QUICK NEWS, August 5: BUFFET IOWA UTILITY TO BE 57% WIND; AZ POLS ATTACK SOLAR WITH REDUNDANT LAWS; UTILITY POWER IS BIG JEB BUSH DONOR
BUFFET IOWA UTILITY TO BE 57% WIND MidAmerican aiming for 57 percent of energy from wind
Donnelle Eller, July 27 2015 Des Moines Register
Iowa’s MidAmerican Energy, the utility subsidiary of the Warren Buffett-owned Berkshire Hathaway Energy (BHE), is planning on obtaining up to 57% of its electricity from wind and is also planning to expand its generation capabilities into utility-scale solar power plants and community shared solar arrays…BHE just signed the White House’s American Business Act on Climate Pledge and committed to extend the fight against climate change along with Apple, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Goldman Sachs, Alcoa, Cargill, Google, Microsoft, PepsiCo, UPS, and Wal-Mart…MidAmerican has invested some $6 billion in wind energy since 2004 and has a $900 million 552 MW project awaiting approval from Iowa regulators that would take the utility’s installed renewables capacity to over 4,000 MW by 2017 and make it possible to get to the 57% wind target. click here for more
AZ POLS ATTACK SOLAR WITH REDUNDANT LAWS Solar-Power Fight Hits Home in Arizona
Cassandra Sweet, July 31, 2015 (Wall Street Journal)
A new Arizona consumer protection law, SB 1465, will require increased clarification for homeowners from solar leasing companies…Solar companies say legislators were pushed by Arizona’s utilities to put the unnecessary protections in place to slow the rapid growth of rooftop solar in the state…A $93 per month lease with a 2.9% per year escalator allows a homeowner to have the benefits of solar for a total cost of about $30,000 over the 20 year contract life rather than paying $17,300 upfront…Solar leasing pioneer and sector leader SolarCity has suffered allegations of shoddy installations but has the Better Business Bureau’s A+ rating…For solar leasing, SolarCity General Counsel Seth Weissman said, there are 12 to 15 statutes. Regulation M under the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) governs solar leasing and car leasing…Selling solar systems with financing is governed by the Truth in Lending Act, Regulation Z. Uniform deceptive and unfair trade practices acts and FTC’s Fair Credit Reporting Act also regulate solar. click here for more
UTILITY POWER IS BIG JEB BUSH DONOR Super PAC backing Bush received $1M from Florida power firm after he pushed for rate increase
Jack Gillum and Ronnie Greene, August 3, 2015 AP
National independent power producer NextEra Energy, parent of regulated utility Florida Power & Light (FP&L), the state’s biggest electricity provider, is the biggest corporate donor to Right to Rise, the political action committee (PAC) supporting the Jeb Bush campaign for the Republican Presidential nomination… NextEra donated over $1 million to the Bush super PAC in 2015. That does not include a $2,700 contribution from NextEra’s CEO. The Bush campaign denied this would create a conflict of interest…NextEra is currently engaged in federal regulatory proceedings pertaining to power plant emissions and recently warned shareholders about the costs of environmental law compliance…The 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court decision allows corporations and unions to make political contributions through super PACs like Right to Rise that do not coordinate with the candidates. click here for more
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