Things you can do to help promote solar power

I got this list from Valerie Rauluk, who spoke at the CCIPRA meeting.

1. getting the word out that solar energy is a viable, cost effective option and offers economic opportunity for the community.

2. support elected officials who are actively engaged in bringing more clean energy alternatives to our communities.

3. encourage government, businesses and individuals to support clean energy funding mechanisms such as the renewable energy standard and tariff.

4. encourage government, businesses and individuals to include energy efficiency and clean energy generation in its operations.

Local Efforts in Solar Energy (and how you can help)

Solar energy - At a recent combined meeting of CCIPRA and Voters For Rural Values, Valerie Rauluk and others spoke about alternative energy sources, especially solar. Valerie Rauluk is founder and CEO of Venture Catalyst (VeCat), a consulting firm which has secured over $3 million in federal funds to enhance the solar industry. [Email her at vajra@vecat-inc.com]

Valerie's message was simple: solar is coming, and its cost will drop. Solar is reliable, and well suited to Arizona's conditions. Already, from 1990 to 2005, the retail cost has dropped from $7.50 to $4 per watt. Valerie said the Arizona Corporation Commission's ‘Renewable Energy & Standard Tariff’ (REST) rules require utilities to generate 15% of their output from renewable sources by 2025. [see http://www.cc.state.az.us/divisions/utilities/electric/environmental.asp] Existing coal-fired plants won't go out of business, but people can work to see that few new ones are built. A homeowner can combine solar with power from the grid during peak use, or on cloudy days.

Valerie showed a 2x4' solar panel which produces 60 watts. For higher needs, panels are strung together. A system requires panels, a DC to AC inverter, etc. Banks are getting on board with funding, and financial assistance for homeowners is available through rebates and federal and state tax credits. Valerie estimated that a $9000 system might, after rebates and tax credits, cost a homeowner only $2000.

Jim Cooley, solar installer, showed slides of solar panels installed on a roof or on the ground. He said most people off the grid have a backup generator in case of several cloudy days. [Email Jim at progsolar@earthlink.net]

Wayne Crane of SSVEC explained the Sun Watts rebate program. SSVEC will give a rebate on the cost of installing solar, OR pay wholesale for solar power fed back to SSVEC. He agreed with an audience member that “a better deal for the homeowner might be appropriate.” [For more info see http://www.ssvec.org and http://littlebigdog.net/ccipra.htm,]

Dan Frey, from Gabrielle Giffords’ office, said that her Community Solar Energy Initiative advisory council identified three key areas for marketing solar power. Giffords plans to introduce a bill to renew tax credits for solar installation until 2020. [See http://www.giffordsforcongress.com]..

All speakers agree: tell officials that you support renewable energy.

Upcoming CCIPRA meeting

CCIPRA is the Cochise County Individual and Property Rights Association PAC, and they have been very active in getting out information about the planned power plant. Now that the planners have reverted to their original idea to burn natural gas, there is still a concern that vast amounts of greenhouse gases will be released into the atmosphere.

At their next meeting, scheduled for 2pm Sunday Oct. 7th, CCIPRA has joined with Voters for Rural Values to invite Valerie Rauluk to talk about solar power. Valerie, who works for Sun-Edison, says that solar technology is advancing rapidly, and many excellent alternatives to power by combustion are becoming available.

Last October, the AZ Corporation Commission (ACC) approved Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff (REST) rules requiring utilities to derive an increasing amount of their electricity from renewable energy sources until they reach the level of 15% by 2025, and other states have enacted even more stringent rules.

For first-hand information about state requirements, visit the ACC website: http://www.cc.state.az.us Click on Hot Topics and then on Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff Rules.

Come to the Oct. 7th meeting, bring friends and questions, and learn about solar, a non-polluting alternative to coal and gas fueled plants.

Sunsites Community Center [Highway 191 to Sunsites, turn east on Treasure Rd, 1st bldg on left]. Voters for Rural Values and CCIPRA invited [for meeting info, contact hdjxn@vtc.net, 642-1760]

9/27 Update: Wayne Crane, PR Manager for Sulfur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative will also attend to discuss customer rebates for solar power conversion. There is more information about this program on their website: http://www.ssvec.org/programs/energySunWatts.php

Change in direction

It appears SouthWestern Power Group is changing their plans for the Bowie Power Station.

We learned last Wednesday through public notice that the Cochise County Board of Supervisors will be holding a hearing on Sept. 18th to consider SWPG's request to "extend a deadline for construction of a natural gas electric generation plant which expires on September 24, 2007." The stated purpose of the extension is: "to provide sufficient time for adequate professional and technical review of the revised IGCC proposal, while retaining an active status for the originally approved natural gas facility."

However, just this morning we learned that SWPG issued a press release yesterday afternoon, in which they announced their plan that the Bowie Power Station "run solely on clean natural gas". This change "reverts the project back to the configuration as originally permitted by Cochise County and the Arizona regulators in 2002."

In the release, David Getts, General manage of SWPG, is quoted as saying: "While we continue to believe in the benefits of IGCC technology, we are enthusiastic about building an important project in Bowie and a clean-burning natural gas facility has the best chance of being permitted, constructed, and successful within a reasonable timeframe."

The release also says: "The project has already been granted a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility by the Arizona Corporation Commission, an air permit by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and a conditional use permit by Cochise County. The remaining regulatory requirements will be completed in early 2008 and construction will begin as soon as possible thereafter."

There is no information about this on the SWPG website (last news there on the Bowie Power Station project is dated in June 2006), and the Bowie Power Station site is under revision. All that appears there at this writing is "Please check back shortly. August 31, 2007."

Change in direction

It appears SPG is changing direction.

Cochise County County Board of Supervisors announced last Wednesday that they will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 18 to consider SPG's request to extend the deadline for contructing a natural gas electric generation plant. That permit is set to expire September 24, 2007.

And then yesterday late afternoon, SPG issued a press release announcing their plan that the Bowie Power Station will run solely on "clean natural gas". And that this adjustment to their plans "reverts the project back to the configuration as originally permitted by Cochise County and the Arizona regulators in 2002".

In the release, David Getts, General Manager of SPG, is quoted as saying: "While we continue to believe in the benefits of IGCC technology, we are enthusiastic about building an important project in Bowie and a clean-burning natural gas facility has the best chance of being permitted, constructed, and successful within a reasonable timeframe."

The press release links to the the Bowie Power Plant website; however, as of this writing, content on that site has been replaced with: "Please check back shortly - August 31, 2007"

Our chances to speak out and to ask questions

The Cochise County Board of Supervisors have set a few dates for public or open meetings to discuss the issue of whether Bowie should be the home of a coal gas-fired power plant. It's still not on their online calendar, but informed sources tell me that the following public meetings have been set up.

Mid-Sept. at time and location to be determined--work session to discuss the findings of the consultant–open to the public. (note: this date and the date of the following session have been pushed back by 3 weeks to allow the consultant time to review the case.)

Late Sept.—the regularly scheduled Supervisors' meeting will be held in Bowie or Willcox to make the final determination about this project—it will be open to public comment.

The Cochise County Individual And Property Rights Association (CCIPRA) is hosting two SWPG (Southwest Power Group) reps at their meeting on the 25th and they hope people will come and ask hard questions. Helene Jackson, the spokeswoman for the group, told me, "We'll squeeze people in if we have to. Last meeting, Sharon Thomas presented a PowerPoint on this kind of facility. When SWPG learned she would be here, they wanted to come to the same meeting and 'present SWPG's side.' In spite of their persistence through several emails, we convinced them to come to a different meeting. You can imagine what might have happened had they come to the July meeting!!" The August meeting time, place, directions: Sat. Aug. 25, 2 p.m. Jacksons' house: 4012 Davis Rd., McNeal, AZ 1/4 mile west of 191 on Davis, 3rd house past the school property. Click for map.


Ultimately, the Supervisors will decide whether or not SWPG gets rezoning - they need that before they can do anything else. Supervisors Searle and Newman seem to put great weight on what their constituents tell them, so it's critical that people contact one or both, although our supervisor (Searle) appears to have already decided to vote in favor.

While we're on the subject of the Board of Supervisors, I found an interesting write-up on the internet on how to approach the Cochise county offices to get things done. It's at http://littlebigdog.net/ccipra.htm, and it includes a description of the most recent meeting, where they hired the consultant to help sort out issues concerning the power plant.

The writer, said, "(Agenda) Item 17 was to "hire" a technical consultant for the Board as to the proposed Bowie Power Plant. The selection process... was lengthy and impartial... There was no discussion of the details of county supervision of the work, nor of public access to the report once it is finished.

David Getts, the project's general manager, told the Board that he welcomed the process, but he emphasized that the process might get into areas which the county had no role supervising. Getts did not seem to distinguish enough between the Board's voting to allow or prohibit a coal-burning power plant at all, and supervision of the plant once it is constructed. There may be some tension between the plant and the county on this point."

The same meeting was written up in the Arizona Range News by reporter Shar Porier at http://www.willcoxrangenews.com/articles/2007/07/25/news/news1.txt.

One thing that particularly caught my eye was this quote:
"The ADEW team (ie. the hired consultant) also will assess ... the effects of carbon dioxide on the environment.

"They will review the application of SouthWestern Power Group II and look at state and county guidelines," Vlahovich noted. "They will also look at the carbon sequestration technology and determine what levels could be reasonably achieved."

That last part did not sit well with David Getts, general manager of SouthWestern Power Group II, though the company has been supportive of the technical advisor. Currently, there are no federal standards for carbon dioxide emissions, he pointed out.

"I have concerns with this scope of this specific review, if that indicates a part on the county to regulate air quality," Getts told the supervisors. "That's the job of state and federal agencies."

Searle replied, "I have no intention of taking jurisdiction over air quality, but I do want to look at it properly, however."

Local power production company has a much better solution

An interested Bowie resident forwarded me the URL for this website: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/07/colossal_magnet.php. It's a local Cochise county company in Sierra Vista that is developing maglev wind turbine power generators. It's a great idea, a big improvement over standard windmills, using technology that has been tested and used successfully in Asia for many years. It can generate more electricity in less than 100 acres than conventional windmills can generate in 64,000 acres, and without polluting.

From their website:
The Maglev Wind Turbine Power Plant contributes to the reduction of pollution by eliminating our dependency of fossil fueled power plants. Since carbon dioxide is absorbed by trees, our Maglev Wind Turbine Power Plant can offset as much as 1,750,000 acres of forest. Another analogy used, is to equate the energy generated by our Power Plant to the amount generated by a barrel of oil. Maglev Wind Turbine Power Plant can generate the same amount of energy annually as 5,475,000 barrels of oil.

MAGLEV WIND TURBINE will offset emissions (pollution) from other regional sources of electricity. If we do not install our Power Plant and generate approximately 8.75 TWh of renewable energy annually, the same amount of energy generated from oil, coal or natural gas would create the following estimated emissions :

8.7 Billion pounds of Carbon Dioxide
18,000,000 pounds of Nitrogen Oxides
50,400,000 pounds of Sulfur Dioxide

* Based on location and wind velocity estimates

Data Source for Emissions Calculated: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/egrid/pdfs/state.pdf