CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

The state Public Service Commission has approved a pair of energy-efficiency programs, including one that will pay consumers to recycle inefficient appliances.

New York State Electric & Gas Corp. will offer $30 for the removal and recycling of up to two working, inefficient refrigerators or freezers that are used as a second unit.
About $2.8 million has been set aside by NYSEG for the rebate program.

The utility will also begin printing reports for participating customers that show how their energy use stacks up against that of their neighbors. The reports will also include tips on saving energy.

Branchport, N.Y.

At their regular meeting Jan. 19, the Jerusalem Town Board scheduled a public hearing for a proposed one year moratorium on Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling and hydraulic-fracturing or “fracking,” while the town considers the zoning and local laws necessary to regulate it sufficiently or ban it altogether.

Board member Neil Simmons questioned the timing of the moratorium, and asked whether it might not be better to have it start on May 16, when the NYS DEC is supposed to make public its finding on the environmental impact of fracking. Resident Joe Hoff spoke at length why Jerusalem needed the moratorium in February to “make a clear statement” against fracking.

Town attorney Philip Bailey warned of “using up precious months” of a moratorium before they were necessary, and that extending moratoriums repeatedly makes them more vulnerable to being overturned in the courts. Fearing delays in the DEC’s findings, the board asked if it could be worded to begin upon whatever date the DEC did make its findings known. Bailey believed it could.

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Talisman Energy has resumed its Marcellus drilling operations in Pennsylvania, a week after one of the company's gas wells experienced a blowout that caused an uncontrolled discharge of sand and fracking fluids onto state forest lands in Tioga County.

As a result of the incident, Talisman shut down all of its hydraulic fracturing operations in North America while it conducted an internal investigation into the cause of the Jan. 17 blowout. Those operations have since resumed, with Talisman's Pennsylvania drilling program being the last to be brought back online.

Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has requested Talisman provide answers to nine questions related to the blowout as part of its investigation into the incident. The investigation could result in civil penalties levied against Talisman.

The well where the blowout occurred is on Pennsylvania State Forest lands in Ward Township, about nine miles southeast of Mansfield.

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With new leadership taking control of the United States House of Representatives changes were sure to come. One of the biggest and most notable is the dissolution of the Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming.

Created by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2006 and chaired by Representative Ed Markey, the committee was charged with pushing a ‘green’ agenda. In its short lifespan the group undertook an aggressive agenda with its biggest highlight being the passing of a cap and trade tax plan.

With Republicans officially taking power in the House yesterday they followed through on their promise to disband the committee. New Speaker of the House John Boehner said that the work done by the committee would be folded into others and result in a cost savings.

As a closing act the committee’s leadership released a report outlining what it felt were its most significant achievements. The report heralds the Select Committee’s “work in raising the profile of energy and climate issues, and spurring increased debate.”

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A state Department of Environmental Conservation plan released this month leaves open the possibility of hydraulic fracturing and expanded natural gas development on state forest land.

The Strategic Plan for State Forest Management, finalized Dec. 29, will allow the state to lease the gas rights to the Marcellus Shale formation beneath certain state-owned forest parcels, but only after public hearings are held on each lease offer.

A determination on allowing high-volume hydrofracking on forest land, however, will be made after both the DEC and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency complete their reviews of the gas stimulation technique, which involves the use of high-pressure, chemical-laced water to unlock natural gas from tight shale formations.

The DEC will issue a second draft of its permitting guidelines for fracking in the beginning of June; the EPA study is expected to take at least two years before initial results are released.

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Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is among investors who have filed shareholder resolutions with nine oil and gas companies asking them to disclose their plans for managing water pollution and risks with natural gas hydraulic fracturing operations.

DiNapoli’s involvement comes because he is the sole trustee $132.8 billion state pension fund, which invests in various companies, including some in the oil and gas industry.

"Oil and gas firms are being too vague about how they will manage the environmental challenges resulting from (hydraulic fracturing)," DiNapoli said Friday in a statement. "The risks associated with unconventional shale gas extraction have the potential to negatively impact shareholder value."

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a method of retrieving natural gas from previously unreachable locations by shooting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into the ground to break up shale formations and retrieve gas.

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After reading Invenergy's self-serving pontifications in their 1/13 article, "Invenergy and NYSERDA enter renewable energy credit purchase agreement", it seems we need to step back and take a look at the bigger picture here:

1.) I (and most citizens) agree we have environmental and energy issues, and
2.) I (and most citizens) agree that these technical matters should be solved using real science - not propaganda being put forth by corporate salesmen.

Real Science is not a collection of theorems, but is a PROCESS - the core process being the Scientific Method. The Scientific Method consists of a hypothesis (e.g. that wind energy is equivalent to our conventional power sources) being subjected to a: (1) comprehensive, (2) objective, (3) independent, (4) transparent, and (5) empirical-based assessment.

The fact is: This has NOT been done for wind energy - Anyplace!

Said in an another easy-to-understand way:

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Applications for Net-Metered Systems increased 18% in 2010.

Net-Metered Systems measure electricity use for small scale commercial or residential wind, solar or hybrid electricity generators.

NYSEG says when the customer generates excess electricity that flows to the power grid, the meter spins backwards.

It currently meters 286 solar, 27 wind and 3 hybrid systems.

NYSEG also supports large scale interconnection projects to provide power to the grid. That includes the AES battery energy storage facility in the Town of Union.

“Power for people, not for profit!” and “PSC doesn’t represent me!” were among the chants raised on the sidewalk at the building’s Erie Boulevard West entrance.

The coalition, activists from Syracuse United Neighbors, the Green Party, the Syracuse Peace Council and other group who want to bring a municipal utility to Syracuse, opposes a proposed $115 million electric rate hike for National Grid. The state Public Service Commission is to vote Thursday on the agreement…

In addition, the PSC itself should be investigated, said Howie Hawkins, former Green Party candidate for governor.

The proposal would make $50 million of the hike temporary, meaning it could be reversed if the audit finds that customers were overcharged.

“Guess what? The Public Service Commission has never, ever rejected a rate hike,” Hawkins said. “Do you think they’re going to rescind one?”