"The seed cast in the weeds represents the ones who hear the kingdom news but are overwhelmed with worries about all the things they have to do and all the things they want to get. The stress strangles what they heard, and nothing comes of it.
"But the seed planted in the good earth represents those who hear the Word, embrace it, and produce a harvest beyond their wildest dreams."
Carmine - get out of the weeds and do that about face thingy.
Forgiveness is easier than life in the weeds.
Happy Palm Sunday and Holy Week to you and yours Jeff.
Always enjoy the back and forth.
Carmine D
May the DiFazio family and your friends be Blessed and healthy. Please enjoy the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.