Letters
I believe we Californians continue to have an opportunity to lead the US in withdrawing from our fossil fuel addiction and transitioning to national energy independence.
Here’s how: SmartMeters and high fuel prices.
Many electricity customers are concerned about these wireless devices: potential health risks from electromagnetic fields (EMF), loss of meter reader jobs, invasion of privacy and information sharing.
These concerns may or may not be relevant and/or true. What IS true is that SmartMeters were designed to give utilities and customers the essential real-time information they need to better cost-effectively manage energy delivery/use.
Investor-owned utilities such as Pacific Gas & Electric have worked closely with state legislators, lobbyists, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and California Energy Commission (CEC) over the years to develop tiered electric/gas rates which encourage conservation and efficiency by rapidly and substantially raising the price of energy when the customer goes over their monthly baseline allotment.
This baseline allotment is billed at the lowest retail price and is related to the number and type of natural gas (propane) appliances.
All-electric buildings are allocated the greatest number of baseline kilowatt hours (kW-hrs).
One solution is to equalize the building’s energy consumption with ample solar photovoltaic (PV) production combined with time-of-use net metering (spinning your meter backwards during peak periods).
Utilities have been given the “green” light to implement various residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural demand response programs which allow customers to voluntarily curtail load upon request in exchange for lower rates.
Another major program being implemented is called peak demand pricing. This program corresponds to summer days where the ambient air exceeds a certain temperature which then triggers a four-hour period in the later afternoon (nine to 15 times per year) where the electric rates will increase 10-fold to encourage conservation.
The really good news is that when you produce your solar energy during these peak periods, the utility company is required to credit you at that applicable electric rate (kinda Smart Meters).
Regarding high fuel prices, we’ve been postponing the inevitable since before the oil embargoes of the 1970s. Now with gasoline headed north of $4/gallon, it offers we Americans the chance to reassess our transportation priorities.
Consider your solar power investment as it relates to electric vehicles. If we use the Nissan Leaf as our case study, one can surmise that 2,400kW-hrs of PV capacity would charge a Leaf 100 times (~24 kW-hrs/charge). Each charge gets you 100 miles so in one year you avoid 10,000 miles of gasoline (diesel) driving.
If your car (truck) got 20 miles per gallon then you did not use 500 gallons at $4/gallon and you have saved $2,000/year. The payback for a solar charging station with this kW-hr. capacity is less than four years after subtracting the 30 percent federal tax credit.
Every time fuel prices head north, so does your solar investment. It may be that for the first time in history, the (electric) automobile actually has a significant return on investment!
Perhaps SmartMeters and high fuel prices aren’t so bad after all when we can transform our energy liabilities into personal profits.
Dan (the Solar Man) Felperin owns FRESH Energy Systems LLC. He lives in Cobb, Calif.
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- Written by: Dan Felperin
On March 22, 2011, at 10 a.m., at the urging of many local citizens, the Board of Supervisors will consider a local proclamation endorsing the International Charter for Compassion.
The Charter for Compassion is a statement reaffirming the role of compassion in our lives and a call to become more compassionate in our treatment of and interactions with others. It is a document that transcends religious, ideological and national difference.
Supported by leading thinkers from many traditions, the Charter inspires worldwide community-based acts of compassion. Cities such as Seattle, and Vancouver have promoted Compassion charters for their communities.
Every day, especially in these difficult economic times, we face an onslaught of media messages, online comments, and other polarizing and degrading interactions that are aggressive, fear-inducing or just plain mean-spirited.
For the sake of our community, for our own well being and especially for our children, we in Lake County can choose to behave differently, knowing that it is possible to disagree and still respect one another as human beings.
The Charter for Compassion calls us to always treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves: with kindness, dignity and respect. By calling attention to compassion, the local proclamation is just a reminder that we have the capacity to be there for one another.
From the Charter:
“Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the center of our world and put another there, and to honor the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.”
“… it is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others – even our enemies – is a denial of our common humanity.”
I hope you can join us at the courthouse on March 22 at 10 a.m. to reaffirm Compassion as a clear and dynamic force in our community of Lake County. Perhaps the charter will inspire all of us to continue the ongoing work of alleviating the suffering of others, particularly those right here at home.
More information on this proclamation and the Charter can be found at www.LakeCountyCompassion.blogspot.com.
Denise Rushing represents District 3 on the Lake County Board of Supervisors. She lives in Upper Lake, Calif.
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- Written by: Denise Rushing
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