CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently publicized practices that it claims are illegal under its complex system for documenting compliance with the Renewable Fuel Standard. The system requires obligated parties to establish that they have purchased sufficient Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs), which are generated by the sale of renewable fuels such as biodiesel and ethanol. The EPA notice suggests that some RIN market participants' efforts to correct clerical errors in their RIN transactions may be creating additional civil exposure. Properly documenting RIN transactions has been a source of substantial concern to producers, marketers and purchasers of renewable fuels. The EPA's recent notice probably exacerbates those concerns for past transactions but does provide some useful guidance for future transactions.

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This year's Tour to the Shore fuel economy competition had the goal of beating the previous record: 75 MPG in a Honda Insight hybrid. That might seem hard to do, unless you are Jack Martin, a member of the Triad Electric Vehicle Association in Burlington and teacher of Sustainable Transportation at Appalachian State University. He squeezed out 124 miles out of one gallon of gasoline in his unmodified Insight hybrid (and he has one passenger).

He did it by using hypermiling tricks. More details below.

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Lack of warranty support for biodiesel has been a major stumbling block for new diesel owners who want to start using the fuel. But three long-awaited ASTM specifications could help change that.

Automakers and engine manufacturers have been requesting a finished blend specification for B20 biodiesel blends for several years, with some citing the need for that spec as the single greatest hurdle preventing their full-scale acceptance of B20 use in their diesel vehicles.

On June 19th, after more than five years of research and discussion, the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) finally approved the following specifications for biodiesel fuel:

* Changes to the existing B100 biodiesel blend stock specification (ASTM D6751)
* Finished specifications to include up to 5% biodiesel (B5) in the conventional petrodiesel specification (ASTM D975)
* A new specification for blends of between 6 percent biodiesel (B6) to 20 percent biodiesel (B20) for on and off road diesel.

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The Goldwater Institute is asking the state Supreme Court to strike down rules that require Arizona Public Service Co. to get a certain percent of electricity from renewable sources such as solar.

The organization filed a petition last week arguing that the Arizona Corporation Commission overstepped its authority by requiring APS to charge customers a monthly tariff to support renewable energy.

Officials said they are hopeful that by targeting the APS tariff, they can get the renewable-energy rules stricken and free other state utilities from the requirement.

The commission passed a requirement in 2006 requiring public utilities to get 15 percent of their electricity from renewables by 2025 and earlier this year approved an increased tariff on APS customers to help the utility provide incentives for that power.

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HARPSWELL — A Harpswell consultant who planned to build a $50 million biomass boiler in the Millinocket area lost his spot on the power grid to a wind farm project and has scrapped plans for the plant — and the 30 jobs he hoped it would bring to the area.

"We can't get the power out, so the project is essentially dead," Jerry Tudan of Peregrine Technologies in Harpswell said. "Nobody's going to commit to building a $50 million project if you can't sell the project."

Tudan planned a biomass plant that would have provided renewable power using sawdust and bark. He also hoped to build a chip mill so the biomass plant could control its own fuel, he said.

"We were looking at 30 to 35 jobs," he said.

Tudan had lined up investors for the 17-megawatt project, which he said Tuesday would more than provide a town of 15,000 people with domestic power.

But during the course of "due dilgence," during which developers worked on issues including environmental permits, First Wind, a Massachusetts wind project developer, registered for the spot on the power grid that Tudan had planned to use.

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BATH - Village Mayor David Wallace and representatives of Bath Electric Gas and Water Systems agreed last week to proceed with plans to upgrade the public utility's electric infrastructure at a potential cost of $7.1 million.

Wallace said the village would issue bonds to finance the project, and the utility would pay back the bonds with higher electric rates.

The mayor's agreement with BEGWS includes using utility employees in the actual construction process. That provision could reduce overall labor costs by $1 million, Wallace estimated.

"We've got a good electric crew," said Wallace. "It's what they do, and I think they can save some money."

Because the utility does not have the authority to issue its own bonds, the village municipality is the only entity empowered to issue debt to cover the cost of the project. That means, Wallace noted, the village itself would be responsible for paying back the bonds in the event future rate increases for BEGWS are not approved by the New York Public Service Commission.

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AT ISSUE: Governor needs to follow through and get a policy in place.

There is little dispute that the energy needs of New York City are increasing. There is, however, major dispute over a plan to meet those needs by cutting an ugly swath through Upstate New York.

That problem – and future controversies – can best be addressed by New York state developing a comprehensive energy policy that doesn’t help one part of the state at the expense of another.

It was just two years ago that New York Regional Interconnect proposed building a 1,200-megawatt power line from Marcy to Orange County to meet growing energy needs downstate. Locally, the line would run through communities including South Utica, the town of New Hartford, Clayville, Cassville and Waterville.

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Till now we have battery operated cars or hybrid cars. Hybrid cars reduce your gas consumption and air pollution. If you are using battery operated cars, you can’t drive on the spur of a moment. You have to PLAN and recharge the batteries. Otherwise your vehicle will carry you for a few miles and then it will stop and you will be stuck somewhere you don’t want to. You also have to compromise on the size, space and speed of the car. And since you are using a storage device in the car, you have to fear and respect that too.

Can’t we have a car that goes 250 miles on a single charge? Can’t we recharge it in five minutes? And drive it at 80 M.P.H.? Don’t dismiss it as wishful thinking! A Toronto-based firm ZENN Motors promises such a highway capable model in near future with no gasoline engine, no batteries, and no emissions!

Even the mere promise of horizontal drilling reform in New York aimed at developing a valuable natural gas reserve called the Marcellus Shale has recently resulted in a great deal of investment farther east along the state's Southern Tier.

But it remains to be seen when, if ever, it will be economical for energy companies to access the rich Marcellus Shale farther west in Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties, where the 400-million-year-old rock formation begins to thin out.

Press reports filed in Binghamton tell of energy companies offering property owners $2,500 an acre for mineral rights - 10 times the going rate only a few months ago - in addition to 15 royalties on all gas production.

The investment has been spurred by a measure that until Monday was only in the works - a measure aimed at easing the restrictions on horizontal drilling in New York, a practice that makes it possible to access the Marcellus Shale.

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SOUTHERN TIER, N.Y. -- NYSEG wants to add infrastructure to meet demand and increase reliability in Chemung, Schuyler and Steuben counties.

The energy company wants to build a transmission line from the Town of Campbell southeast to the Town of Erwin. NYSEG's plans also include two new substations in Campbell and at Corning Incorporated's Sullivan Park complex in Erwin.

The project requires local and state approval and will include public comment. NYSEG wants to have it planned by late next year and built by the end of the following year.