Your electric bill is going - WAY UP!

[Larry]

Got this in the mail from our Cooperative electric company.

“As you may be aware, new EPA regulations and increasing consumer demand for power is causing electric utilities throughout the US to invest millions of dollars in new equipment to meet these regulations and build new power plants.  These new EPA requirements and demand for additional electric power will directly impact us on a state and local level.”

That opening paragraph was enough notice for me to grab my billfold right fast.  Kept reading the letter and sure enough our local coop said they will have to increase rates 21% over the next six years to pay the wholesale power supplier (another cooperative company).

Doesn’t really surprise me any....nuclear power generation seems to be the most economical but the power companies are not going to build them because of regulations.  The local power company for Kansas City wants to build an addition to their coal fired generation plant out in the middle of nowhere but they are meeting tough resistance from the city people....I live right close to the existing plant and they are good neighbors to have.

Just seems to me that the cost of any energy is way out of control...and nobody seems concerned enough to do much about it.  The retiree’s on fixed incomes are taking tremendous hits right now.

I’ll get off my soapbox and back to the threads on the wood fired boilers....I think I may soon enjoy one of those much more than my high efficiency heat pump.  Anybody got an idea for a wood fired air conditioner?

[Ga_Boy]

Larry,

If you can make steam, then you can use it for A/C.

I spent two years on a Nuc sub, our chillers cold water was derived from steam.  The steam was used to pull a vacuum on a cylinder where the chiller water was sprayed and flashed to steam, the chiller water exited the chamber at 58 degrees F.


Mark

[redpowerd]

yea i drempt up some crazy idear of using an outdoor boiler to power a steam engine to run a generator, then intertie with the grid to get paid for cutting wood and making my own power, but then again im plagued with thought.

[leweee]

Them Wind farms is looken better every day

[Frank_Pender]

When do we start making them, Mark.  I will just take the dealership for the West Coast.

[robotguy]

frank,
glad to hear from you, saw a post on here that we hadn;t heard from you in a while,
are you going to be at the logging show in eugene OR. this year ?  im planning to go to some of the seminars there. hope to see you there.
ROBOTGUY    

[beenthere]

I've been thinking about ways to cut back on electric usage, and believe that these all-night lights around homes and farms (although not a biggie) and especially around buildings, car lots, parking lots, and streets could all be reduced to little or no electric use by the use of motion detectors to turn them on (off after a brief period of no motion detected).  
Last night I drove by a farm that had no outside lights burning, and in the moonlight, it was very warming to see. The next place had glaring yard lights for 'security', I guess. Just lights the way of the would-be burglar, IMO.  
A motion detector would shine when motion was detected, and off when all was quiet.  Should save billions of kwhours, again IMO.  
Drive into any town and just count the lights on that are burning all night for what??

[Bibbyman]

Has anyone heard of where Don Laskowski’s Sterling engine project is going?

Wood-Mizer 20'TH Anniversary Party Update


Christmas and helping others  

Lots of great pictures...

[Ga_Boy]

When do we start making them, Mark.  I will just take the dealership for the West Coast.

OK Frank you got the West, I'll take the East.  Who is in for the central part?

[Furby]

I'm with ya on that Beenthere!
I'm on the road a lot in the wee hours of the night, and it really bothers me how many people have those lights on for no reason at all. Some have two, three, or four of those things, for a small house on a half acre lot. I agree that they sure as heck don't stop someone from breaking in, actually the opposite. Once they are in the house, they can see very well with out a flashlight or turning on a light, nobody even knows they are there.

[Mark M]

What kills me is the local Menard's store. They have those automatic doors that open about 8 feet wide every time someone gets close to the sensor. This wouldn't be so bad except there is no double door, it open right to the outside! If you've ever experienced a -100 wind chill you'll see what I mean about wasting energy. Something else they do is leave all the lights on even when they are not open, this includes all the demo lights in their lighting department. I almost think there needs to be an "energy police" or some laws to go after the chronic energy wasters!

[Minnesota_boy]

That's a pretty scary thought that the price of electricity might go up 21%.  That is until you factor in the fact that it might go up that much in 6 years.  Then it is only 3.5% per year, or about the rate of inflation.

On a related note, I went to the grocery store to buy butter this last week because I was running out of the butter I had bought the week before only to find the price had jumped 50%.  That's in one week.  Following the same logic with the price of electricity, hmmm, 50% in a week, 52 weeks in a year, for 6 years.  The butter would be in the millions of dollars a pound.  

[Ron Wenrich]

Personally, I don't like those outside lights.  But, there are other ways to have outdoor lighting than to use the electric company.  Solar panels and batterys work in areas that don't have high capacity generation.  I've seen pictures of their use in India.

A big reason for the jump in electric prices is the jump in natural gas prices.  When gas prices were low, they built a lot of stand alone, small generators that are fired on natural gas.  Pollution levels are low and the economics were real good when gas was low.

Now, there is more competition for gas, so prices went up.  Economics of the generators are now not so good.  To make up for the added increase in fuel costs, they're going to raise the rates.

New coal fired plants are going to have to have high tech scrubbers to keep in line with pollution standards.  You can't build a new generator with old technology anymore.  So,  higher generation costs must be reflected in higher rates.

[SwampDonkey]

Well, I dunno if you all heard about the Orimulson fiasco between New Brunswick Power Corp. and the  Venezalian government. Supposedly, and I never seen anything signed, our government had a deal with Venezalia for cheap Orimulson. As a result one of our generating plants was built to accomodate this fuel. Well, apparently the Venezalians had some political upheavil down there over something or other and we didn't get no orimulsion. Instead, we had to burn more costly diesel fuel causing our rates to increase accordingly. You'de think a government would have a contract signed before investing $millions in a plant to use unsecured fuel sources.

J. D. Irving Ltd announced they are investing in electric power generation and will supply the province with 30 % of their energy needs. They are to use natural gas, which is available off Sable Island and piped to the generating plant. Now why wouldn't the government think of this, in their infinate wisdom.

[Bill Johnson]

SwampDonkey

The answer to that is easy.  I've found that there are always 3 ways of doing things.

The right way.

The wrong way.

The government way.

[Silverback]

Don't like the energy company?  Easiest way to beat them is to spend the money and buy the following:

One of these
http://www.kansaswindpower.net/Trace%20SW%20angle%20picture.jpg

Plus some of these
http://www.kansaswindpower.net/solar_electric_modules.htm

and these
http://www.kansaswindpower.net/batteries,_chargers.htm

and for good measure one of these

http://www.generatorjoe.net/product.asp?0=247&1=255&3=333

[beav]

   HEY I got all that stuff and your bills keep going up anyway
   Live free or die? what about the poor prisoners stamping those words out all day?(on license plates)  Their bills dont go up.

[Larry]

Calpine is one of the bigger wholesale players in power generation.  Got there start with geothermal energy on the left coast.  They are building gas fired generators as fast as possible right now.  Natural gas power plants are easy to license, cheap to build, and go up in hurry.  Pretty expensive to operate but who cares....just pass on the cost to the consumer.  Now for the kicker....more demand for natural gas and the price goes up....few zillion people heat with natural gas in the city’s so they end up getting a double whammy.