{"id":15592,"date":"2012-03-13T12:23:56","date_gmt":"2012-03-13T19:23:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/?p=15592"},"modified":"2015-11-23T12:39:24","modified_gmt":"2015-11-23T19:39:24","slug":"reids-way-to-increase-clean-energy-demand-is-force-feeding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/reids-way-to-increase-clean-energy-demand-is-force-feeding\/","title":{"rendered":"Reid’s Way to Increase Clean Energy ‘Demand’ Is Force Feeding"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Thomas Mitchell\/4TH ST8<\/a>) As per usual, Harry Reid\u2019s tome on renewable energy projects in Nevada \u2014 \u201cPlaying to win in Clean Energy<\/a>,\u201d produced at your expense \u2014 leaves out as much as it tells.<\/p>\n

Harry touts SolarReserve\u2019s Crescent Dunes project near Tonopah, which will use mirrors to reflect sunlight on a 528-foot tower to liquefy salt and drive a turbine, as creating 600 jobs during construction, but fails to mention that it should take no more than 50 workers to operate it \u2014 a bargain at $13.8 million each<\/a> if you only calculate the $692 million in \u00a0stimulus funds and take no account of the $737 million loan guarantee.<\/p>\n

He mentions the grants and loan guarantees we taxpayers put up, but never mentions that the NV Energy ratepayers will be paying 13.5 cents per kilowatt-hour<\/a> to buy power from the facility. The current residential rate is about 12 cents per kwh.<\/p>\n

He fails to mention board members of SolarReserve contributed to his campaigns<\/a>. Nor does he mention a major benefactor in SolarReserve is Nancy Pelosi\u2019s brother-in-law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Harry then mentions the 225 construction jobs created by Spring Valley Wind<\/a> project without noting there will be only 13 permanent jobs<\/a>. He didn\u2019t mention that the power from those windmills will cost 9.8 cents per kwh<\/a> \u2014 at least double and possibly triple the cost for power from gas-fired turbines located closer to those who use it. Nor does he mention the number of golden eagles killed<\/a> by wind turbines in California.<\/p>\n

Ormat Geothermal\u2019s several projects\u2019 330 construction jobs are mentioned along with the 65 permanent jobs, as well as $350 million loan guarantee and production tax credit, which is set to expire at the end of the year unless Congress extends it. He makes no mention of the financial problems<\/a> Ormat has been having \u2014 \u201csignificant doubt about the company\u2019s ability to continue as a going concern\u201d \u2014 or the fact he has been running interference for the company.<\/p>\n

The 235-mile One Nevada Transmission line, needed to carry all this expensive renewable energy to market, was given $363 million of federal tax largesse, and Harry mentions the 400 construction jobs. He fails to mention the project is idle now because power line towers collapsed<\/a> during a December wind storm.<\/p>\n

Harry\u2019s spiel includes:<\/p>\n

\u201cNevada\u2019s renewable electricity standard has proven to be one of the most effective tools for creating demand for clean energy generation. However, the challenge remains for ensuring demand for clean energy gen\u00aderation in future years.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe enactment of a nation-wide renewable electric\u00adity standard would help sustain demand for Nevada\u2019s renewable electricity resources. In fact, each of the clean developers surveyed for this report reported that enactment of a federal renewable electricity standard could expand demand for renewable energy.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Demand? That is not demand. That is force feeding like a goose for foie gras.<\/p>\n

And a survey of clean energy developers that says a renewables standard could increase demand is like a survey of bank robbers saying a ban on alarms and armed guards will improve the banking system.<\/p>\n

Renewable projects are propped up on the front end and then supported for the life of the facilities by excessive power bills and tax breaks.<\/p>\n

Harry concludes with this bit of balderdash:<\/p>\n

\u201cNevada\u2019s economic future will be much brighter if we can make the Silver State into the vibrant core of a Western and national clean energy market opportunity unlike anywhere in the world.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He also called for extending, expanding and creating federal incentives, policies and programs that give billions in tax dollars to renewable energy producers. Today the Senate rejected extension<\/a> of two of those programs \u2014 so-called 1603 grants and production tax credits. Sixty votes were needed to embed those giveaways in the transportation bill, but it failed 49-49.<\/p>\n

Now here is the voice of reality<\/a> from NPRI\u2019s Geoffrey Lawrence:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Economist also reports<\/a> that for every one renewable energy job created through government mandates and price supports in Spain, 2.2 jobs were destroyed elsewhere in the economy. …
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe renewable portfolio standard is an affront to liberty, consumer choice and the market process. It is a regressive tax that stifles job growth and economic recovery. It\u2019s high time that lawmakers remove this onerous burden.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Thomas Mitchell\/4TH ST8) As per usual, Harry Reid\u2019s tome on renewable energy projects in Nevada \u2014 \u201cPlaying to win in Clean Energy,\u201d produced at your expense \u2014 leaves out as much as it tells. Harry touts SolarReserve\u2019s Crescent Dunes project near Tonopah, which will use mirrors to reflect sunlight on a 528-foot tower to liquefy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15592"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15592"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15592\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24140,"href":"https:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15592\/revisions\/24140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nevadanewsandviews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}