SRP Rate Increase To Pay For New Coal Plant?!

According to this AZ Republic article, SRP isn't being very clear about what the money from the proposed rate increase will be used for. Is it for new renewable energy generation? Is it for energy efficiency programs? Will it be used to build new Coal Fired power plants?

"I can't see the justification for it," said Tim Hogan , executive director of the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest . "Getting information out of them is like pulling teeth."

SRP says the money will be used to "maintain and upgrade existing power plants and transmission lines, manage diverse fuel sources and meet strict environmental requirements," according to its press release.

About 25 percent of the increase will go towards energy efficiency programs and renewable energy.

SRP said the remaining 75 percent of the proposed increase allows it to maintain aging power plants, transmission lines and distribution infrastructure and preserves diverse fuel sources.

The company said it also covers increased expenses from significant ongoing capital investments – such as the nearly completed Unit 4 at the existing Springerville [Coal] Generating Station, which will replace the energy produced by the now closed Mohave Generating Station in Nevada, and state-of-the-art emission-control technology at the Coronado Generating Station in St.

"First and foremost, SRP and utilities should focus on energy efficiency as a priority resource," said Diane Brown , executive director of the Arizona Public Interest Research Group . Residents who attended an SRP-hosted informational fair in Gilbert Wednesday night were equally upset with the proposed increase, as well as the opening of a new coal plant.

Many attending the meeting said they expected it to be a forum for comment, but found only informational booths and SRP staffers fielding questions.

"It's a sales pitch," said Dianne Kling, of Gilbert. "They wanted to just do a PR."

Nichols said public comment will be accepted when the proposal is presented to SRP's board of directors in September. Another informational fair will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Supai Middle School in Scottsdale (6720 E. Continental Drive).

I will resist the temptation to list the myriad awful consequences that result from burning coal...

...no I won't:

Asthma, mercury pollution in fish, mountaintop removal, acid rain(largly mitigated by a cap and trade system in the '90s), coal ash, CO2.

Any assertion that Coal is cheaper than renewable power is neglecting the societal/environmental costs of these negative effects of mining and burning it.  Asthma, for example, results in a tremendous additional cost to our health care system.

7 iPhone Apps to Manage Energy Consumption

I don't own an iphone, but some of these apps sound really tempting to me.  I especially like the remote controlled thermostat.  Ideally, SRP would provide real time power usage info over the web, transmitted from my smart meter.  I doubt it's that smart, though, because it takes about 12 hours for it to upload yesterdays energy consumption to SRP's web site.

Anyway, if you own or desire an iphone:

Read the article here.

AZ Republic Profiles Local Homeowner Who Greened Her Home

This is an example of an inspiring, if somewhat extreme, green home makeover. I'm all for it, if you have the resources: Republic Article

I think AZcentral requires you to pay after a week, so I'l paste a few highlights from the article:

[Delia] Story lives in a 1,500-square-foot house, has invested in making her home an eco-friendly paradise and hopes her way of living will inspire others.

A modest house near Rural and Broadway roads fit the bill. With no homeowners association to contend with, Story proceeded as an amateur environmental chemist.

She took stock of the house's energy-saving benefits, which included built-in shade from a property directly to the west that blocked afternoon sun on the side of the house. Three-foot eaves circling the house kept sun from blazing through the windows. And while most people want the convenience of an indoor laundry room, Story's was detached. That meant using less energy to combat the heat generated during washing and drying.

Story studied big and small changes she could make to her house.

Her goals were to use less water, energy and natural resources. A tour of the house includes a graywater and rainwater recycling system, water sensors to ensure she isn't over-watering her garden and paints that do not contain volatile organic compounds. She even has chickens that produce fresh eggs and serve as a natural pesticide - chickens eat bugs.

I applaud her efforts and hope she succeeds in her goal to inspire other local residents to live a little bit lighter on the land.

EZ-3 Price Plan Saves Us Money

After a rocky start, it looks like SRP's EZ-3 price plan is going to save us money and improve our quality of life a little.  Because peak electric rates only occur from 3 to 6 pm Mon through Fri, we can set our thermostat to 85 during those hours and lower our peak usage to between 1 and 3 kwh.  On SRP's time-of-use(TOU) plan, peak pricing occurs between 1 and 8 pm, which is far too long to endure little or no air conditioning, resulting in peak usage between 13 and 20 kwh.  I ran the numbers on 2 similar days where total usage was 53 kwh.  Under TOU pricing, we used 13 kwh on-peak and paid $5.18.  Under EZ-3 pricing, we used 2 kwh on-peak and paid $4.13.  That's a 20% savings!  Hopefully these numbers will hold up, I only have 4 days worth of EZ-3 data so far.

Lifestyle improvements include turning on the water heater at 7 instead of 8, which is better for dishes and showers/baths.  We can also run our pool pump during the day until 3pm, which, I've been told, helps keep the pool clean.

An SRP smart meter is required to sign up for the EZ-3 rate plan.  You're at the mercy of SRP's master schedule for upgrading meters if you don't have one yet.

Mckinsey Report: Efficiency could save $700 Billion

When surveyed, the average American estimates that "plug loads" represent 13 percent of energy consumption, but the number is more like 35 percent and growing, Ostrowski said.

Standby power alone, sometimes referred to a home's parasitic or vampire load, is 6 percent to 8 percent of the total. Putting in place efficiency standards to cut standby power could result in energy savings equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of the Netherlands, Ostrowski said.

Read more here.