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3.16.2013
3.13.2013
This review is from: Green Power Homes - Quick And Easy Guide to Wind, Solar and Geothermal Energy (Kindle Edition)
Affordable, Informative, Money Saving Solutions-, March 13, 2013
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Green Power Homes - Quick And Easy Guide to Wind, Solar and Geothermal Energy (Kindle Edition)
Mr Dollinger has put together an easy to read and understand information on ways that you can go green from your own clean energy system. This e-book will give you a greater understanding of: Wind, Solar, and Geo Thermal. If you are thinking about Going Green and Creating Electricity- this affordably priced e-book will give you the tools and understanding you need to generate your own electricity for home or business. Yes you can create your own Electricity! |
Thank you for stopping by St Louis Renewable Energy. Feel free to comment in the section below or contact Scotts Contracting- St Louis Home Improvement Projects and Energy Reducing Needs Get Your Green Building Tips and Resources at St Louis Renewable Energy Green Blog
Free Green and Sustainable EBOOK Today Only
If you have ever wanted to learn about Solar, Wind, GEO Thermal, and other clean energy producing systems now is your chance with this free EBOOK offering
Green Power Homes - Quick And Easy Guide to Wind, Solar and Geothermal Energy-Kindle Edition- By: William Dollinger Get the Free EBOOK today only at http://www.amazon.com/Green-Power-Homes-ebook/dp/B003D7LV2I
Affordable, Informative, Money Saving Solutions-, March 13, 2013
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Green Power Homes - Quick And Easy Guide to Wind, Solar and Geothermal Energy (Kindle Edition)
Mr Dollinger has put together an easy to read and understand information on ways that you can go green from your own clean energy system. This e-book will give you a greater understanding of: Wind, Solar, and Geo Thermal. If you are thinking about Going Green and Creating Electricity- this affordably priced e-book will give you the tools and understanding you need to generate your own electricity for home or business. Yes you can create your own Electricity! |
Thank you for stopping by St Louis Renewable Energy. Feel free to comment in the section below or contact Scotts Contracting- St Louis Home Improvement Projects and Energy Reducing Needs Get Your Green Building Tips and Resources at St Louis Renewable Energy Green Blog
3.12.2013
Scotts Contracting-St Louis Renewable Energy Services
- Scotts Contracting St Louis Renewable Energy Home Office Location South Side St Louis
Scotts Contracting, St Louis Renewable Energy offers the Following Services for Home and Business
Energy Reducing Resources and On-Site Solar PV Clean Energy Systems
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3.10.2013
St Louis Residents-CALL TODAY: Your Electric Bill Could Be Debated On Monday
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Call Today: OPPOSE SB 207 and Significant Electric Bill Increases
Please Call Key Legislators Today!!!Please Forward!!!
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial Board hit the nail on the head regarding legislation that will significantly increase electric rates for Ameren Missouri, Kansas City P&L, and Empire Electric customers.
Senate Bill 207 and House Bill 398 represent the latest attempt by Ameren Missouri and its allies to make it easier for monopoly electric utilities to collect money from its captive customers. SB 207 was originally sold as the mechanism to fund an expensive "small" nuclear reactor by its sponsor. Even the Office of Public Council, the office that defends electric customers in electric rate cases, opposes SB 207 and HB 398.
MCE's Safe Energy Director, Ed Smith, has been to Jefferson City several times this year to testify against these bills and now it's up to you!
Senate Bill 207 could be debated in the Senate this Monday (3/11/2013). House Bill 398 will be voted on in the House Utilities Committee this Wednesday.Call your state senator today, tomorrow, and all this week. Leave a message asking your senator to VOTE NO on SB 207. Get your family, friends, and neighbors to call too!
Find your state senator with the legislator look-up tool here.
Please call members of the House Utilities Committee today and ask they VOTE NO on HB 398!
Rep. Doug Funderburk: (573) 751-2176 St. Charles County
Rep. Dave Shatz: (573) 751-6668 Gasconade, Franklin, Osage Counties
Rep. Ira Anders: (573 751-5701 Jackson County
Rep. Mike Bernskoetter: (573) 751-0665 Miller and Cole Counties
Rep. Mike Cierpiot: (573) 751-0907 Kansas City and Jackson Counties
Rep. Charlie Davis: (573) 751-7082 Jasper and Newton Counties
Rep. Tony Dugger: (573) 751-2205 Webster and Wright Counties
Rep. Keith English: (573) 751-9628 St. Louis County
Rep. Lyndall Fraker: (573) 751-3819 Webster and Greene Counties
Rep. Chuck Gatschenberger: (573) 751-3572 St. Charles County
Rep. Don Gosen: (573) 751-1247 St. Louis County
Rep. Ron Hicks: (573) 751-1470 St. Charles County
Rep. Bart Korman: (573) 751-2689 Warren, Montgomery, St. Charles Counties
Rep. Margo McNeil: (573) 751-5365 St. Louis County
Rep. Rocky Miller: (573) 751-3604 Miller and Camden Counties
Rep. Charlie Norr: (573) 751-3795 Greene County
Rep. Sharon Pace: (573) 751-4726 St. Louis County
Rep. Holly Rehder: (573) 751-5471 Scott and Mississippi Counties
Rep. Tim Remole: (573) 751-6566 Macon, Randolph, Linn Counties
Rep. Todd Richardson: (573) 751-4039 Butler and Dunklin Counties
Rep. Jeff Roorda: (573) 751-2504 Jefferson County
Rep. Clem Smith: (573) 751-4468 St. Louis County
Rep. Steve Webb: (573) 751-2135 St. Louis County
Thank you and please let us know what responses you get from legislators, or if you have questions!
Missouri Coalition for the Environment | 6267 Delmar Blvd., Ste. 2E | St. Louis | MO | 63130
3.08.2013
Get the Facts-SB 207:
Unprecedented Overreach by Missouri Electric Utilities
Learn the Issues, Get the Facts
- August 2007 $360,709,000
- March 2009 $250,806,000
- February 2011 $401,500,000
- August 2011 $263,000,000
- February 2012 (Proposed) $376.000,000
HB 1316: The $115 Million Ameren Bailout
- Ameren has already spent at least $25 million towards pursuing an early site permit. Ameren willingly spent its own money and as with any other business, Ameren ought to be spending its own money on this speculative venture, rather than seeking a bailout through HB 1316.
- HB 1316 does not guarantee customers will be paid back their money in the case that a new electric plant is never built.
- HB 1316 will cost Missouri businesses and residents $45 million plus interest and Ameren earnings for 20 years totaling an increase of $115 million.
- HB 1316 will produce ZERO watts of electricity. This legislation will not result in a new electric power plant.
- HB 1316 will create ZERO jobs. This legislation has nothing to do with building a new electric power plant that would actually create jobs.
- Ameren says it needs this legislation to maintain the option of seeking an Early Site Permit toward building a second nuclear power plant. At the same time the bill protects Missouri employers, businesses and residential ratepayers if Ameren proceeds as it has indicated it would.
- The bill also protects business and residential ratepayers if Ameren is wrong and holds Ameren accountable.
- The bill represents a compromise that gives Ameren everything it says is needed to obtain an Early Site Permit and that protects businesses and residential consumers who are being asked to pay for the Early Site Permit.
- This bill allows Ameren to recover from ratepayers financing costs on $40 Million of expenditures to obtain an Early Site Permit.
- Consumer protections include the same three requests that were made by consumer groups this past November:
- A hard cap on expenses to ensure Ameren doesn't charge consumers for cost overruns.
- This is important to avoid the mistakes and huge overruns that have historically plagued the building of nuclear plants.
- Consumers must be protected from cost overruns at all stages of the process.
- A rebate to ensure consumers are refunded their money if energy is never produced or the Early Site Permit is never obtained.
- Ameren has already spent $25 million dollars towards obtaining an Early Site Permit. A rebate is necessary to keep Ameren from shifting the gamble and all of the risk on getting the permit to consumers.
- Assessment funding for the Office of Public Counsel
- This takes the Governor's proposal and makes sure legislative intent for funding the OPC is established and better secures the funding beyond FY 2012, which is the only year the Governor's proposal ensures.
- Consumers need an adequately funded independent OPC to ensure consumers are protected through the entire process of building the nuclear plant.
"Ameren Demands $263 Million Rate Hike"
- Raise electricity rates on Missouri's working families and employers by $263 million.
- Drive up the cost of doing business in Missouri Ameren's rate hike plan comes at a time of crisis for Missouri's economy. Missourians are losing their jobs. Missouri businesses are being forced to downsize in order to stay afloat. Missouri's employers and small businesses are already struggling to prevent layoffs of even more workers.
- Drive up the cost of living for already struggling Missouri families Ameren's $263 million rate hike demand before the PSC comes at a time when Missouri's employers and small businesses are hurting and at a time when Missouri families are hurting even more. In this fragile economy, thousands of families live on the brink of financial disaster.
"The Nuclear Option"
The Situation
- The fact that Ameren is seeking money from ratepayers and cannot get private backing means that there is substantial financial risk in building a second nuclear power plant.
- Missouri's other nuclear power plant was built without a rate-hike in advance of the plant.
- Ameren made over $600 million last year and is still seeking to raise rates on consumers.
- Ameren has already raised energy rates several times in the past few years, and is now looking to raise them again.
- Other states have allowed energy companies to pass on development costs to ratepayers, and consumers in those states have seen their electric bills skyrocket.
- The development of a new power plant is financially risky, which is why Ameren wants to raise energy rates to cover the costs, instead of using their own money.
- Ameren is seeking to transfer the financial cost of energy development to their consumers in order to appease their shareholders.
The Solution
- Robust Office of Public Counsel (OPC). Over the years funding for consumer protection has been greatly reduced impairing the ability of OPC and PSC to conduct adequate reviews of rate case filings. Legislation must include funding OPC that allows them to conduct thorough audits of rate cases filed with the Public Service Commission.
- Responsible Cap. Should the Legislature consider the utility's proposed legislation allowing them to recover costs of construction while in progress, they must include a reasonable and fair cap on rate increases to keep energy costs from spiraling out of control. To ensure consumers money is well spent, each step of the construction process should be monitored and controlled.
- Rebate. If ratepayers pay tens of millions of dollars in rate increases and a plant is never built or the permit is sold at a profit, Missouri ratepayers deserve to be refunded in full. We believe these consumer protections to be essential for the health of Missouri's energy future, and therefore, Missouri economy.
The "Bad Debt Surcharge" is Unfair to Consumers
- Two bills before the legislature in 2010 (SB 705 and HB 1610) would have allowed increases on natural gas bills to pay the utility for the bad debts of its non-paying natural gas customers, overriding the current consumer protection against such single-issue ratemaking.
- This legislation would have allowed energy rates to increase, even at times when Laclede Gas Company or Missouri Gas Energy's overall cost of doing business was not going up!
- Bad debts are already included in rates. When a utility needs to adjust rates, including for bad debt, it may initiate a rate case. The Bad Debt Surcharge would allow accelerated increases without the protections of a full rate case audit.
- This Bad Debt Surcharge would have increased the volatility of natural gas bills, due to the correlation between wholesale gas rates and uncollectible accounts.
- The Bad Debt Surcharge would have been a hidden surcharge. By cleverly attempting to redefine certain bad debts as "gas costs", it would have been disguised in the Purchased Gas Adjustment (PGA), instead of being identified separately on gas bills.
- The legal purpose of the PGA is solely for recovering the wholesale cost of natural gas—not to compensate the utility for bad debt. In 2009, the Missouri PSC ruled unanimously that bad debt is not a "gas cost" [Case No. GT-2009-0026].
- This legislation would have decreased the utility's incentive to effectively manage its bad debt accounts and increased the incentive to write off accounts early and pass those costs through the PGA. However, writing off accounts as "uncollectible" does not stop the utility from continuing to attempt collection from the customer who owes the debt.
- The Bad Debt Surcharge also reduces the utilities' risk, and therefore increases their profits. These companies are already compensated for this risk through the return on equity (ROE) component of rates. Laclede and MGE are already permitted double-digit ROEs. In other states, it has been estimated that such surcharges would enhance earnings by 0.75% to 0.95%.
Single Issue Ratemaking
Ameren Demands 18% Rate Increase
- Raise electricity rates on Missouri's working families and employers by 18%.
- Resulted in an immediate rate hike on Missouri's electricity users. If Ameren has their way, Missouri's families and employers would have had their electricity rates raised immediately, during one of the most difficult economic downturns we've seen in decades.
- Ameren's original request would have allowed them to raise rates more frequently.Despite the fact that they enjoy a monopoly, Ameren isn't content with its profits. Buried in the fine print of of its 18% rate hike request was a plan to allow it to raise rates on struggling Missouri families more often through rate increase surcharges on customers' electric bills. If Ameren had their way, Missourians would need to be prepared for more frequent rate increases!
- Cause Missouri job losses. Missourians are losing their jobs. Missouri businesses are being forced to downsize in order to stay afloat. Hiking rates on Missouri's employers and small businesses when they're already struggling will force many to lay off even more workers.
- Push already struggling Missouri families into poverty. Rate increases will hurt Missouri's employers and small businesses but it will hurt Missouri families even more. In this fragile economy, thousands of families live on the brink of financial disaster. Electric rate increases will cause the number of Missouri families living in poverty to increase.
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