Friday, November 30, 2012

QED’s First Winter In North Dakota

An article in The Dicksonson Press (of ND), dated 11/13/12, can’t be accessed online without a password. So here’s the gist:

Quality Electric Distribution, a 25-year-old company, opened in Dickinson in May. It’s now facing its first ND winter, the article said.

Also of note:

- “none of the staff of six are from the Dickinson area, with half from Idaho.”

- “We are devoted to Dickinson, buying homes — and we’re not here just with the Oil Patch. When the oil field goes away, we will still have QED here. We will own homes and raise families.” — Bob Farnsworth of QED.

Source: http://electricalcontractor.com/?p=7161

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How to Overcome A Power Outage . . .

. . . plug your EV into your house, and make the power flow the other way.

Rather than face a difficult time without any form of electricity, one innovative man from New Jersey managed to convert his Toyota Prius into a generator.

He attached an inverter (which takes 12v DC and creates 120v AC from it) to the car’s battery system, and then wired the unit to his house’s mains supply.

His Prius supplied enough electricity to power the lights in his house, the television, and his computer, for an entire week, whilst only using three quarters of the tank of petrol.

According to the article where we found this, you can find places on the Internet where you learn how to do the same thing.

Source: http://electricalcontractor.com/?p=7174

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Prime Time For Generators

See this early-November story about Walker Machinery’s Power Systems Division, which rents generators — it has been a boom period for the company.

The company brought in generators from Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida and Kansas to meet the needs of local customers. Canterbury said Walker provided all of the services from freight and delivery to installation, if necessary.

Source: http://electricalcontractor.com/?p=7157

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Wind PTC: Facts vs Fluff

“AWEA says that Congress should provide a tax credit for high-income earners to pay less than their “fair share,” while middle-class taxpayers borrow $12+ billion from China to subsidize an expensive, unreliable, environmentally destructive, alternative energy source, based on unsubstantiated claims, that will actually result in net job losses! Exactly why is that a good idea?”

Last week, head wind lobbyist, Denise Bode (AWEA), waxed eloquently about why extending the wind Production Tax Credit (PTC) is a splendid scheme that some of our legislators are supposedly supporting.

This immediately brings to mind Upton Sinclair’s insightful observation: “A man cannot be expected to understand something when his income depends on his not understanding it.”

Put another way, when a salesperson says their product is the cat’s meow, be careful that you don’t get caught in the claws.

‘All of the Above’: Caveat emptor

Denise says that an “All of the Above” energy policy is a terrific plan — but is it?

Let’s skip the hype and do some critical thinking about this for a minute, and see if this superficial sound-bite is sensible.

If we use all energy sources, that would include expensive sources — how is that a good idea?
If we use all energy sources, that would include unreliable sources — how is that a good idea?
If we use all energy sources, that would include environmentally destructive sources — how is that a good idea?

If you are connecting the dots here, you can now understand why Denise loves the “All of the Above” slogan — as (surprise!) such a lax directive would qualify her expensive, unreliable and environmentally destructive product to be included in our energy mix!

It’s not paying sufficient attention to details like these that gets us into trouble. We then spend a lot of money, time and effort — and 20 years down the road we say: how come we have so little to show for our sacrifices?

We have many conscientious and competent representatives, but they repeatedly get bamboozled. How come? It’s not really rocket science: they are flim-flammed because they have been inundated by incessant one-sided, unverified, marketing propaganda. Most of us would be fooled too.

Energy is a technical matter and our policy decisions should be based on real science, not sales pitches from peddlers. So far (with regards to our energy policies) genuine science is being held scoreless.

What Are They Not Talking About?

Here are some other PTC tidbits (see PTCFacts.Info) that those smooth-talking AWEA hucksters won’t be mentioning…

A one year extension of the PTC will cost taxpayers over $12 Billionhow is that a good idea?
All that $12+ Billion will put us that much further in debt — how is that a good idea?
Almost all of that $12+ Billion will be borrowed from China — how is that a good idea?
A large part of that $12+ Billion will go to foreign conglomerates — how is that a good idea?

Yes, we know that the PTC is a tax credit — but what is that really? Basically, a tax credit enables high-income taxpayers to pay less tax. But wait a minute! Aren’t the Democrats committed to having higher income taxpayers pay more tax to carry their “fair share”? Extending the PTC does exactly the opposite — so how can Democrats say that this is a good idea?

And the AWEA job numbers bandied about have never been transparently presented, or independently verified to be accurate. For instance, while they claim that there are 7000± wind jobs in Iowa (the most for any state), independent experts have only been able to identify around 2000.

When AWEA is asked to prove their numbers, they decline to provide the evidence. So Congress should simply take a hustler’s word for something as important as jobs? How is that a good idea?
Wind energy often provides less than 30% of its rated capacity — but their salespeople deceptively imply that puff power has some equivalence to full-time sources of electricity (e.g. that it will replace coal facilities).

Interestingly, the Iowa employment figure of 2000 vs 7000 appears to be less than 30% accurate. Evidently AWEA thinks 30% is close enough to 100% to call it even with performance and jobs.

Even if their wildly speculative job claims were true, a one year PTC extension would amount to some $325,000 per job — how is that a good idea?

Actually, even more to the point, independent experts have repeatedly shown that wind energy is a net jobs loser! (This is due to a variety of proven consequences — like the higher actual costs of wind electricity resulting in other businesses laying off employees.) Isn’t the NET jobs situation really important?

Conclusion

So let’s discard AWEA’s palliative pablum and condense this down to the prime points here…

AWEA says that Congress should provide a tax credit for high-income earners to pay less than their “fair share,” while middle-class taxpayers borrow $12+ Billion from China, to subsidize an expensive, unreliable, environmentally destructive, alternative energy source, based on unsubstantiated claims, that will actually result in net job losses! Exactly why is that a good idea?

So what should be our energy policy? How about “All of the Sensible”?

Since the real consequences of extending the PTC are anything but sensible, you can be sure that AWEA will not be advocating that strategy!

Source: http://www.masterresource.org/2012/11/wind-ptc-facts-vs-fluff/

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Check Your GFCI

GFCI receptacles (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) are typically found in homes built or remodeled after 1978 and can most often found in the bathroom, garage or exterior outlets. One GFCI may control multiple outlets. It is not uncommon, especially in homes built before 1997, to find the GFCI in the bathroom or garage controlling the [...]

Source: http://blog.atselectricinc.com/2012/08/check-your-gfci-10/

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Electrician Services Questions

Has your home had a major addition or renovation?

Do your lights flicker or dim momentarily?

Do you hear crackling, sizzling, or buzzing from your outlets?

Do you have GFCI'S?

 

Source: http://cooper-electric.net/electrician-services-questions/

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Replace circuit breakers with licensed electricians in Miami, Ft Lauderdale or West Palm Beach

If you need to replace a circuit breaker or need work on your electrical panels, an Electrician in Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach or Miami Electrical contractors can do the neccessary work for you.

Do not try to attempt any electrical repairs on your own as this can be extremely dangerous to your health and risk the safety of your home.  Regardless of the location, whether it is your home or business, you must have a licensed Miami electrical contractor handle any repairs involving electricity. If you do a sloppy job, you risk being electrocuted and possibly and electrical fire which can destroy your house and business as well as injure and even kill your employees or your family. It is not worth trying to save a few extra bucks. Do yourself a favor, get on the phone, search Google, Yahoo or Bing and hire a licensed electrician in West Palm Beach, Miami or Fort Lauderdale today.

Electrician in MiamiYou can read reviews, check out the better business bureau and even call and email a few companies for quotes before making any big decisions. It always pays off to do as much homework as possible prior to hiring an electrical contractor.  You want an electrician in Miami that is reliable and fairly priced. If you are rich or poor, nobody wants to pay more than they have to but your safety comes first. A fire or an injury will be much more expensive and may result in a death or damage to property or work that may be completely irreplaceable. We hope this advice has been useful to you in making a decision and if you need additional info about Electricians in Fort Lauderdale and Electricial Contractors in Miami, visit: http://sflaelectrician.com and read our blog

Source: http://www.sflaelectrician.com/replace-circuit-breakers-with-licensed-electricians-in-miami-ft-lauderdale-or-west-palm-beach/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=replace-circuit-breakers-with-licensed-electricians-in-miami-ft-lauderdale-or-west-palm-beach

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Why Hiring an Electrical Contractor Saves Time and Money? Electrical Contractor South Florida

Hiring an electrical contractor is crucial as this is the person who handles all the electric system in the house. This involves installing new appliances, remodeling or doing regular electrical maintenance around the home. Hiring a trained professional can help to ensure that both money and time is saved. When hiring a professional electric contractor [...]

Source: http://www.perfectelectricrepairs.com/2012/why-hiring-an-electrical-contractor-saves-time-and-money-electrical-contractor-south-florida.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-hiring-an-electrical-contractor-saves-time-and-money-electrical-contractor-south-florida

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Thursday, November 29, 2012

Hire an electrician for preventative service today

Keep your system running more efficiently and prevent break downs with preventative service.

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Having a professional electrician doing a preventive service at your home or business will help lower the risk of electrical system failure and also to save money on the monthly electrical bill.  To perform this type of prevention will avoid the kind of shorts that cause fires, identify loose connections, components running hot, unusual smells, energy saving opportunities, equipment loss, safety and liability issues.

Because of all these potential problems, I recommend contacting Southern Coast Electrical Services. They have electrical contractors in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach on call.

But they cover all of South Florida 24/7, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. So no matter where you are, count on them for preventative service or maintenance of your electrical systems at home or at your company’s place of business.Accredited Business BBB

To get a great service and stay within your budget, Call Southern Coast Electricians in Boca Raton, FL today! They really know the meaning of the word PROFESSIONAL.

Source: http://www.sflaelectrician.com/preventative-service/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=preventative-service

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Avoiding Thanksgiving Turkey Blunders and Goofups

This year, be known for your perfectly cooked turkey, not the blunders you caused. You don't want to be the headline on the news about the person who started their garage on fire while cooking a turkey, do you? Instead, read these turkey blunders and avoid being the Thanksgiving turkey on your block! Gobble up these tips.
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Source: http://electrical.about.com/b/2012/11/17/avoiding-thanksgiving-turkey-blunders-and-goofups.htm

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Smoke Detectors

In most cases you have less than five minutes to escape in a house fire which is why being alerted immediately is important. Smoke detectors should be placed in every bedroom, every common hallway and in any change of ceiling height greater than 12 inches. Batteries should be checked monthly and changed often. Lithium batteries, [...]

Source: http://blog.atselectricinc.com/2012/07/smoke-detectors-6/

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Schedule A Thermographic Electrical Inspection

Schedule A Thermographic Electrical Inspection 


Top 5 Reasons:

For any industrial business or operation, it is important to catch equipment and electrical problems before any operating failures can occur. Any problem that does go undetected can inflict extensive damage on your equipment and your business as a whole. Thermographic electrical inspections use High-Definition Thermographic (Infrared) cameras in order to determine temperature changes in electrical components. To help illustrate the importance of thermographic inspections, here are five factors to consider.

1. Catch Defective or Failing Components Early:

You can't always tell when a piece of equipment is about to fail. They don't all smoke and make noise. Instead, thermographic imaging is used to detect temperature abnormalities. This also works well with concealed equipment. By finding potential problems early, they can be fixed so that there is no down time.

2. Prevent Loss of Production Time:

An operating failure can shut your operation down for days, weeks or even longer. Keep your operation up and running and productive at all times by scheduling regular thermographic electrical inspections.

3. Save On Maintenance and Replacement Costs:

Regular thermographic inspections can help you save on maintenance costs and the costs associated with replacing failed equipment. By catching issues early on, your equipment will last longer with fewer and less-frequent replacements overall.

4. Prevent Fires and Personal Injury:

If left to get worse, loose wiring, faulty breakers and other problems can easily cause a fire. Furthermore, failed equipment can create safety hazards that have the potential to harm you or one of your employees. Don’t take chances. Predictive thermal inspections will help you protect your business and your staff from any dangerous conditions.

5. You Can Schedule During Regular Business Operations:

There is no need to shut down production simply because you have scheduled a thermographic electrical inspection. The best time to conduct a thermographic scan is when business is running as usual, as that is when most problems occur. Your inspector will work around your equipment and personnel. You might even forget the inspector is there.

The Inspection Results

When you schedule a thermographic electrical inspection, you will receive a complete report from your inspector that includes any abnormalities found, along with recommended courses of action. If there are any issues that demand your immediate attention, those will be focused on first. The report includes high-definition images and comparisons of scans over time. If there are any issues with your electrical systems or components, your inspector will find them.

By now you should be convinced that a thermographic electrical inspection is a wise decision and investment. With state-of-the-art equipment, training and certification, your inspector will attempt to catch potential problems before they are realized. If conducted regularly, you can extend the life of your equipment, save on maintenance and replacement costs and you can protect your business from down time and other disasters. By checking your electrical switch gear, panels, buss bar feeders and all other components and equipment, your thermographic inspector will help you find even the smallest of problems before they get out of hand.

We provide Thermography Cincinnati Inspections and Nationwide.

Source: http://cooper-electric.net/schedule-a-thermographic-electrical-inspection/

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Net-Zero Buildings Don’t Have To Be Small

So says Building Operating Management, in an article that assaults the myths about Net-Zero Energy Buildings:

The Bullitt Center, dubbed by its owners, the Bullitt Foundation, as the “greenest commercial building in the world,” is a $30 million, six-story, 52,000-square-foot multitenant development that not only will be net-zero energy, but will also be a Living Buildings Challenge certified facility. The construction cost for the Bullitt Center is about $350 per square foot — about an 18 percent premium compared to traditional buildings, according to Brad Kahn, a spokesperson for Point32, the building’s developer.

“That’s expensive, but not outlandish,” says Paul Schwer, principal with PAE Consulting Engineers, Inc., the project’s engineering firm. He adds that the owners wanted a 250-year building, which also added cost. So it’s difficult to separate the specific net-zero energy costs from others.

Indeed, experts caution against that sort of first-cost or “premium” thinking in regards to net-zero energy buildings. After all, with net-zero energy buildings, there should literally be no utility bill (when accounting on an annual basis). And besides, as Qualk explains, if net-zero energy is the stated goal for the building and the starting point of the first design charrette — which is the case for nearly every documented net-zero energy building — then the components that make up the building aren’t divided into “net-zero components” and “traditional building components.” Everything is just part of the building.

“Fire protection, security and ADA all add cost to a building, but we’ve accepted those as things we have to pay for,” Qualk says. But, often, sustainability is still seen as a premium. “If net-zero energy is the starting point, then it’s worthwhile. The industry suffers from too much first-cost thinking. Failure to account for total cost of ownership means missed opportunities.”

Source: http://electricalcontractor.com/?p=7153

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‘Imagine’ A New York World of Hydraulic Fracturing (and economical clean energy, sustainable jobs)

In recent months, the state of New York has been a focal point in the broader public debate over hydraulic fracturing. Activists in the state have teamed with musicians (in the loosest possible definition of the term) and Los Angeles movie stars to try to block shale development from occurring.

Hollywood’s finest, including Robert Redford and airline aficionado Alec Baldwin, as well as celebrities like meat-suit-wearing Lady Gaga have expended great effort in trying to undermine scientific conclusions about the safety of hydraulic fracturing.

Meanwhile, unemployment remains unacceptably high in the areas of upstate New York where prospective natural gas development would be located. So, it was with perhaps little surprise that when the voters in the Southern Tier had their say at the ballot box last week, they sent a clear message that they’ve had enough of “artists” telling them how to live their lives.

As the Associated Press reported, candidates opposing hydraulic fracturing “were beaten up and down the ballot after intense campaigns, some of which were framed as referendums on shale gas development.”

Translation: bring all the tambourines and celebrity star power you want, but facts will win the day, and the people have spoken.

Not to be rebuffed by democracy, “Artists Against Fracking” founders Yoko Ono and Sean Ono Lennon – best known for breaking up the Beatles and, well, being the son of the lady who broke up the Beatles, respectively – have paid for a huge billboard that says “Imagine There’s No Fracking.” Naturally, the sign is in New York City, far away from both where development will actually occur and the people who voted overwhelmingly in favor of such development.

Artists Against Fracking

The group claims that the billboard was placed on a route that Andrew Cuomo frequently travels, meaning they’re clearly trying to tell the governor to ignore the voters and ban hydraulic fracturing. To be fair, they could have put the billboard in Elmira or Horseheads or anywhere else in the Southern Tier, but after the thumping that opponents of responsible natural gas development took at the polls, it’s probably for the best that they kept their toxic message far away from the people it would most severely impact.

What Yoko, Sean, Ms. Gaga, Jack Donaghy, and the countless other wannabe “experts” don’t understand is that in upstate New York, people don’t have to “imagine” anything. There’s effectively been a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing since 2008 throughout the state. The lack of jobs (unemployment in the Southern Tier is above the national average) means upstate New Yorkers are actually living in a world without responsible natural gas development – not just singing about it on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and pretending it’s somehow paradise.

If there’s one thing to be learned from the recent elections, it’s that New York voters are done with the games and grand charade. They want jobs and they want futures for their families, and last week they voted for both.

Hopefully they won’t have to “imagine” a better life for much longer.

Source: http://www.masterresource.org/2012/11/imagine-ny-hydraulic-fracturing/

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LED Lighting For Your Laundry Room

Getting the most out of your laundry room starts with the right lighting fixtures from your Pasadena lighting contractor. Without the right lighting in your laundry room, you might as well be doing your laundry in the closet. Conventional lighting can be too hot for an already warm space. Florescent bulbs tend to make a room feel like your cleaning clothes at the DMV. Use this guide to lighting with LED bulbs and you can be sure your mud room will be well lit for an affordable price.

LED Track Lighting

For laundry spaces that need a bright light source, LED track fixtures can be the source that you need to light your washer, dryer and folding area with one simple switch. LED’s are easy to install over existing fixtures. Attach these fantastic laundry lights to a dimmer switch and you can keep the lights low for when you leave the room and turn them on bright when you need to fold the clothes.

Under cabinet Lighting

Many mud rooms have cabinets above the washer, dryer, lavatory or laundry folding area. These are excellent areas for installing under cabinet lights. LED under cabinet systems are easy to install and work well with most hanging cabinet styles. When installing under cabinet LED’s, it’s a good idea to space them apart about two feet for optimal light displacement. Rope lights are also another style of under cabinet lighting that works great in laundry room areas and can provide your laundry space with a continuous ambient light source under the cabinets.

Recessed Lights

A recessed fixture is commonly employed over the top of each laundry appliance and counter space facing directly down onto the surface. These flush ceiling LED fixtures are fantastic ways to keep your laundry room well lit without the need for exposed fixtures. Recessed lighting comes in various styles but LED recessed lighting works particularly better than a conventional can light in many ways. LED recessed lights are much smaller, yet yield more lumens per watt. Since they produce little heat, they can be installed in areas where conventional recessed lighting cannot. They also use significantly less energy making them a great addition to any mud room.

 

Source: http://www.accurateelectricalservices.com/CA-Electrician/lighting/led-lighting-laundry-room

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Ask an Electrician Burbank – What is an Electrical Short?

Whenever you have a short circuit, it means that there was an accidental path created in your existing circuit, which generated a connection that was not there before the short occurred. Electricity will always follow the path of least resistance, which means that it will almost always follow this new path, rather than its intended path. This typically results in an abnormally high level of electrical current. The most common type of short is when two bare wires cross, such as when old insulation deteriorates, causing a loose connection which allows two wires to touch.

An electrical short is not something to take lightly. This increased current generates a great amount of heat, which can lead to sparks and fire. One way to identify an electrical short is by hearing a popping sound whenever that particular circuit is turned on. This is the sound of the electricity taking the path along the new connection that it has found, causing the circuit to experience a sudden overload. Smoke, flames and melting fixtures can follow, leading to larger fires and risk of shock in the immediate vicinity.

Another common source of electrical shorts is improper wiring. This can occur if the metal lining of a particular switch or outlet touches one of the wires. An electrician in Burbank must always find and fix shorts caused by damage, such as storm damage.

The most important thing to do whenever you have a short is to address it immediately. Because of the potential severity of this situation, call an electrician right away to have them inspect and fix the problem for you. A short left unrepaired can lead to more extensive damage, resulting in a much higher cost than if you had fixed the problem whenever it was first detected. For more information on electrical troubleshooting and our services, visit our main page at www.theelectricconnection.com/electrician-burbank-ca.

Source: http://www.theelectricconnection.com/electrician-burbank-electrical-short/

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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Wind PTC: Facts vs Fluff

“AWEA says that Congress should provide a tax credit for high-income earners to pay less than their “fair share,” while middle-class taxpayers borrow $12+ billion from China to subsidize an expensive, unreliable, environmentally destructive, alternative energy source, based on unsubstantiated claims, that will actually result in net job losses! Exactly why is that a good idea?”

Last week, head wind lobbyist, Denise Bode (AWEA), waxed eloquently about why extending the wind Production Tax Credit (PTC) is a splendid scheme that some of our legislators are supposedly supporting.

This immediately brings to mind Upton Sinclair’s insightful observation: “A man cannot be expected to understand something when his income depends on his not understanding it.”

Put another way, when a salesperson says their product is the cat’s meow, be careful that you don’t get caught in the claws.

‘All of the Above’: Caveat emptor

Denise says that an “All of the Above” energy policy is a terrific plan — but is it?

Let’s skip the hype and do some critical thinking about this for a minute, and see if this superficial sound-bite is sensible.

If we use all energy sources, that would include expensive sources — how is that a good idea?
If we use all energy sources, that would include unreliable sources — how is that a good idea?
If we use all energy sources, that would include environmentally destructive sources — how is that a good idea?

If you are connecting the dots here, you can now understand why Denise loves the “All of the Above” slogan — as (surprise!) such a lax directive would qualify her expensive, unreliable and environmentally destructive product to be included in our energy mix!

It’s not paying sufficient attention to details like these that gets us into trouble. We then spend a lot of money, time and effort — and 20 years down the road we say: how come we have so little to show for our sacrifices?

We have many conscientious and competent representatives, but they repeatedly get bamboozled. How come? It’s not really rocket science: they are flim-flammed because they have been inundated by incessant one-sided, unverified, marketing propaganda. Most of us would be fooled too.

Energy is a technical matter and our policy decisions should be based on real science, not sales pitches from peddlers. So far (with regards to our energy policies) genuine science is being held scoreless.

What Are They Not Talking About?

Here are some other PTC tidbits (see PTCFacts.Info) that those smooth-talking AWEA hucksters won’t be mentioning…

A one year extension of the PTC will cost taxpayers over $12 Billionhow is that a good idea?
All that $12+ Billion will put us that much further in debt — how is that a good idea?
Almost all of that $12+ Billion will be borrowed from China — how is that a good idea?
A large part of that $12+ Billion will go to foreign conglomerates — how is that a good idea?

Yes, we know that the PTC is a tax credit — but what is that really? Basically, a tax credit enables high-income taxpayers to pay less tax. But wait a minute! Aren’t the Democrats committed to having higher income taxpayers pay more tax to carry their “fair share”? Extending the PTC does exactly the opposite — so how can Democrats say that this is a good idea?

And the AWEA job numbers bandied about have never been transparently presented, or independently verified to be accurate. For instance, while they claim that there are 7000± wind jobs in Iowa (the most for any state), independent experts have only been able to identify around 2000.

When AWEA is asked to prove their numbers, they decline to provide the evidence. So Congress should simply take a hustler’s word for something as important as jobs? How is that a good idea?
Wind energy often provides less than 30% of its rated capacity — but their salespeople deceptively imply that puff power has some equivalence to full-time sources of electricity (e.g. that it will replace coal facilities).

Interestingly, the Iowa employment figure of 2000 vs 7000 appears to be less than 30% accurate. Evidently AWEA thinks 30% is close enough to 100% to call it even with performance and jobs.

Even if their wildly speculative job claims were true, a one year PTC extension would amount to some $325,000 per job — how is that a good idea?

Actually, even more to the point, independent experts have repeatedly shown that wind energy is a net jobs loser! (This is due to a variety of proven consequences — like the higher actual costs of wind electricity resulting in other businesses laying off employees.) Isn’t the NET jobs situation really important?

Conclusion

So let’s discard AWEA’s palliative pablum and condense this down to the prime points here…

AWEA says that Congress should provide a tax credit for high-income earners to pay less than their “fair share,” while middle-class taxpayers borrow $12+ Billion from China, to subsidize an expensive, unreliable, environmentally destructive, alternative energy source, based on unsubstantiated claims, that will actually result in net job losses! Exactly why is that a good idea?

So what should be our energy policy? How about “All of the Sensible”?

Since the real consequences of extending the PTC are anything but sensible, you can be sure that AWEA will not be advocating that strategy!

Source: http://www.masterresource.org/2012/11/wind-ptc-facts-vs-fluff/

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Commercial Electric’s T91 retrofit recess/new construction LED wows

At $36 from Home Depot, the new T91 recess trim retrofit / new construction surface mount meniscus LED fixture from Commercial Electric is a 750 lumen powerhouse with color temperature that actually looks good. And although 750 lumens will be too much in many applications, this unit is dimmable, making it a superior option to retrofitting PAR lamps in recess lights — or to recess lights at all!

T91 multi-purpose LED fixture from Commercial ElectricThe T91 is a multi-application new- and old-work installation fixture adaptable to standard new (or old work) 4″ plastic round boxes as well as 5″ or 6″ recess housings that use a standard Edison E61 base screw-in lamp.

New Work Installation in a 4″ Plastic Box

Sized to install as a semi-recessed surface-mount fixture in new construction 4″ round wiring boxes, the T91′s low meniscus profile of under 1″ below finish ceiling will make it a game-changer for electricians wanting to provide modern lighting styles without compromising the weatherseal around conditioned space by use of a recess can. By coombining the T91 with the new gasketed 4″ round box from Arlington, this fixture is a labor-saving draft-killer promising simple installations and a clean minimalist styling.


On the downside, it sits proud of the finish surface and casts light in a 120 to 180 degree spread, so it lacks the glare-reducing properties of well-installed recessed task lighting.

Commercial Electric T91 offers versatile installation and draft-free semi recess styling. T91 multi-purpose LED fixture from Commercial Electric Installing the T91 LED: leads Preparing for installation of the T91 LED fixture T91 installation: installing the mounting bracket on a 4" fixture box T91 installation: connecting fixture to leads IMG_0640 T91 installation: align bracket mounting screw through keyhole slots T91 installation: mounted and ready for final trim T91 installation: installing trim collar Five 750 lumen dimmable T91 points are about the wattage of one conventional halogen
Five 750 lumen dimmable T91 points are about the wattage of one conventional halogen

Five 750 lumen dimmable T91 points are about the wattage of one conventional halogen

Commercial Electric T91 offers versatile installation and draft-free semi recess styling.

Licensed Electrician Robert Monk Commercial Electric’s T91 retrofit recess/new construction LED wows Copyright Robert Monk, 2012

Source: http://www.phillylicensedelectrician.com/commercial-electrics-t91-retrofit-recessnew-construction-led-wows/

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Fort Lauderdale Electrical Contractor Explains Whole House Surge Protection

It takes only milliseconds for a power surge to travel through your home potentially leaving behind extensive damage to appliances, computers, electronics and more. Sometimes you are alerted of a power surge by noticing the lights blink or your television set turns itself off. By seeking whole house surge protection you can eliminate the risk [...]

Source: http://www.perfectelectricrepairs.com/2012/fort-lauderdale-electrical-contractor-explains-whole-house-surge-protection.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=fort-lauderdale-electrical-contractor-explains-whole-house-surge-protection

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DC Power — Interesting Perspective

Could holdouts such as San Francisco ultimately have the last laugh? The spread of both DC generators (such as photovoltaic panels) and DC loads (such as cellphones, flat-panel televisions, LED lights, and even electric cars) is inspiring a small but growing niche for DC microgrids link the two together.

If such building-wide circuits grow into neighborhood grids and, ultimately, meld together to form citywide DC grids, this circuit of electrical history will finally be closed.

That comes from an IEEE Spectrum article, San Francisco’s Secret DC Grid.

Source: http://electricalcontractor.com/?p=7133

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Fluorescent Lighting + Rare Earth Supply

From Craig DiLouie’s article on fluorescent lighting in the November issue of Electrical Contractor magazine:

Now, let’s address the rare earth crisis, which has shifted manufacturer investment and user demand from value-added to basic, lower cost products in some markets.

Energy-efficient, high-color-rendering, linear fluorescent lamps use five rare earth phosphors that, for a period of time, were mined almost exclusively in China. To feed the growing appetite for these materials to its domestic industry, China instituted a policy of limiting exports, resulting in a series of dramatic lamp price increases in recent years.

Although new sources of supply are being developed outside of China, several key materials will remain at risk for the near future, resulting in cost uncertainty for fluorescent lamps.

The result is a shift in focus by manufacturers to reducing cost both internally and externally to the consumer. One short-term option is to use 700-series (lower color rendering) T8 lamps in applications where color is less important.

These lamps were to be eliminated as part of the July lamp regulations, but the major manufacturers were granted an extension to July 14, 2014. As these lamps use 30 percent of the rare earth content as higher color-rendering 800-series lamps, they provide a lower cost. Another sensible option is to use long-life lamps.

Extended-life T8 and T5HO options offer up to 55,000 to 60,000 hours of service life. One new product, the Sequoia T8 by Kumho Electric, is rated at 75,000 hours on a programmed-start ballast at three hours per start.

As the light-emitting diode continues its encroachment into applications dominated by fluorescent lighting, it’s clear that fluorescent will not go away quietly.

EleBlog take: That makes THREE bans on various forms of lighting in 2014:

  • Incandescent 60W light bulbs
  • End of the 700-series T8 extension, as noted above.

Source: http://electricalcontractor.com/?p=7122

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Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions: Recent Newsletter

The Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED) is an informal coalition of individuals and organizations who are interested in improving national. state and local energy & environmental policies. Our basic position is that: 1) we do have energy and environmental issues, and 2) these technical matters should be resolved by using genuine science.

Instead our energy and environmental policies have essentially being written by those who stand to economically or politically profit from them. As a result of our current methodology, anything genuinely science-based in these policies is usually inadvertent and accidental.

A key element of AWED’s efforts is to educate the public. Towards that end we send out a newsletter every 2-3 weeks, and this attempts to put some balance into what the mainstream media is conveying about energy and environmental matters. The newsletter readership is now about 10,000.

Below is a sample newsletter that combines parts of the two most recent issues.

Since there was a national interview with AWED’s Dr. George Taylor on the US Weather Channel (re the PTC), I thought it would be appropriate to remind you of some turbine-weather related studies that apply in any country.

There have been several investigations done by independent scientists that have concluded that wind projects will have an affect (typically negative: like lower humidity) on local meteorological conditions — for as much as fifteen miles away! This is yet another unaccounted wind cost.

Here is one such study (University of Illinois), and a second on a different aspect, a third (George Mason University), a fourth (six PhDs, different schools), a fifth (seven PhDs, multiple institutions), and a sixth (MIT). Even offshore wind gets into the picture.

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Two really important stories about Britain apparently coming to their senses regarding wind energy: here and here. Pass these on to your local, state and federal representatives about the writing on the wall — and also to those who say we should be following Europe’s lead.

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The video of the interesting Epstein-McKibben energy debate at Duke University is here.

More reports about greed energy economics:

More evidence of wind energy’s negative pricing.

When there are utility handouts, keep this in mind.

Little-Known Filth Fouls Clean Energy, Costing Trillions

Green Energy Policy Hurts America

A fine speech at Google about why renewables are an illusion.

This Wind Intermittency Report pertains to such matters as the PTC.

A new study about real estate values changes due to turbines.

Wind cost predictions not being borne out by reality.

A new study concluding that a state RPS (Missouri) is an economics loser.

A list of some failed US taxpayer subsidized renewable investments.

The EPA officially acknowledges that they have no way to accurately calculate the costs or savings from their rules and regulations…

More reports about turbine health matters:

Protestors will be suffocated by low frequency sound machine — wait, that’s what turbines generate!

New peer reviewed study links turbines and ill health.

A superior interview about turbines with medical expert Dr. Carl Phillips.

A Danish report about wind turbine noise reality.

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More reports about turbine wildlife matters:

Changes requested at America’s most deadly wildlife wind project.

Two articles about bats and wind turbines: here and here.

Expert warns of avian population collapse.

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Miscellaneous energy reports:

A VERY powerful article about the moral and legal corruption in Denmark with regards to wind energy — written by a retired High Court judge!

More commentary on Britain’s newfound sensibility

What AWEA Doesn’t Want You to Know about Wind Energy.

Maine agency rejects wind development due to view impact

CFACT’s Energy Truth Filehas many good observations

An excellent article on wind NIMBYism.

A superb TED video about medical fraud — that also applies to alternative energy, global warming, sea level rise, etc.

Why Are Environmentalists Taking Anti-Science Positions?

More problem with German wind energy.

Some recent global warming articles of interest —

New studies about the global temps at earlier time periods.

Earth’s Energy Balance the Models are Wrong.

Very well written article about the Antarctic and global warming.

A scientific study of the accuracy of temperature measurements — which comes up with surprising (or not) results.

CFACT’s Climate Change Truth File has some good commentary.

Government funded AGW computer models continue abysmal performance.

Media duped by global warming polls.

If you (or some open-minded, science-oriented person you know) would like to get these free periodic newsletters, send me an email.

Source: http://www.masterresource.org/2012/11/alliance-for-wise-energy-decisions-newsletter-update/

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Corbett @ Philamuseum.org town hall, Sept. 19th, 2012

Join me next Wednesday, to let Corbett know that Pennsylvanians want a sustainable energy supply and sustainable jobs that are safe for us today, and that will preserve our ecosystem and natural resources for use tomorrow. This means radical rethinking on regulation and fees for hydraulic fracture drilling for shale gas, and renewed commitments to supporting renewable energy investment here in Pennsylvania.

Old-guard energy money talks, but organized people alive to their own and their children’s interests, together with a nacent renewables industry, still can talk louder.

Town Hall Meeting registration page by Eventbrite

Licensed Electrician Robert Monk Corbett @ Philamuseum.org town hall, Sept. 19th, 2012 Copyright Robert Monk, 2012

Source: http://www.phillylicensedelectrician.com/corbett-philamuseum-org-town-hall-sept-19th-2012/

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Texas Windpower: Will Negative Pricing Blow Out the Lights? (PTC vs. reliable new capacity)

“It is well known that Texas is undergoing a major challenge in maintaining resource adequacy due to improper price signals; less well known is that a significant portion of the problem can be laid directly on the doorstep of subsidies for wind generation.”

The federal Production Tax Credit (PTC), which currently provides a $0.022/kWh subsidy to qualifying renewables, is set to expire at year-end. Just the prospect of expiration has dramatically slowed new construction of industrial wind capacity, despite a raft of other subsidies to politically correct energy. [1]

The Texas Public Policy Foundation has released a new paper looking at the effect of the production tax credit both on taxpayers and consumers. Bill Peacock and I found that PTC continuance puts the Texas electricity market at increased risk of price spikes and blackout by discouraging the construction of new reliable, on-peak generating capacity.

Texans are not only paying for the PTC’s direct annual cost of $622 million; they could pay billions of dollars more from forgone capacity given negative pricing where wind producers generate unneeded electricity just to pocket tax credits.

Background

It is well known that Texas is undergoing a major challenge in maintaining resource adequacy due to improper price signals; less well known is that a significant portion of the problem can be laid directly on the doorstep of subsidies for wind generation.

When wind is bid into the market at a negative price, superior forms of generation must match that price or risk getting knocked off the grid. This decreases the profitability of non-wind generation and makes companies less likely to invest in new capacity. This has already degraded Texas’s resource adequacy, and it could get worse before it gets better. This increases the risk of blackouts if unusual events reduce capacity and/or increase demand.

Donna Nelson, chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) explains this well:

Federal incentives for renewable energy… have distorted the competitive wholesale market in ERCOT. Wind has been supported by a federal production tax credit that provides $22 per MWh of energy generated by a wind resource. With this substantial incentive, wind resources can actually bid negative prices into the market and still make a profit.

We’ve seen a number of days with a negative clearing price in the west zone of ERCOT where most of the wind resources are installed…. The market distortions caused by renewable energy incentives are one of the primary causes I believe of our current resource adequacy issue… [T]his distortion makes it difficult for other generation types to recover their cost and discourages investment in new generation.

The Northbridge Group recently published a study confirming the distortions in the market caused by the PTC. Northbridge found that the five-fold increase in wind generation since 2006 parallels the increase in negative pricing. In ERCOT, negative pricing occurred between 8 percent and 13 percent of the time from 2008 to 2011.

Percentage of Hours with Negative Real-Time Electric Energy Prices in ERCOT, 2006-11

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Source: The Northbridge Group

The disruption of the Texas electrical market by negative wind prices is only going to get worse as more renewable-specific transmission lines are built, and as the frequency of negative pricing in new parts of the state comes to resemble the West Zone.

As another recent report by the Brattle Group noted:

Wind generation puts downward pressure on energy prices in all parts of ERCOT whenever the wind blows. However, the effect is greatest in the West Zone, where more than 70% of ERCOT’s wind capacity is located…

The CREZ project is primarily designed to move electricity generated by wind and other renewable resources from remote parts of Texas (i.e., West Texas and the Texas Panhandle) to the more heavily-populated areas of Texas (e.g., Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, and San Antonio). This transmission expansion will also increase Texas’s ability to build more wind generation, but may in the future erode non-wind generator economics more by depressing energy prices in the other three zones.

The Real Cost of Wind

It is difficult to quantify the cost of the PTC’s distortions on the market, though the Foundation will address this issue more fully in an upcoming paper. But one method of doing so would be of looking at the cost of solving Texas’ resource adequacy challenges.

PUC Commissioner Ken Anderson recently did some “back of the envelope” calculations of the cost of imposing a PJM-style capacity market on ERCOT. He came up with a cost of over $3.6 billion per year. The portion of this cost that can be attributed to renewable energy subsidies is debatable, but these costs could easily exceed the costs of the direct subsidies, more than doubling the costs on consumers.

At a bare minimum, renewables energy subsidies in Texas are costing more than half a billion a year. Because of the PTC’s per megawatt hour subsidy, it causes substantially more distortion to the market than other renewable subsidies.

A credible case could be made that the PTC is more responsible than any other factor in causing ERCOT’s resource adequacy challenges and thus driving Texas toward some kind of forward capacity market.

Conclusion

Competition is working in the Texas electricity market. It is government interference with the market—led by the PTC—that is causing the current reliability challenges.

Texas need not abandon wholesale competition and move toward a capacity market. But this will be difficult to avoid as long as the PTC is in place. Congress should allow the PTC to expire; if not, we may see the end Texas’ world-class energy-only electricity market.

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[1] The PTC is only one of the subsidies available to renewable energy producers in Texas. Others available in Texas include Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) under the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard, federal grants under the 2009 stimulus bill, and access to transmission through the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) program. Altogether, renewable energy subsidies in Texas, including PTC, will cost taxpayers and consumers about $12.9 billion over the same period.

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Josiah Neeley is a policy analyst for the Armstrong Center for Energy & the Environment at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin. Bill Peacock, coauthor of this post, is the Vice President for Research and Director for the Center for Economic Freedom at the TPPF.

Source: http://www.masterresource.org/2012/11/texas-negative-pricing-ptc/

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