MORE NEWS, 11-10: VOTERS WANT ACTION ON CLIMATE; THE SOLAR LEASE; WIND POWERS >50% OF SPAIN FOR A DAY; BIOFUELS & HEALTH INS REFORM

VOTERS WANT ACTION ON CLIMATE
Voters in Key States Overwhelmingly Support Action on Energy and Global Warming
Brandon MacGillis, 9 November 2009 (The Pew Environment Group)

"Recent surveys of voters conducted in three swing states and five swing congressional districts find overwhelming support for a two-part plan to reduce global warming emissions and to require use of clean energy sources.

"There is support in all three states for the combined proposal to reduce emissions and require clean energy sources. When asked, 'Congress is considering an energy plan that has two key parts. One part would require factories and power companies to reduce their emissions of the carbon pollution that causes global warming by 17% (20% in MO) by the year 2020 and by 80% by the year 2050. The other part would require power companies to generate 15% of their power from clean energy sources like wind and solar by the year 2025. Would you favor/oppose this entire plan?'"

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"[Democratic and Republican pollsters found from August through October that] 75% of voters in Michigan favor…68% of voters in Ohio favor…67% of voters in Missouri favor…"

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"Surveys in five congressional districts also found that voters favor elements of the two-part plan to reduce emissions and require use of clean energy sources passed by the House. When asked [almost the same question]…61% of voters in Florida's 2nd district support…69% of voters in New Mexico's 2nd district support…63% of voters in Ohio's 16th district support…70% of voters in Virginia's 5th district support…68% of voters in Washington's 8th district support…

"In the statewide polls, voters were asked if they would support requiring power companies to generate 15% of their power from clean energy sources. This number differs from the 20% that voters in the district polls were presented due to developments with the targets in the Senate legislation…"


THE SOLAR LEASE
SolarCity aims to make solar power more affordable
Julie Schmitt, November 8, 2009 (USA Today)

"…[I]n three years [SolarCity] has grown to become a leading residential solar installer in California, the nation's largest solar market…[and] has emerged as one of the top consumer brands in solar at a time when green is hot and President Obama makes solar and other renewable energy sources front-page news.

"Last year, SolarCity helped pioneer a way to bring solar to the masses and remove one of the biggest hurdles to its widespread adoption: costs of $15,000 or more for homeowners to go solar. With a SolarCity residential lease, customers can lease a system at no money down, and in many areas, save 10% to 15% a month on their combined electric and lease-payment bill…[O]ther companies offer similar financing options, [but SolarCity has created the first brand in solar]…The company claims 4,500 residential and commercial customers in California, Arizona and Oregon, including eBay and Intel."

click thru to use the SolarCity calculator

"[President and CEO Lydon] Rive says SolarCity's revenue will grow 40% this year – despite the recession – and 250% next year, given orders on the books. SolarCity employs 450 and plans to add 180 workers in the next quarter…It also aims to expand to at least five states in the next year. Rive, while not releasing revenue for the privately held SolarCity, says it turned its first profit in the recently finished third quarter…

"Nationwide, hundreds of solar companies and installers vie for business [in the competitive solar market], especially in SolarCity's key market, California. Competitors, such as REC Solar, Akeena Solar, GroSolar, SunPower and others, are also building successful brands…[S]olar provides 1% of the USA's energy…[but] many states still lack strong enough incentives and laws to move broad solar adoption…Financing and incentives can also be touch-and-go…[but]SolarCity has…a $100 million fund by US Bancorp to finance its lease deals…"

From solarcity100 via YouTube

"…[O]ne of Solar City's biggest challenges is overcoming homeowner skepticism that its lease deal is too good to be true…SolarCity's leases run for 15 years. The company designs, installs and maintains the system. SolarCity owns the system and gets the accompanying federal tax credits and state incentives. Homeowners pay SolarCity for the lease and the electricity they use. That's typically about 15% less than their traditional monthly electric bill…Lease rates go up each year by up to 3.9%, no matter how much or how little electric rates move. And people who don't use a lot of electricity [bills under $150 a month ] aren't likely to see savings…

"Given federal tax credits, homeowners with available cash may also do better financially to buy a system…[Most companies offer] outright sales, as well as leases or leaselike options…But for those without cash or the gumption to maintain their solar systems, leasing is a [good option]…[which is why] SolarCity has raised $80 million in venture capital funding…[A]bout 65% of SolarCity's new residential customers choose to lease vs. buy a system…The key to SolarCity's future success, [CEO] Rive says, is getting every homeowner-customer to feel like a VIP – whether they lease or buy…"


WIND POWERS >50% OF SPAIN FOR A DAY
Spain’s wind turbines supply half of the national power grid
Graham Keeley, November 10, 2009 (UK Times)

"Spain was celebrating its commitment to renewable energy yesterday after wind turbines dotted across the country produced more than half of all its electricity for the first time.

"High winds across Spain on Sunday meant that for over five hours, over 53 per cent of the country’s power came from wind energy. The towering white wind turbines which loom over Castilla-La Mancha — home to Cervantes’s hero Don Quixote — and which dominate other parts of Spain, set a new record in wind energy production…Most of the wind power was used immediately, 6 per cent was stored and 7.7 per cent was exported to France, Portugal and Morocco."

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"In the past decade Spain has relentlessly invested in wind power, along with other renewable sources, making it the third-biggest supplier after the United States and Germany…José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spain’s Prime Minister, a strong believer in renewable energy, has hinted his Government may phase out nuclear plants…The move has provoked opposition from within the nuclear industry, his own party and from the opposition conservative Popular Party.

"Spain began its wind power push in 1997, but five years ago critics believed it could not produce more than 14 per cent of the country’s electricity…Wind farms have produced 17,700 megawatt-hours (mWh) of electricity so far this year, but renewable energy industry figures believe this figure could rise to 40,000mWh by 2020."

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"Spain’s Socialist Government invested €991 million (£890 million) in wind power in 2007. Already it has reaped a return on its investment; in 2007 it saved €1 billion on fossil fuels, according to the Spanish Environment Ministry…[T]his year wind power is expected to produce 13 per cent of all electricity, hydroelectric power 10 per cent and solar power 2.5 per cent…Spain’s solar industry is one of the fastest growing in the world.

"Nuclear energy produced 20.9 per cent of Spain’s energy needs last year and critics claim the country cannot dispense with a source which supplies almost a fifth of its power…During a meeting with Mr Zapatero at the White House last month, [President Obama] praised Spain as a “worldwide leader” in renewable energy."


BIOFUELS & HEALTH INS REFORM
How Biofuel Leaked Into the House Health Bill
David M. Herszenhorn, November 8, 2009 (NY Times)

"At first glance, it might seem as if House Democrats were so overwhelmed by their ambitious legislative agenda that they confused their big climate change legislation with their big health care bill.

"A package of last-minute changes to the Democrats’ health care bill…included a curious tax provision related to the production of biofuels, including ethanol. By changing some of the rules related to tax credits for biofuel manufacturers, the provision would raise about $24 billion in additional tax revenue from the biofuel companies over 10 years."

From a January 2009 report by the Environmental Working Group (click thru for the report)

"So what do biofuel producers have to do with health care? Actually, nothing. The change was all about the money… “Pay-for” and “revenue-raiser” …are just fancy ways [in Congress] of describing a tax: something that “pays for” legislation, or “raises revenue” to pay for legislation…But good revenue-raisers are hard to find. And when one is available, lawmakers often fight over it…Senate Democrats swiped a revenue-raiser that House Democrats had included in their health care legislation: a delay in a tax code change, which would result in multinational corporations’ paying $26.1 billion in taxes over 10 years that they would otherwise be spared…

"[T]hat move left a hole in the House Democrats health care bill…The solution was a change in the “second generation biofuel producer tax credit” which will make up most of the money taken by the Senate…[It] means some biofuel producers will receive less in tax credits than under current law. (The House also retained a limited version of the tax code change for multinational companies, which will generate $6 billion for the health care bill.)"

Health insurance reform has reformed biofuels subsidies. (From a January 2009 report by the Environmental Working Group - click thru for the report)

"Representative Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland, who sponsored the biofuel amendment on behalf of the House Democratic leadership, said that it was both a good way to raise money and an improvement in alternative energy policy that Democrats would have carried out anyway…[and] the Senate’s swipe of the tax provision…left the House no choice but to find more money….

"Such a tug-of-war over revenue-raisers is hardly unusual in Congress. But…[this one] highlights how increasingly difficult it has become for lawmakers to generate revenue without imposing new taxes that will be felt directly by the constituents who elect them. President Obama’s promise not to raise taxes on Americans earning less than $250,000 a year has made that challenge even harder…"