QUICK NEWS, 3-4: TEXAS POWER POLITICS & WIND; CHI UTILITY TO TEST SMART SUN; A SOLAR STOCK BUY; GREEN GADGET FAD PASSING

TEXAS POWER POLITICS & WIND
Texas wind power politics
Betsy Simnacher, March 2, 2010 (Dallas Morning News)

"…Apparently, the politics of power in Texas pits the natural gas producers and the growing wind power industry…It's an interesting situation to watch…

[From SmartPlanet:] “…wind can be a replacement for other fuels…Tudor Pickering & Holt, a Houston investment bank, contends that the natural gas used to power electric plants could fall by 18.5 percent by 2013 as plants sit idle…”

Texas is working to expand transmission because a larger system somewhat alleviates the need for backup fossil fuels. (click to enlarge)

"Ercot, the operator of the grid here in Texas, collects data on power availability and price from the different sources of power generation every evening. But wind producers, of course, are subject to the weather, something they can't control."

Many Texans consider allegiance to wind a matter of loyalty. (click to enlarge)

"If something happens and the power producer is unable to supply the promised amount of power, the producer has to pay for backup. But if the wind doesn't blow as expected, the backup costs are spread among all the producers. Unfair, say the other producers. How can we accurately predict the wind? ask the wind producers.

"On wind energy, our editorial department is on the record: ‘Support for wind energy is crucial for our state - and the entire nation - as we pursue long-term cleaner-energy alternatives to coal, such as natural gas, solar, nuclear and wind power.’ And the Business section is keeping us up to date on lines to deliver West Texas wind energy to other parts of the state."


CHI UTILITY TO TEST SMART SUN
ComEd puts solar energy to the test; 100 area homes will get panels, meters and, if all goes well, become 'little utilities'
Sandra Guy, March 1, 2010 (Chicago Sun-Times)

"Later this year, the Chicago utility company [ComEd] will mount solar panels on the roofs of 100 homes in the near west suburbs and possibly the city's Near West Side.

"The utility will outfit 50 of those homes with smart electric meters, hourly electric pricing, battery solar-power storage and the ability to gain credits for emitting excess solar power back to the electric grid for others' use. The other 50 will get those same additions, except they won't be able to store their energy…ComEd will mail surveys to customers who live in single-family homes…[participation will] depend on such things as the type of house, how shaded it is by trees, and the orientation of the roof."

Which Chicagoans will win the ComEd lottery and plug in? (click to enlarge)

"The solar power experiment is being funded with an anticipated $5 million in stimulus money from the U.S. Department of Energy, plus $3 million in matching funds from ComEd and its vendors, including solar-power technology firm Gridpoint…[The] 100 homes are among 131,000 [of ComEd’s 3.8 million customers] that will gain experience with smart meters capable of transmitting data wirelessly to in-house consoles that show customers how, and at what cost, they are using electricity…

"…8,000 will test how consumers can use basic information about their electricity consumption to change their behavior to lower their utility bills and help reduce overall power-supply costs…They will be assigned to pay one of six electric rates, including [1] the utility's current flat rate…[2] a rate that increases as a customer uses more electricity…[3] an hourly rate set at the day-ahead hourly wholesale price…[4] a rate that jumps sharply at peak times…[5] a rebate rate for those who reduce electricity at the peak times, and…[6] a time-of-use rate that is high at peak times and lower at non-peak times."

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"About 3,100…will get a basic display device starting in May that will show them how they are using electricity and what it is costing them…Another 1,500 customers will receive a larger, touch-screen console that hooks up to the Internet and lets users not only see the details of their electric use and bill, but also is capable of Web applications that can provide anything from sports scores to news headlines…A subset of 400 customers will receive programmable thermostats that they can set to change temperatures at pre-determined times of the day when electric rates are cheapest…

"Ahmad Faruqui, who has designed smart-metering and pricing pilot programs and has worked with ComEd on this experiment, said it is the first globally to combine a variety of electric-rate pricing options with detailed information about customers' electric use on such a large scale…[Many] fear that the elderly, low-income and people who depend on special medical equipment will panic at the moment electric rates go up during the day and unplug all of their appliances, thus harming themselves…Faruqui suggests that such vulnerable customers be allowed to keep their existing electric rates…"


A SOLAR STOCK BUY
Sustainable Energy stock soars on Bosch tie-up; Stock leaps more than 20 pct
Nicole Mordant (w/Frank McGurty), March 2, 2010 (Reuters)

"Shares of Sustainable Energy Technologies…rose by more than 20 percent early on Tuesday after it announced a tie-up with the solar unit of German engineering giant Robert Bosch…

"Sustainable Energy, a small Canadian solar energy company, and Bosch Solar Energywill jointly market Bosch thin-film photovoltaic modules with Sustainable's Sunergy inverters in the province of Ontario."

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"Ontario last October launched the most comprehensive and generous set of feed-in tariffs in North America, piquing the interest of Canadian and foreign renewable energy companies at a time when Europe is starting to roll back its support for the sector.

"Inverters are key components of power systems that turn the sun's rays into electricity as they convert the direct current output generated by the solar panels into the alternating current that the power grid runs on."

The inverter is at the heart of the system. (click to enlarge)

"Bosch Solar and Sustainable Energy plan to build modules, or panels, and inverters in Ontario, meeting the province's 2010 and 2011 domestic content thresholds…Their target is to install between 10 and 15 megawatts of solar power in 2010, rising to 50MW-75MW in 2011…

"The news sent Sustainable Energy's shares flying as high as 41.5 Canadian cents a share, a rise of 7.5 Canadian cents or 22 percent…"


GREEN GADGET FAD PASSING
Is There Any Hope For Green Gadgets?
February 25, 2010 (Retrevo)

"…Although this latest Retrevo Pulse study on green gadgets revealed a large group of "not so green" gadget buyers, on the positive side, a significant number of environmentally friendly gadget enthusiasts also stepped forward.

"When Retrovo asked consumers if they feel guilty when they don’t buy a green gadget, we were disappointed to learn that nearly 60% of respondents felt no guilt for not buying green gadgets. Among that group 42% indicated they didn’t care if the gadget they bought was green or not while another 16% said price trumped green. On the bright side, nearly 40% said they do consider green when shopping for gadgets…"

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"Do you know what Energy Star ratings mean? Do you trust them? The respondents to this study apparently do, with 80% indicating they trust the ratings. The bad news is we found that only 36% of the next generation of consumers (under 25) use energy ratings to help decide what to buy compared to 55% of those over 25.

"…More than 60% claimed they knew how to be green [with gadgets] however, more than half of those saying they knew, said they didn’t always put that knowledge into practice. The good news is that apathy and ignorance over green gadgets prevailed in only 18% of the respondents while over 20% said they were interested in learning how to be green."

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"The most popular responses to the question, “what would make you be more ‘green’ with gadgets?” involved tax or cash incentives (50%) along with making it easier to recycle gadgets (50%). Cash for clunker gadgets like old CRT TVs or rebates on new energy efficient LCD TVs could help save consumers money and would save energy too

"The results of this study offer a mixture of good and bad news for gadgets and the environment. We were encouraged by the number of consumers who feel they know how to be green with gadgets, know what the energy ratings mean…apply this knowledge when shopping…[and want] to learn more about how to be green with gadgets…[We] see lots of apathy and ignorance when it comes to being green with gadgets but lots of opportunity to educate and motivate consumers…[I]n order to get them to put their "green" into action the industry and the government needs to step up and make it easier and worth the effort."