ACHIEVING ENERGY INDEPENDENCE
No strategy for American security is complete without a plan to end America's dependence on Mideast oil. Today, the American economy depends on oil controlled by some of the world's most repressive regimes. This leaves our economy dangerously vulnerable to nations that do not share our interests. America too often is silent about the practices of some governments because we depend on oil they control. John Kerry, John Edwards and the Democratic Party believe a strong America must no longer rely on the cooperation of regimes that do not share our values. We believe a strong America must move toward energy independence. In the Bush Administration, energy independence doesn't get a thought.
Their energy policy is simple: government by big oil, of big oil, and for big oil. This Administration let oil industry lobbyists and executives write our nation's energy policy in secret. They even went to the Supreme Court to stop the public from learning what they were doing. They've done nothing as gas prices have soared to record levels. Even the Administration's own economists have found that their energy plan will do nothing to reduce gas prices. This President's approach to energy policy leaves America shackled to foreign oil, dependent, vulnerable, and exposed. John Kerry, John Edwards and the Democratic Party believe in a better, stronger, more independent America.
We are committed to achieving energy independence, and we know we can do it. Our ingenuity and determination built the cars we drive and the bridges we use. It electrified rural America in the 1930s, and took us to the moon in the 1960s. Our resolve helped conquer polio. It's this simple: When we see a problem, we roll up our sleeves and solve it. And that's what we pledge to do now. Achieving energy independence will improve our ability to protect our values and interests in the world. It will reduce energy costs for our families. It will create high-paying new jobs. And it will improve our environment and make our people healthier.
Harnessing American ingenuity to create renewable energy. Our plan begins with commonsense investments to harness the natural world around us-the sun, wind, water, geothermal and biomass sources, and a rich array of crops-to create a new generation of affordable energy for the 21st century. By mobilizing the amazing productivity of America's farmers, we can grow our own cleaner-burning fuel. We support tax credits for private sector investment in clean, renewable sources of energy, and we will make ethanol credits work better for farmers. And we will ensure that billions of gallons of renewable fuel are part of America's energy supply while striving for strong, national renewable energy goals. Creating the energy-efficient vehicles of tomorrow.
We support creating more energy-efficient vehicles, from today's hybrid cars to tomorrow's hydrogen cars. We support the American people's freedom to choose whatever cars, SUVs, minivans, and trucks they choose, but we also believe American ingenuity is equal to the task of improving efficiency. We support improving fuel standards, and because of the challenges this poses, we will offer needed incentives for consumers to buy efficient vehicles, and for manufacturers to build them. We are also committed to developing hydrogen as a clean, reliable domestic source of energy. Our economy cannot convert to hydrogen overnight, so we will fund research to overcome the obstacles to hydrogen fuel and continue our other efforts to achieve energy independence.
Moving beyond OPEC. We can improve our energy security in other ways. We will seek more diverse sources of oil around the world and here at home. We support balanced development of domestic oil supplies in areas already open for exploration, like the western and central Gulf of Mexico. We support the expansion of new infrastructure to develop supplies from non-OPEC nations like Russia, Canada, and nations in Africa. We will increase efficiency of natural gas use, develop the Alaska natural gas pipeline, and enhance our nation's infrastructure to help supply natural gas more effectively. Electricity. We will work to create new technology for producing electricity in a better, more efficient manner.
Coal accounts for more than one-half of America's electric power generation capacity today. We believe coal must continue its important role in a new energy economy, while achieving high environmental standards. Working with the coal industry, we will invest billions to develop and implement new, cleaner coal technology and to produce electric and hydrogen power.
We will also work to make sure that our people have access to an affordable, secure, and reliable supply of electricity at all times. We support mandatory, enforceable reliability standards. We also support public-private partnerships to make our power systems more flexible, resilient, and self-healing-and more environmentally friendly than ever before. Government as a role model. The federal government is the largest single consumer of energy in the world. We will cut the federal government's energy use and challenge local governments, corporations, universities, small businesses and hospitals to do the same. Our commitment to conservation.
A balanced energy policy must create real incentives for energy conservation in our homes, our offices, our factories, and our infrastructure, saving money and improving security even as it creates good jobs and rebuilds our communities. With sixty-five percent of the world's oil reserves in the Middle East, we cannot drill our way to energy independence. But we can create, think, imagine, and invent our way there. And we will create jobs, help our environment, and build a stronger country as we do.
Their energy policy is simple: government by big oil, of big oil, and for big oil. This Administration let oil industry lobbyists and executives write our nation's energy policy in secret. They even went to the Supreme Court to stop the public from learning what they were doing. They've done nothing as gas prices have soared to record levels. Even the Administration's own economists have found that their energy plan will do nothing to reduce gas prices. This President's approach to energy policy leaves America shackled to foreign oil, dependent, vulnerable, and exposed. John Kerry, John Edwards and the Democratic Party believe in a better, stronger, more independent America.
We are committed to achieving energy independence, and we know we can do it. Our ingenuity and determination built the cars we drive and the bridges we use. It electrified rural America in the 1930s, and took us to the moon in the 1960s. Our resolve helped conquer polio. It's this simple: When we see a problem, we roll up our sleeves and solve it. And that's what we pledge to do now. Achieving energy independence will improve our ability to protect our values and interests in the world. It will reduce energy costs for our families. It will create high-paying new jobs. And it will improve our environment and make our people healthier.
Harnessing American ingenuity to create renewable energy. Our plan begins with commonsense investments to harness the natural world around us-the sun, wind, water, geothermal and biomass sources, and a rich array of crops-to create a new generation of affordable energy for the 21st century. By mobilizing the amazing productivity of America's farmers, we can grow our own cleaner-burning fuel. We support tax credits for private sector investment in clean, renewable sources of energy, and we will make ethanol credits work better for farmers. And we will ensure that billions of gallons of renewable fuel are part of America's energy supply while striving for strong, national renewable energy goals. Creating the energy-efficient vehicles of tomorrow.
We support creating more energy-efficient vehicles, from today's hybrid cars to tomorrow's hydrogen cars. We support the American people's freedom to choose whatever cars, SUVs, minivans, and trucks they choose, but we also believe American ingenuity is equal to the task of improving efficiency. We support improving fuel standards, and because of the challenges this poses, we will offer needed incentives for consumers to buy efficient vehicles, and for manufacturers to build them. We are also committed to developing hydrogen as a clean, reliable domestic source of energy. Our economy cannot convert to hydrogen overnight, so we will fund research to overcome the obstacles to hydrogen fuel and continue our other efforts to achieve energy independence.
Moving beyond OPEC. We can improve our energy security in other ways. We will seek more diverse sources of oil around the world and here at home. We support balanced development of domestic oil supplies in areas already open for exploration, like the western and central Gulf of Mexico. We support the expansion of new infrastructure to develop supplies from non-OPEC nations like Russia, Canada, and nations in Africa. We will increase efficiency of natural gas use, develop the Alaska natural gas pipeline, and enhance our nation's infrastructure to help supply natural gas more effectively. Electricity. We will work to create new technology for producing electricity in a better, more efficient manner.
Coal accounts for more than one-half of America's electric power generation capacity today. We believe coal must continue its important role in a new energy economy, while achieving high environmental standards. Working with the coal industry, we will invest billions to develop and implement new, cleaner coal technology and to produce electric and hydrogen power.
We will also work to make sure that our people have access to an affordable, secure, and reliable supply of electricity at all times. We support mandatory, enforceable reliability standards. We also support public-private partnerships to make our power systems more flexible, resilient, and self-healing-and more environmentally friendly than ever before. Government as a role model. The federal government is the largest single consumer of energy in the world. We will cut the federal government's energy use and challenge local governments, corporations, universities, small businesses and hospitals to do the same. Our commitment to conservation.
A balanced energy policy must create real incentives for energy conservation in our homes, our offices, our factories, and our infrastructure, saving money and improving security even as it creates good jobs and rebuilds our communities. With sixty-five percent of the world's oil reserves in the Middle East, we cannot drill our way to energy independence. But we can create, think, imagine, and invent our way there. And we will create jobs, help our environment, and build a stronger country as we do.
We can achieve energy independence in 10 years
ReplyDeleteThe United States needs a comprehensive energy policy that rewards conservation while eliminating roadblocks to energy independence. That means government needs to get out of the way and let the energy industry do what it does best — find, produce and distribute energy of all kinds. It will take a bipartisan national effort to end our current dependence on imported oil within the next 10 years. But we must; the economic, political and security risks of not doing so are too great.
Every form of energy production must be ramped up to achieve this desired result, including increasing domestic oil, natural gas and coal production in Alaska and the outer continental shelf. We must also build more refineries, something that hasn’t happened in three decades. Doing this will allow us to switch to clean, renewable energy sources without wrecking our economy in the process.
Generous tax credits for investing in alternative energy sources — ethanol or other biomass, hydro, wind or solar power — will do more to promote production of clean, renewable energy than the Environmental Protection Agency’s current punitive approach. Incentives give businesses and individuals a compelling reason to make the change to newer, greener technologies.
A successful transition from the old smokestack industries that made America a superpower to a sophisticated, information-based economy has already led to unprecedented gains in worker productivity and improved the quality of life for billions around the globe. The computer revolution is still in its infancy, so we can look forward to even more progress in the new century ahead. But all those computers and computer-driven machinery require electricity — and the supply is simply not keeping up with demand.
Half of all our existing electric-generating plants use coal to produce electricity, and tremendous improvements have already been made to reduce pollution levels from coal-fired plants. Coal is not only cheaper than oil, we have more than 274 billion tons of the stuff — which will last 250 years based on current levels of usage. That’s more than all the oil in the Middle East. But like oil, coal should be seen as a stop-gap measure. Nuclear power is much more efficient; one atom of uranium can produce 10 million times more energy than an atom of carbon. As the first generation of nuclear power plants is moth-balled, we need to start building nuclear plants again. About a fourth of the world’s 441 commercial nuclear reactors are located in the U.S., but no new ones have come online since the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 — despite their stellar safety record ever since.
Incentives work. A little more than a year ago, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission certified the design of the new 1,000 MW Westinghouse advanced passive reactor. After Congress’ 2005 energy bill provided $3.1 billion in tax credits and liability protection, utilities began preparing new applications for construction and operating licenses — including one for a new reactor at the Calvert Cliffs site in southern Maryland.
Becoming energy self-sufficient by 2017 will require more political will than anything else. It’s in every American’s best interests that this important goal becomes a top national priority. In years past, Democrats talked about windfall profits taxes; now it’s time for action to bring about an energy revolution.
Energy Debates: Can We Be Honest with Ourselves?
ReplyDeleteThe energy debate has moved into a new level of public awareness. It is a debate, however, that I believe has not really begun - not in real terms, at least. While Iraq may appear in more headlines these days, the climate surely must be running a close second. We draw a big circle around news stories about the "climate" - especially climate change. Or when the words "greenhouse gases," "carbon" or "renewable" appear. After all, understanding these words - what they mean, what they represent, what they portend for the future - effectively outlines our future.
We should be preoccupied with other words, as well: excellence, efficiency, teamwork - and most importantly, safety, reliability and ethics. It is our job to keep the lights on at a reasonable cost and to do so without harm or injury to anyone. We must do so within the quilt work of laws and regulations that govern our business and our conduct.
People rely on our industry to produce power 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Under the best of circumstances, a power outage is merely a huge inconvenience: Your computer or television becomes totally useless. The food in the freezer is at risk. Did you buy any batteries? Are there matches to light the candles? There are also circumstances that are more serious: People in hospitals and retirement facilities, for example, can ill afford to go without power.
Keeping the power on - or having employees go out into the worst weather imaginable and work with highly charged electrical wires and equipment in order to turn the power back on - requires a great deal of training, skill and caution. Our customers by and large appreciate this fact.
Tyranny of the Immediate
There is a concept that some call the tyranny of the immediate: Worry about today, and tomorrow will have to take care of itself. We see it all the time when people outside our industry think about energy. It is a trap that can compromise our future if we are not careful.
Our single greatest challenge in energy is to break free of the immediate and do what will serve our long-term social and economic interests. But we must first discuss energy in real terms.
We take too much for granted, especially at a time when energy demand grows at an alarming pace.
Flash Back 30 Years
We should have learned in the months and years that followed October 6, 1973: the day Syria and Egypt invaded Israel. Within two weeks, representatives of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries gathered in Kuwait and hiked the price of crude from $3 a barrel to $5 a barrel. Soon the oil embargo was on, and America was facing an energy crisis. Lines of cars started forming at the pumps, hoarding began, fights broke out and a great national debate ensued.
Another milestone was April 20, 1977. That is the day when President Jimmy Carter, standing before a joint session of Congress, unveiled his National Energy Plan and called for the "moral equivalent of war." Carter's plan was to reduce reliance on imports and move the public away from a heavy reliance on oil and toward more use of coal. He hoped that we could develop clean and renewable resources while avoiding environmental damage and giving America energy independence.
That was 30 years ago. We lost that "war," of course. Congress, controlled by the president's own party, largely rejected Carter's proposals, and a national energy policy was sacrificed for the benefit of parochial concerns.
The cards, as Duke University economist Crauford Goodwin wrote back in 1981, were "stacked heavily in favor of the status quo. The public and media memory was short, the tyranny of the immediate decisive."
President Carter was not solely to blame. In the immortal words of cartoonist Walt Kelly's Pogo: "We have met the enemy and he is us."
Co-ops and consumers work together to lessen our dependence on foreign fossil fuels.
ReplyDeleteIn the early 1970s, animated ditties began airing between cartoons on Saturday morning TV. Called Schoolhouse Rock, the catchy tunes taught kids the function of conjunctions, multiplication, science and more. In one about electricity, the voice-over whimsically mused, "Now, if we only had a superhero who could stand here and turn the generator real fast, then we wouldn't need to burn so much fuel to make electricity … electricity."
Some 30-years later, we still could use that superhero to power us up. But, that's not going to happen. The nation must still rely mostly on coal, nuclear and natural gas for its electricity.
Just as we did in the 1970s, the United States is facing an energy crisis. This one, though, runs deeper than oil embargoes.
New competition for the world's limited oil and natural gas supplies is increasing global demand like never before. Reserves are dwindling. These and other factors are forcing energy prices to skyrocket here at home. It's affecting not just the fuel for our cars and homes, but it's driving up electricity costs, too. A new world is emerging. The energy decisions our nation makes today will have huge implications into the next century.
Most of the natural gas and oil Americans use comes from foreign sources. Much of our oil is from the Middle East. Instability there is forcing the United States to once again focus on energy independence. "Nothing," said Sheldon C. Petersen, the CEO of the nation's electric cooperatives' financing co-op, "… is more important to our national security than achieving this goal."
In a speech before the nation's co-op leaders in February, Petersen added, "Our entire relationship to oil needs to be re-thought in the light of the geopolitical realities we face." He said, "We need a ‘total energy makeover' that includes coal and nuclear, as well as a higher percentage of renewables in the mix."
Earth Day this month focuses on protecting our planet. This year it's more important than ever for Indiana's electric co-ops to point out the many things we all can do to help our planet environmentally that also help our nation break its dependence on foreign energy sources. These things include creating renewable energy sources, using coal more cleanly and educating consumers about energy efficiency and conservation.
Watts from waste
Garbage: we make it; bag it; curb it; and then watch it get hauled away by the garbage truck on trash day. Now, some of it is coming back to us — in the form of cleaner electricity.
Seven electric generating stations are being powered by the waste gas at six landfills around northern and central Indiana. The plants are owned by Wabash Valley Power Association, the Indianapolis-based cooperative power supplier to 22 electric co-ops in the northern half of Indiana and five in Ohio, Michigan and Illinois.
In a partnership with Waste Management of Indiana, which operates the landfills, the plants create enough electricity for over 10,500 homes and businesses. The power is distributed by participating REMCs/RECs to consumers through an innovative program called "EnviroWatts."
Developed by Wabash Valley six years ago, EnviroWatts is a brand of electricity generated through alternative, renewable sources like biomass. It is offered to consumers of participating co-ops throughout Indiana and to co-op consumers in Kentucky and Ohio, too.
American Energy Independence
ReplyDeleteA powerful idea is spreading through America. It is a call to this generation to take action and decide the course of history by declaring and fighting for American Energy Independence.
Following the 1973 Arab oil embargo, the idea of energy independence captured the imagination of the American people. Then during the 1980's, increased automobile fuel efficiency and new oil discoveries created a surplus of oil on the world market, and America’s enthusiasm for energy independence faded into memory. Now, more than thirty years after the oil embargo, re-awakened by the terrorist attack on 9/11 and war in the Middle East, the idea of American energy independence has returned with a vengeance, becoming a powerful force shaping the political views of a new generation of Americans.
Oil is no longer viewed as just another commodity. In the minds and hearts of the American people, oil has become associated with terrorism, political corruption, corporate greed, and global warming.
The 1973 Arab oil embargo interrupted the flow of oil causing severe gasoline shortages and long lines at gas stations. The embargo exposed America's growing oil dependence and gave the American people their first warning of the price they would pay for continued dependence on imported oil. The 1979 Iranian revolution interrupted the flow of oil again — this was the second warning, signaling the urgent need for American Energy Independence. The 1991 Persian Gulf War was a military intervention to stop one dictator from taking control of Middle East oil — this was the third and most severe warning. Failure to make energy independence the nation’s highest priority after the Gulf War demonstrated that the United States did not have the political will to free itself from dependence on foreign oil.
September 11, 2001 was a preview of America's future – one possible future.
America stands at a crossroad, a choice between two very different futures. One choice leads to increased dependence on foreign oil and a future dominated by terrorism and war. The other choice leads to American energy independence and a world economy that is no longer desperate for oil.
In 1973, Middle East oil producers embargoed shipments to the United States in response to the Yom Kippur War. At the time, the USA imported about 35 percent of its oil. Since then and through six different Presidents, America’s dependency on foreign oil has increased to more than 60 percent.
Today, the world consumes over 80 million barrels of oil every day (over 30 billion barrels per year); the USA alone consumes over 20 million barrels per day (over 7 billion barrels per year). At an average price of $60 per barrel, the global petroleum industry is a 1.8 trillion dollar a year business. Development of alternative energy to free the world from oil will create a seismic shift within the economic foundation of the world.
Alternative Energy is the Next Logical Step in Energy Services Consolidation
ReplyDeleteToday a homeowner can now add alternative energy options to their home which allows for decreased monthly utility bills and many state and federal tax credits. The biggest hurdle to getting this technology in your home is service availability. Alternative Energy installers currently resemble the industry layout shown above for the residential HVAC companies.
There are many small installers out there with zero track-record. Searching the internet for “solar panel installations” for example will tell you about long waits, no-shows, and repeat visits to do the job right. This kind of feedback begs for a “gold standard”. After all what good is technology if we cannot acquire it easily?
Companies that do provide these kinds of services (wind, solar, hydro, etc…) will become prime acquisition candidates for consolidators mentioned above for a couple of reasons:
Customers lists: a small-town or even regional operator cannot compete with a local utility for a service/product marketing campaign. Customers want the lowest prices available, and large companies achieve this with bulk orders. You have to be REALLY good to even attempt this. Utilities and other large established energy/residential service players have all the requisite permits/licenses necessary to install this equipment.
Financing: big balance sheets definitely help. With solar hardware alone costing between $15K-$30k, the biggest decision in going green is financing. How do I pay for this? Are the terms good? Being able to draw upon credit facilities or cash-rich balance sheets to self-finance is a clear competitive advantage. If a client cannot pay the solar power financing portion of the bill a utility can always use the power generated as collateral.
Man power: Plugged into the local union and vocational schools, utilities can draw top talent to scale an alternative energy installation arm, and use their current labor force in a full capacity.
Warranty service: With minimum power production warranties of 25 years available on panels, industry consolidators have long-term potential cash flows. When something goes wrong with the system who do the customers call? Companies that already service a home want to be there as often as possible and will fight to become a homeowner’s new best friend.
Service contracts: bi-annual visits to service the panels would be an easy sell. Another $1-$5 on the monthly bill for a customer’s home service or utility company to service their new alternative energy equipment seems like a bargain.
Unless these solar installation companies have a background in home installation/service work, there are hundreds of companies that have been doing this longer and can most likely provide better, more profitable service.
Consolidation Candidates
ReplyDeleteThe industry is young, but there are many start-ups and subsequently VCs that believe in the idea of service oriented alternative energy companies providing green conscious consumers with infinite power:
REC Solar: is an established solar installer since 1997, they have a presence on both coasts
Solar City: is a new up and coming installer based in Foster City, CA. They provide an obvious but un-attempted strategy: interested clients sign up for solar installations, and when demand is high enough in a given geographic location, Solar City purchases all the hardware and arranges for installation providing comparatively low prices to customers. They raised an incredible amount of VC funding in a short time. They have not reinvented solar power, but they have tapped into a great marketing strategy to enable low-cost distribution and installation. Overall their idea is very promising; the only weakness I foresee is their ability to manage a “green-collar” workforce.
An interesting fact about this company is that they share the same chairman, Elon Musk, as Tesla Motors. One of their projects is to install solar powered refueling stations for electric vehicles in cities.
Sun Run: is another start-up that changes the premise of owning alternative energy technology. They own and install the panels on customers’ homes, and then charge customers a fixed rate for electricity through a long-term lease contract. The idea here being they can sell the excess production to the grid as well as receive the tax credits and incentives. Click here for their WSJ mention.
This is a company that could easily snowball into a giant behemoth. As the energy efficiency of panels increases with a growing customer base, they could essentially become a mini “utility.
Asides from the established consolidators mentioned previously, there are very large solar focused corporations that can continue to build on their solar expertise through consolidation:
Sun Power Corporation: this is a one-stop shop for solar energy needs on both a residential, commercial and infrastructure level. They are most known for their large commercial installations. Their acquisition of PowerLight last year for $333M provides a glimpse at the future the solar industry has.
Cash flows will continue to increase and investors will demand intelligent deployment of funds. Let’s see how the sun sets on this one.