Koch Brothers' Dirty War on Solar Power
 

How the Koch Brothers are undermining the growth of Solar Energy in the USA.

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The Koch Brothers' Dirty War on Solar Power | Rolling Stone


-AC

Welcome to my world (Florida). What the RS article failed to mention was that the latest Jacksonville Electric Authority (JEA) submittal to the Public Service Commission has a "New Idea" where JEA will buy a vacant property, cover it with solar, and sell the energy to their customers at a $$ rate higher than normal fossil fuel energy cost. "Due to the higher cost of Solar Energy".

To help their new endeavor, they want to do away with net metering, and only pay "fuel cost" for excess PV fed back into the grid. It also looks like JEA wants to push PV owners to Time of Use rates.

The kicker: "Change the policy to transfer Renewable Energy Credits to JEA for energy purchased by JEA."

In a state without REC trading, I find it interesting that the JEA wants the RECs. They obviously think a carbon trading system is coming...

ALEC is a real threat they are change laws here also. They have found if they can change the law in a state that does not have much solar so no loud opposition. Then they go to states like NC as say we want the law just like SC has they think it is fair.

I really hope the used EV battery market will help us get off the grid in a cost effective way then I would not be tied to the grid.

"The Kochs Are Plotting A Multimillion-Dollar Assault On Electric Vehicles"
The Kochs Are Plotting A Multimillion-Dollar Assault On Electric Vehicles
Now They are after the EV cars.

Fossil fuels are subsidized much more than EV's.
Musk to Koch brothers: Fossil fuels are subsidized too - MarketWatch

The Koch brothers tried to hold back wind power in their home state of Kansas, and that is not going their way.

They did have a temporary "success" here in Massachusetts fighting Cape Wind. But, renewable energy is inevitable.

Texas and New Mexico are still installing tons of wind capacity. Their influence and money appear to be no good around these parts.

I don't think they ever stopped putting up wind turbines in and around Sweetwater, TX.

Another wind farm was built to the south of me, I cant even begin to count all the red flashing lights at night. However many there are, it numbers in the hundreds.
I saw the parts being trucked though town, judging by the blade size they were all at least 1.5MW capacity units.

Whatever the Koch brothers are doing to "wage war on electric vehicles" is nothing compared to what the Saudis are doing, continuing to pump oil even as the price of oil takes a nose dive.

Metering EV uses based on time of use would be good for everyone involved aside for EV owners who work funky long night shifts.
The power company could sell more power at night, less during the day, have more power available during the day to run peoples air conditioners, the EV owners who can charge during the night would save money. Sounds good to me.

I read a few years ago that T. Boone Pickens(oil magnate) was the source of all those Texas windmills. Although a new check says he stopped in about 2010.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._Boo...ens#Wind_power

So I don't know who is behind the continuing installations.
JJ

Time of use is not good from a consumer standpoint, especially from a consumer with some sort of grid-tied solar or wind setup. If TOU gets rammed down our throats, it will mark the beginning of the end for net metering bonuses and "free grid battery" practices... Here's a good analogy: If you are OK with the idea of electing an openly socialist president this year, time of use rules probably sound like a good idea also. Universal rates for everyone and such. The devil lies in the details, so to speak.

The truth behind the matter is that single-point power generation is in serious trouble in the USA. Nuclear power has been repeatedly crucified publicly, and coal and natural gas plants are being retrofitted in place as much as possible. 98% of proposed new power plant projects get murdered in their infancy behind closed doors, the other 2% are delayed so much that by the time construction plans are approved, the plans are either obsolete or illegal. The power generation industry is pretty much stuck with what they have in place. So far, no amount of PR or lobbying has changed this situation much for a decade or so. Rather than building their way to economic success, the powers that be are constantly trying (and having success) changing the rules and cost structures in their favor.

Jeff,

I am actually enthusiastic about TOU (time of use) policies. It will accelerate the use of load shifting and the use of a variety of "batteries" to do that. Not all have to be electrochemical. One fascinating one is the use of pressure compressed air.

Compressed Air Energy Storage Makes a Comeback - IEEE Spectrum

The first generation of the PV war has been won. PV added spectacularly in 2015. The problem is the infamous "duck curve" where PV exacerbates the daily disparity of high and low loads vs use.

Electricity Demand and the Duck Curve


The other thing that TOU does is it makes the consumer aware of the actual costs. The consumer does not now see the hundreds of $ per kW spent at peaking times, but goes about unaware of it and pays the same rate. TOU makes people think about certain discretionary tasks (dishwasher, clothes washer, dryer, etc). Just shifting those to a lower cost and more efficient time is a huge improvement from a cost and efficiency standpoint.

The second generation will be when utilities are divorced from generating electricity and see themselves as distributors of existing electricity. There will be the need for base load - no doubt about that. The second generation of change has started, but net metering will evolve into a more complex arrangement.

About 1/3rd of our existing power bill is the "cost" for the distribution system. Someone has to pay for that. We can all go off grid, or accept some costs for the use of inexhaustible energy at the flip of a switch. Many of us here are willing (and do) use low amounts of electricity, but we are the VAST minority. Most people don't care! TOU will start to hit them in their wallet and they will wake up.

To that point, the major Oklahoma utility (OG&E) did a pilot program of "smart hours" where you get a large rebate if you will curtail energy use of high demand days from 3-7 PM. They expected about 1-2% of people to respond. Almost three times that number signed up. People DO respond to the wallet - in general they do not read, understand metering plans or think. The word is "sheeple".

ECOhoma!: OG&E Smart Hours / Time of Use Pricing

The way I see it, constant rates just allow the status quo to be continued. Thoughts?

What do others on the group think?


Steve

For CA TOU (time of use) policies have worked out for solar producers. They give full retail credit when the power is made. If you can time shift your power usage you can make out.
Make solar power during the most costly part of the day and use it at the cheapest part of the day.
When our power company talks about the value of solar they never give use credit for making power when they need it.