In 1970, a band named the 5th Dimension released a
song titled “ Aquarius” (Let The Sunshine In) . You can listen to it by
clicking on the link below:
Arizona voters recently rejected Proposition 127 by a margin
of 69 to 31.The proposition was easily the most expensive proposition in the history
of the state.
Here is a breakdown of the money spent opposing, and
supporting, the proposition:
·
$29.9 million from
Arizonans for Affordable Electricity, funded by APS' parent company opposing
the measure.
·
$23.2 million from
Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona, funded by NextGen to promote the measure.
·
$785,000 from Save
Native American Families, funded by the Navajo Nation opposing the measure.
·
$734,000 from Vote No
Arizona, funded by rural electric companies opposing the measure.
·
$97,000 from Southern
Arizonans for Responsible Energy, funded by Unisource Energy Corp. and the
Tucson Metro Chamber opposing the measure.
·
$16,000 from
Responsible Energy for Mohave County, funded by Unisource Energy Corp. opposing
the measure.
The promotional material from APS claimed that electric costs
would increase by $1000 a year. Since it is to the company’s advantage to have
higher electric rates, why in the world would they spend $29.9 million to
oppose the measure?
The reason, of course, is that APS wants to build a bunch of new gas-fired power
plants, and they will make less money in a world where the ballot measure
passes and their dirty-energy-building-boom no longer makes sense.
https://cleanhealthyaz.com/2018/08/21/arizona-utility-apss-real-plan-fossil-fuels-forever/
In 2017, APS got approval for a rate increase that gave the company
an additional $95 million, which apparently was not enough. In September of
2018, they requested ANOTHER rate increase, which would give the company an
ADDITIONAL $67.1 million. Since utilities are governed by the Arizona Corporate
Commission, it should not surprise you that APS spent more than $7 million to
elect regulators who are sympathetic to their needs. For now, the second rate increase
is on hold.
Even though the proposition did not pass, that does not mean
that renewable energy is dead in Arizona. The Arizona Corporation Commission, five
elected officials who regulate utility rates and policies, has its own mandate
that electric companies get 15 percent of their power from renewables by 2025.
They are considering an increase in that standard to get 80 percent of the
state's electricity from renewables and nuclear energy by 2050.
Opponents
of Prop. 127 said that such measures are best implemented by the Corporation
Commission, which can amend the plan over time. Prop. 127 would change the
state constitution and not give utility regulators much wiggle room in how the
plan is implemented.
Currently, APS gets 12% of its power from renewable sources,
Tucson Electric Power (which provided free solar panels to 44 Tucson schools)
gets 13% of its power from renewable sources), Our electric provider, Trico Electric,
currently gets 13.6% of its power from renewables, and plans to expand that to
27% by 2030. Trico did not take a position for or against Proposition 127:
Arizona gets a higher percentage of available sunlight (85%)
than any other state. Arizona also enjoys 193 clear days every year, which is
also the highest of any other states. The complete list of all states can be found
at the link below:
In terms of % of power obtained from renewable sources,
Arizona is pretty much “middle of the pack”, since the state is ranked #30 out
of 50. The states that get the highest percentage of their power from renewable
sources (over 80%) are Idaho, Maine, and Rhode Island. All three of these states
receive a LOT less sunshine than Arizona does. Maine, in fact, gets only 57% of
available sunlight, and only 101 clear days a year.
Not surprisingly, the states that have the highest suicide
rates (Alaska and Montana) have a lot of cloudy days – and loose gun laws.
As of November, 2015, 195 counties had signed the Paris
Agreement related to climate change. Although the United States cannot withdraw
the agreement until November, 2020, Changes in United
States policy that are contrary to the Paris Agreement have already been put in
place.
Amazingly, some of the countries that signed the Paris
Agreement are already receiving close to 100% of the energy from renewal
sources, and a lot of them don’t get a
lot of sunshine. The leader at this point is Iceland, which is not exactly what
you would call a sunny location. Sweden, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Denmark
aren’t far behind.
The oldest standing committee in the House of representatives
is the Committee on Energy and Commerce, which was founded on December 14,
1795. Although the committee has been chaired by a Republican the last 4 years,
it appears likely that the committee will be chaired by a Democrat after the
first of the year.
Things aren’t quite as rosy on the Senate side. Jim Inhofe the
senior senator from Oklahoma served as the chair of the U.S. Senate Committee
on Environment and Public Works until 2017. Inhofe is best-known for his denial of global
warming He supports a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex
marriage and has proposed the Inhofe
Amendment to make English the national
language of the United States. He is also the guy who brought a
snowball to the Senate floor in February of 2015 to “prove” that global warming
is a hoax.
I would LOVE to have solar power at our house, but if you are
not a homeowner who has PURCHASED (rather than leased) the solar system, the economics
don’t justify the cost.
Now that is November, our electric bills have are down
DRAMATICALLY from their summer peak. Since
the days where the peak temperature hit 115 degrees are now gone (at least
until next June) we can now turn off the air conditioning, open the windows,
and LET THE SUN SHINE IN !
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