Another Good Idea But Not Thought Out

[Ron61]

This could be a good idea but they need to think about the whole thing before rushing off to pass more laws. They fought for months to build a new transmission line from up here in the mountains and the dam environmentalists got it stopped because it ruins the looks of the canyons and such. Down near the end it tells about what happened in Texas and that is true, as you can't depend on the wind blowing 24 hours a day 7 days a week. I agree with the idea we need alternative sources of energy, I just don't agree that passing some bill without any planning is going to do it.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=arbHcz0ryM_E

Ron

[Bill Bess]

The way I see it is, biggest problem is that government doesn't have clue on how a utility company works to make money.....that is, selling their product. Now if their product gets too expensive people can't afford to use it. If the government forces utilities to push "conservation" of their product..the company makes even less money.

Cheap fuel is the only real answer (nukes) for the future. Oil and natural gas is the next best solution longterm, Windmills, solar toys are never going to be the answer because so far, you can't store electrical energy other than in a battery.

The entire concept of monster transmision systems, power grids and multiple sources of power is a good thing...but I don't thing I can afford it, how about you.

Bill

[Ron61]

Bill,

I know that I can't afford it. Yesterday in our paper they had a two page write up about some guy in Redding that put in solar panels and the whole step by step process. By the time he got everything paid for, and got all of the required permits, and paid the electric company to allow the hook up and they installed a digital meter so it could red backwards to put any extra power he generated into the grid, he had over $60K sunk into the project. But he was really happy about the fact his electric bill dropped from $130 a month to around $5. That sounds good, but remember we have long and mostly dark Winters up here and he isn't going to get any power from that array. Plus the paper said the sensors in the array can be damaged by almost anything that touches them. Birds, hail, hard rain and so forth. I didn't think they were that easy to damage. But in just over 148 years he will break even as he still has to use the main power to run his air conditioner, hot water heater, washer and dryer, and that is with the solar power working.

Ron

[Dan40]

I moved out of Ca. in 1984. Even then, in the hills east of the SF Bay area and in the LA area hills there were 10s of thousands of windmills. Huge 'farms' of them stretching out of sight. Not then and not in the quarter century since have they made a dent in our power needs. And they look so logical, such a simple and obvious answer. Function? Not so much.

[elmariachi]

That's what I am anxious to pay for, a federally-built power grid. The nation's utilities are laughing their a$$e$ off at how stupid people are to vote this guy in and let him open up the checkbook to build them a new transmission system. All so that guys like Boone Pickens can get rich selling wind power to the power companies. We may reduce our dependeance on foreign oil, but you are going to pay .30cents/kilowatt hour for it. Ridiculous.

[427sharpe]

Anytime that T. Boone Pickens offers 'free' advice; you best be holding your wallet with both hands and have your cheeks well puckered. He has already bailed on his commitment to the big wind power deal here in Texas. Got his free publicity and ran back into his hole. Nuclear is the best answer, but it is mired in the politics of the tin foil hat brigade that seems to run so much of the congressional agenda nowadays.

[Wayne Maybury]

I was in Europe several years ago and I was amazed to see how many small nuclear power plants there are over there.

We are lucky to have so much hydro power production up here. However, every time the power company wants to build another dam, the environmentalists so nuts and try to haul it. Wind power isn't all that big here but a major project was just stopped because the environmentalists managed to find a golden eagle nest 12 miles from the proposed power generation site.

Everyone wants to have all of the conveniences of modern life but they don't seem to realize that products have to be produced and transported to the market including energy. We cannot go back to the 50's and 60's when it was believed that the "Solution to polution was dilution" but there must be some middle ground.

Wayne

[Ron61]

Wayne,

I would like to see more nuclear power plants built here but there is no way the tree huggers will allow any kind of power plant to be built or new transmission lines put up to carry more power. Our main grid is so overloaded it is starting to cause the lines to sag from the heat. I went over to the main sub-station a month or so ago and even with just looking I could see they had dropped at least a foot from their original height between towers. And these idiots just want to put more power on them. They are also demanding that 2 small hydro electric dams that have been here for many years be taken out so more mountain water can get down to the fish. SCF!!!

Ron

[VRM]

There has been a proposal to build a wind farm of the coast of MA (Cape Wind). Folks like Kennedy want to prevent it from happening because it will ruin the view. From 7 miles they would just be little specks. They would also generate about 4/5ths of the power for all of Cape Cod. I've seen estimates that range from $.12.5-.20 per kilowatt hour for this project.
It's funny how people run around saying we need alternate energy, but only if it goes in someone elses back yard.

Steve