March 18 Green Energy News

Headline News:

  • “Don’t Worry, US Investors Can Still Make Offshore Wind Happen … Somewhere” • US President Donald Trump did the domestic offshore wind industry no favors when he abruptly suspended the federal offshore lease program upon taking office. But activity continues apace elsewhere around the globe. Wind investors can still invest abroad. [CleanTechnica]

Goldwind 16-MW turbine (Goldwind image)

  • “NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center Facility Among Planned DOGE Cuts” • The Storm Prediction Center issues severe weather forecasts across the nation and identifies threat zones where dangerous thunderstorms and tornadoes could move through days in advance. There is considerable question as to whether DOGE will close it. [ABC News]
  • “New Battery Recycling Process From China Recovers 99.99% Of Lithium” • A team of researchers in China developed a way to recover nearly all valuable materials from depleted lithium ion batteries. The eco-friendly process uses glycine, an amino acid, to extract 99.99% of lithium and significant percentages of other metals in just 15 minutes. [CleanTechnica]
  • “Huge Ship Set To Carry Turbines To North Sea Farm” • The Wind Peak, a purpose-built vessel, has arrived in Hull to carry components across 80 miles (129 km) of the North Sea to the site on the Dogger Bank. Officials said the vessel, which is 162 meters (530 ft) long and 60 meters wide, was capable of transporting and installing seven turbine sets per load. [BBC]
  • “Oil Majors Are Still Going Green, Honest” • With renewables expected to make up over 40% of the energy mix by 2030, oil majors are setting themselves up to stay relevant in a rapidly evolving market. Despite such things as the ‘Trump effect,’ such companies as BP, Shell, and TotalEnergies are expanding their clean energy portfolios. [Energy Live News]

For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.

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ARRA Funds in Action here in VT & NH!
Stimulus $ for Renewable Energy in VT & NH is happening all around us! Read more
Green Energy Times is your 'Voice'
We want to know what YOU have done today to lessen your carbon footprint and Read more
Run of the River Hydro in Vermont!
The Vermont legislature is in session. Please take the time right now to contact your Read more
Will Floating Geodesic Solar Molecules be the answer?
Solar is capable of powering the whole planet with 40 mins of sunlight! Read more
CVPS seeks 5.91 percent rate increase
CVPS seeks 5.91 percent rate increase. Time to GO SOLAR! Read more
Install solar NOW* for the 2009 tax credit!
Install Solar NOW to get 2009 tax credit! Read more
what’s FiT all About
Are you confused about what FiT (Feed-in Tarriff) is all about? What is all the Read more
SAVE 50% on R.E. Systems
You can save up to 50% if you purchase your renewable energy system now... Read more
$0.30 kw/hr is the FiT rate for solar!
Feed-in-Tarriff all set for Vermont! Read more

January 27, 2010

When the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was passed last year I wondered (probably like many others) where exactly the $787 billion would end up.  I never imagined I would be seeing the flow of that money on a daily basis as early as the end of 2009.  But it’s true!  As an employee in the renewable energy sector, I encounter projects of all shapes and sizes which are recipients of ARRA funds.

Some of these funds have been appropriated specifically to advance renewable energy, energy efficiency measures, and energy conservation.  For example, over $49 billion has been awarded to municipalities, community action groups, and government entities throughout Vermont – and this is only through the Department of Energy.(1)  This includes millions of dollars going directly to Vermont’s Clean Energy Development Fund (CEDF) and the Small Scale Renewable Energy Incentive.  These programs support business, non-profits, and residences alike.(2)

Other grants and loans for low-income housing, education, and research also indirectly support the renewable energy market when these entities choose to take a green approach to new construction or facility upgrades.

As of today, the government reports that just over half (58%) of the total funds expected to be allotted as loans, grants, and contracts has been awarded.  That means there is still over $1 billion waiting to be claimed.(2)  If you are a business owner, a farmer, an investor, a member of a local energy committee, or even just a home owner, NOW is the time to take advantage of these fast-moving dollars.  If you have ever dreamed of starting a solar farm to power your whole town, or even just dreamed of clean energy for your home, now is the best time to make that investment while our government is supporting our green energy goals.  ReKnew Energy Systems, Inc. of South Royalton is happy to help you find the right funds for your project or home. ARRA funds in part help support our employees who are year-round, permanent, local workers.

By Shasta Small (ReKnew Energy Systems, Inc.,  HYPERLINK “http://www.reknew.net” www.ReKnew.net, 866-312-7673)
ReKnew Energy is centrally located in South Royalton, VT; we design and install solar energy systems throughout VT and NH.

Links:

Track the stimulus money at:
click here

VT Dept. Public Svc. (CEDF)
http://publicservice.vermont.gov/energy/ee_cleanenergyfund.html”

Renewable Energy Vermont (incentives)
http://www.revermont.org/incentives.php

Renewable Energy Resource Center (incentives)
http://www.rerc-vt.org/” http://www.rerc-vt.org/

References:
http://www.recovery.gov/Pages/TextViewProjSummary.aspx?data=recipientAwardsList&http://recovery.vermont.gov/energy
http://www.recovery.gov/Pages/home.aspx

We want to hear from you!

• Energy Committees: what your accomplishments and plans are!

• Events & Happenings

• Your story of what YOU have done to personally lessen your carbon footprint, big and small – it all counts!

• News, views – as long as it is related in some way to renewable energy, energy reduction…

• Ideas, suggestions

The Vermont legislature is in session. Please take the time right now to contact your legislator. Particularly the members of the House and Senate Natural Resources Committees (scroll to bottom for e-mail addresses!). And ask them to do #1 and #2 below!

This year marks the fourth year of the legislature’s effort to develop a timely, predictable and affordable process for hydro in Vermont. Yet, although THREE bills have passed in the last three years we still have no new run of river hydro in Vermont!

For a brief history of the problems and opportunities, download Senator Illuzzi’s comments to FERC here: http://elibrary.ferc.gov:0/idmws/file_list.asp?document_id=13782560

Please contact the members of the Senate and House Natural Resources and Energy Committees, and your legislator and ask them to support hydro with the following actions:

1) Ask your legislators to have ANR modify the procedure to apply for a 401 Water Quality Certificate http://www.anr.state.vt.us/dec/fed/damsafety/hydropower.htm While it is wonderful that ANR has developed a written procedure (in response to H313), the procedure has several problems. The process is neither timely, predictable or affordable as the legislation requested. This procedure can, and must be changed, or we will not have any hydro in Vermont.  For example, the procedure in some cases does not even allow you to ASK the Agency for a 401 Water Quality Certificate until a federal license application has been completed. This means you are not allowed to even ASK ANR for 3 – 5 years, and then there is another year’s wait after that for the Agency to issue the 401!  What does this mean? For example, FERC recently issued a license using the Integrated Licensing Process (the most complex! in less than 6 months -because state agencies got on board early-FERC was able to waive and consolidate the process. This procedure needs to be tweaked to allow Vermont to decide if the Vermont Water Quality Standards are being met-it should not be contingent on a federal process!!  No one will invest in hydro under the current conditions. Over 2 years ago, ANR looked at over a dozen hydro projects (Appendix F) that wanted to be built http://www.anr.state.vt.us/dec/waterq/rivers/docs/rv_smallhydroreport.pdf. Hydro in Vermont still does not have a simple, timely, predictable or affordable process to move forward.

2) Ask your legislator to support S.190 introduced in January by Senator Illuzzi <http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/2010/bills/Intro/S-190.pdf>http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/2010/bills/Intro/S-190.pdf. This bill relates to establishing a general permit for the certification of hydroelectric projects.The bill may be viewed on the web at the following link. Similar legislation in the House by Representative Krawcyk of Bennington also establishes a pilot program, to allow the legislature to track the progress of several sites is being considered.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY
Senator Virginia “Ginny” Lyons, Chair, Senator Mark MacDonald, Vice Chair, Senator Richard McCormack, Senator Diane Snelling), Senator Margaret Flory

E-mail addresses of Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee members:
vvlyons@cs.com, vlyons@leg.state.vt.us, mmacdonald@leg.state.vt.us, rmccormack@leg.state.vt.us, dick@mccormack4vt.com, dsnelling@leg.state.vt.us, <mailto:pflory@leg.state.vt.us>pflory@leg.state.vt.us, <mailto:mkf3229@yahoo.com>mkf3229@yahoo.com

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY (Ethan Allen Room)
Klein of East Montpelier, Chair,  Krawczyk of Bennington, Vice Chair,  Nuovo of Middlebury, Ranking Member,  Canfield of Fair Haven, Cheney of Norwich,  Edwards of Brattleboro, Jerman of Essex, Mitchell of Barnard, Wright of Burlington,  Weston of Burlington, Clerk, Young of St. Albans City

E-mail addresses of House Natural Resources and Energy Committee members:
<mailto:tklein@leg.state.vt.us>tklein@leg.state.vt.us , jkrawczyk@leg.state.vt.us, WCanfield@leg.state.vt.us, mcheney@leg.state.vt.us, sedwards@leg.state.vt.us, <mailto:tjerman@leg.state.vt.us>tjerman@leg.state.vt.us, <mailto:vrunner56@msn.com>vrunner56@msn.com, mmitchell@leg.state.vt.us, bnuovo@leg.state.vt.us, rweston@leg.state.vt.us, <mailto:kwright@leg.state.vt.us>kwright@leg.state.vt.us, <mailto:jyoung@leg.state.vt.us>jyoung@leg.state.vt.us
<mailto:jeffeyoung@yahoo.com>jeffeyoung@yahoo.com

Follow the links below to contact your Senator or Rep:
Find the legislative home page here:
http://www.leg.state.vt.us/

Find your House Representative here:
http://www.leg.state.vt.us/lms/legdir/alpha.asp?Body=H
Find your Senate Representative here:
http://www.leg.state.vt.us/lms/legdir/alpha.asp?Body=S

Please contact your legislators we will not get new hydro without a revised procedure and additional legislation! This will make it easier for both the regulators and the regulated.

From Lori Barg
Community Hydro
Plainfield, Vermont

Forty (40) minutes of sunlight falling on the entire earth, can provide energy to the whole population of this planet for about a year!

Now we need the technology to be fine-tuned to make this happen.  All kinds of incredible new projects are being tested every day… like the Floating Geodesic Solar Molecules…

January 7th, 2010
http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/floating-geodesic-solar-molecules/

Researchers speak in unison that if we develop the capability to harvest 40 minutes of sunlight falling on the entire earth, we can provide energy to the whole population of this planet for about a year. But we are successful in trapping just 1% of that energy till now. Scientists and industrial designers are continuously engaged in research so that they can create mechanics and systems that can harvest solar energy in a better way. That will help in dispelling the doubts about alternative energy resources.

The Solar Molecules give some hope that this system can provide more power at a low-cost. We all know that processing solar energy for whole day with same intensity is not possible because intensity of the daylight varies with the passage of a day. But creator of Solar Molecules system have thought about this problem and come up with a spherical mega-body that moves across the sky each day, east to west, in a repetitive cycle.

The system holds several solar molecules. These molecules are geodesic structures and they carry hot air to remain aloft. How these molecules are supposed to trap solar energy? Actually these molecules are covered with PV cells. These photovoltaic cells are responsible for processing solar energy and store it in onboard system. How this energy reaches earth to be utilized by us? The produced energy is converted into microwaves and is beamed to the surface of the earth. On reaching the earth these microwaves are reconverted back into usable electricity by the base station.

The sun is in constant motion due to the earth’s movement around it. In order to draw maximum mileage out of sun rays the panels equipped with photovoltaic technology constantly need to remain perpendicular to the sun’s rays. This can be achieved with Solar Molecules.

Further, Solar Molecules move constantly, therefore they generate periodic shadows on the surface of the earth and do not hinder the city residents’ quota of sunlight.

If we try to study one solar molecule, we will find that it consists of three parts: the core, stabilizing/transfer rods, and solar panel cladding. Work of the core is to store the energy gathered where possible microwave generators can be located. Rods act as an intermediary between the core and the exterior that provide structural support. Energy captured on the surface is transmitted into each rod finally transferred to the core. A cavity also exists as a result between the exterior and the core. Energy is transferred though the rod, surplus heat is released to some extent increasing the temperature in the cavity. This heat is responsible for the flotation of the solar molecule. Finally the exterior is responsible for collection of solar energy. This approach can finally set us on the path of full depends on solar energy.

For Immediate Release: Nov. 2, 2009
GET again reminds you that “this is the best time in the history of mankind to go solar”! – John Blittersdorf, CV Solar

RUTLAND, VT – Central Vermont Public Service (NYSE-CV) has asked the Vermont Public Service Board to authorize a 5.91 percent rate increase under the company’s alternative regulation plan, which would leave the company’s rates among the lowest of the major utilities in New England.

The change would take effect with bills rendered starting Jan. 1, 2010.

The bill for a residential customer who uses 500 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month would rise from $73.49 to $77.89, a difference of $4.40. By comparison, the same customer would pay as much as $105.33 elsewhere in New England, according to the Edison Electric Institute.

Since 1999, CVPS rates have risen at a fraction of the rate of inflation in the energy sector, with a handful of small increases and decreases.  Overall, rates in 2010 are expected to be just 12.6 percent higher than in 1999. Based on the latest federal data available, the Consumer Price Index for energy has increased 122 percent.

“We continue to drive costs out of the business, which mitigated the proposal considerably,” CVPS President Bob Young said.  “The biggest drivers are increases in power costs, transmission costs, and reliability improvements to our systems, which are critical to our customers.

“We have worked extremely hard to balance costs with our customers’ expectations for reliability and customer service,” Young said.  “Despite this change, our rates will remain among the most affordable in the region.”

Under the CVPS proposal, the company’s allowed return on equity would drop from 9.77 percent to 9.59 percent.

The new rates will serve as the base rates for 2010 under CVPS’s alternative regulation framework approved by the PSB in 2008.  Under the plan, CVPS’s rates are adjusted up or down every quarter to account for specified changes in power costs, and annually for specified changes in other costs and earnings.  Throughout much of 2009, CVPS customers have received a small credit, adjusted quarterly on their bills, because power costs were lower than previous forecasts.

If you have a system installed before the end of the year, you can take the 2009 tax credit in January 2010!
Remember:
1. The price of Solar Panels is the lowest it has EVER been!
2. The Incentives are the HIGHEST and
3. The interest rates at banks is very low!
It is like the PERFECT STORM of NOW IS the TIME to GO SOLAR!

Call one of the Trusted Solar Installers that you see in Green Energy Times! All current and past issues can be downloaded from the top menu bar on our home page!

Are you confused about what FiT (Feed-in Tarriff) is all about? What is all the hype for the recently passed FiT agreement  of this 30¢ rate is about? Who does this help?  Who does it apply to & how? It can be somewhat confusing.  This issue of G.E.T.’s press release (pg. 7), regarding FiT, came from GroSolar, so they seemed the likely people to help clarify all of this, in a way that we can all make some sense of.
Just what does this all mean for the consumer?
GroSolar answered: “Those are all great questions & we have a sense for the answers but the final rules of the Standard Offer won’t be set/published until next week. In general the FIT is for large/utility-scale projects because the installations will, in effect, become power companies that are connected/regulated by the ISO New England grid. The cost of “being a power company” (annual fees, etc) will in part determine what size projects will have enough cash-flow under the $.30 FIT to have a good financial return.

The FIT is not something that will work for residential solar power. The part of H446 that really impacts residential is the ability for municipalities or districts to issue bonds to offer tax-assessment financing of residential renewable energy projects, similar to the Sonoma County Energy Independence Program (SCEIP).
We’ll have a 2nd press release & online info about this up next week but for now here’s what should be said about this relative to solar power.

1. This is an encouraging first-step to increase investment in, & rapidly deploy of, commercial-scale renewable & solar power in VT.  groSolar applauds the Vt State government & the PSB for leading the nation with the first state-legislated FIT program in the country.

2. There is a 50MW cap on new renewable energy projects under in the program, which would equate to only about 4% of peak-demand in VT.

3. The FIT/Standard Offer program for solar power installations, in its current form, is relevant for solar PV projects sized 500kw to 2.2MW.

a. A FIT project will in essence become a power company (independent power producer), which under the current rules requires significant fees for grid-interconnection to CVPS & the ISO New England grid.
b. The program does not replace residential solar Net-metering & does not apply to residential solar installations, largely because of the interconnection & transmission fees that apply to power companies in VT & the ISO New England grid.

4. The interim program prices may be revised in January, 2010. groSolar is hopeful that this or future revisions/legislation will make the FIT apply more broadly to include residential-scale renewables, similar to programs in Germany & Ontario, Canada.

5. groSolar is hopeful that other states in the US will follow Vermont’s lead with an understanding that FIT programs create long-term stability for renewable energy, rapid deployment of clean-power technologies, increased investment in clean-power generation, while providing clear & predictable economic returns for investors in renewable generation.

6. In additional to rapidly increasing activity in the residential solar market, groSolar has several large-scale VT-FIT projects being developed & welcomes interested investors, development partners & property-owners to inquire about possible FIT-projects.”
by nancy rae malllery with special thx to groSolar, WRJ, VT ♻

Tax Credit Cap eliminated for Solar Electric (PV ), Wind & other Energy Efficiency systems:

The Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit is a nonrefundable energy tax credit to help individual taxpayers pay for qualified residential alternative energy equipment, such as solar electric (PV) systems, solar hot water heaters, geothermal heat pumps & wind turbines. They removed some of the previously imposed maximum amounts & allows for a credit equal to 30% of the cost of qualified property.

Tax Cr. Cap eliminated for Solar Water heating systems: The $2,000 cap on the 30% Federal Tax Credit for solar water heating systems has been removed. Solar water heating systems, other than those for pools or spas, are now eligible for a full 30% tax credit against the solar system’s cost. Vermont Solar & Small Wind Incentive www.revermont.org/incentives. The goal of this program is to accelerate market demand for high-quality solar & small wind systems in Vermont. Nearly $1 million in incentives is now available.

The program offers financial incentives only to renewable energy systems installed by local program partners. You must go through an installer that has been approved by the Solar & Wind Partnership Program. The timing & number of systems receiving incentives depends on the size of installations & market reaction to the program. The program incentives cover approximately 20–25% of the total installed cost for eligible systems.

The program administrator tracks & reports total system costs, estimated energy savings, avoided environmental emissions & job activity within the solar & small wind delivery sector of Vermont ‘s economy.

In 2006, the Vermont Clean Energy Development Fund authorized an additional $500,000 to the Vermont Solar & Small Wind Incentive Program. Two electric utilities: Central Vermont Public Service (CVPS) & Green Mountain Power (GMP), also provided incentive funds to support qualifying solar & small wind systems for customers in their service territories. ♻

PSB approved the rateof $0.30 kw/hr as the FiT rate for solar.

A link to the PSB docket:
http://psb.vermont.gov/sites/psb/files/orders/2009/7523interimpriceorder.pdf

This link contains info about Vermont’s Feed-in-Tariff:
http://www.grist.org/article/2009-05-29-vermont-feed-in-tariffs/