CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

We're looking for a full-time blogger who can cover the latest, hippest, greenest gadgets and electronics. We are looking for someone who has in-depth knowledge and passion about this topic, can identify and explore current and emerging trends, understands how tech relates to the average consumer, their household and the economy, and can communicate it all clearly to our diverse audience. We're talking about someone who can reach deep into the corners of the Internet and return the with hip prototypes, low-energy computers, upgrading advice, manufacturer responsibility ideas, e-waste reduction concepts, thoughts on grid optimization, and useful websites and apps, etc. Does this like sound like you or someone you know? Then, keep reading, because we also offer a $1,000 referral reward if you connect us with a successful long-term hire.

Here's precisely what we'd like you to do:
1) Introduce yourself: Give us a short paragraph that includes your name, location, and a brief overview of who you are.

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T. Boone Pickens has a plan to solve the country's $700 billion-a-year dependence on foreign oil.

Replace gasoline with natural gas. Replace natural gas-fired power plants with wind, solar, nuclear and clean coal. Basically, replace foreign oil with domestic fuel without straining those resources."We've gotten ourselves in a trap," Mr. Pickens said last week in an interview in his Dallas office. "The problem is, we said, 'Send us the oil, and never mind the cost.' "

"Things were fine until the price went vertical on us," said Mr. Pickens, who calculates that, at $140 a barrel for crude, Americans spend $700 billion a year on 5 billion barrels of oil from foreign countries. That amounted to about 65 percent of total U.S. supply last year.

(Click to read entire article)

For at least the second time since Iberdrola SA launched a takeover bid for the parent of Rochester Gas and Electric Corp., the Spanish utility is the subject of merger talks in Europe.

Shares of Iberdrola rose the most in five months Monday after published reports said a major shareholder in Gas Natural sees no alternative to a combination of the two Spanish companies.

Iberdrola's stock climbed 7.8 percent to close at 9.3 euros in Madrid trading. At that price the company, based in Bilbao, Spain, is valued at $72.5 billion.

Iberdrola is in the process of trying to buy Energy East Corp. for $4.5 billion. Energy East owns RG&E and New York State Electric and Gas Corp., which between them provide electricity and natural gas to much of upstate. The deal is pending before the state Public Service Commission.

One of the concerns raised about the deal is that New Yorkers might not know exactly who is buying their local utilities. Iberdrola earlier this year was rumored to be a takeover target of Electricite de France SA.

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The Southern Tier of New York rests on a portion of a vast underground treasure vault that stretches across several states. That's a blessing, especially for those who have land enough to provide a gateway. But the treasure -- natural gas -- is not easily withdrawn, and that's a potential curse.

The landowners are not the only stakeholders in this "gas rush," which could generate millions of dollars but also will produce ecological and infrastructural stress that will need to be addressed. There's no way to halt the stampede at this point, but there are issues which state and local governments need to address, and soon.

The federal government should be a natural ally in this endeavor, but Congress has granted the oil and gas industries sweeping exemptions from federal regulations including the Safe Drinking Water Act; Clean Water Act; Clean Air Act; Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act; National Environmental Policy Act and Toxic Release Inventory under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.

That doesn't mean the gas drilling companies are or will be negligent, but it does mean state and local watchdogs -- most especially the state Department of Environmental Conservation -- must be vigilant and rigorous in protecting the public and the environment. Local municipalities, meanwhile, must make sure the exploration companies provide bonds sufficient to cover road damage likely to be caused by increased traffic by heavy trucks to well sites.

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When domestic gas prices spiked during an energy crisis in the early 1980s, prospectors came into the western part of the Quad- state region to acquire drilling rights. With oil at $130 a barrel and natural gas prices headed above $11 per thousand cubic feet, they may return.

Exploration and production companies are looking for huge reserves of natural gas in Marcellus black shale in the northern Appalachian region. New drilling technologies for extracting gas from shale, coupled with historically high oil and natural gas prices, have triggered a land rush for drilling rights.

Marcellus shale, named after the town in New York where it was first gassed, is found mostly in western New York and Pennsylvania and much of West Virginia. The shale area also stretches into Garrett and Allegany counties of Maryland, Morgan County and western Berkeley County and western Frederick and Shenandoah counties.

Farmers in Lycoming County Pa., are reportedly being offered from $1,500 to $2,500 an acre for drilling rights, and if gas is found, they collect royalties.

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BLENHEIM -- Four massive upstate reservoirs that supply New York City with drinking water also may one day provide clean electric power to thousands of small-town customers.

The Delaware County Electric Cooperative, one of four customer-owned cooperatives created by the state in 1941 to bring low-cost power to farmers, sees a new source from four dams that hold back the city's Schoharie, Cannonsville, Neversink and Pepacton reservoirs.

"We are excited about this," said cooperative CEO Greg Starheim. "It would mean substantially more power for us."

Plans filed in May with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission propose installation of turbine units that would capture enough energy from water spilling over the dams to power 20,000 homes.

At a total capacity of about 65 megawatts, that is about a tenth of that from a traditional fossil fuel-fired power plant.

(Click to read entire article)

News that a vast natural gas source is below Steuben County led to a capacity crowd Tuesday night at the Campbell-Savona High School.

The natural gas is trapped about a mile under ground in the Marcellus Shale, which extends from West Virginia through Pennsylvania and up to western New York and Canada.

The range is estimated to contain 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, with reports that 10 percent production would heat every home in the U.S. for two years.

But while the implications of the resource are growing nationally, nearly 1,000 people filled the Campbell school auditorium to find out what the Marcellus project means locally.

"This is not the $1 or $2 (per acre) we've had in the past," said Lindsay Wickham, field adviser and local issues coordinator for the state Farm Bureau.

Competition between gas companies is likely to mean higher signing bonuses and subsidies for landowners.

"In Pennsylvania, (companies') rates started out at $5 to $50 an acre," he said. "Now they're $2,000, $3,000, and royalties are at 15, 16, 17 percent."

(Click to read entire article)

Spain's energy giant Iberdrola filed an investors' day presentation with the Spanish market regulator, CNMV, on Wednesday, stating that it aims to splash out on investments and internationalize the group even further, Thomson Merger News reports. It is ready to spend €25 billion (US$39 billion) in total between now and 2010, to achieve its growth objectives, which involves expansion in Latin America, the US, Canada and the U.K. Click on link for entire article

Ignacio Galan, chairman and chief executive of Scottish Power's parent firm Iberdrola, discussed the deal with Mr Salmond over the phone yesterday and met with finance secretary John Swinney. Click on link for entire article

The Spanish renewable energy company offers €175 million for the remaining shares of the Greek wind developer.

Just reading these headlines will turn your stomach!

There are many more links - just do some interent searching yourself - Iberdrola is everywhere - they are not just blowing in the wind! ... coal, gas, electric, wind - what else?

If we don't stop them soon, Iberdrola will own the World!
Happy Independence Day to All!

Next week, Subaru will be looking to impress delegates at the G8 summit in Hokkaido Toyako by unveiling a prototype plug-in electric car.

The company has provided five cars for use at the summit. Four of these will be used to transport officials and policy wonks around, while the other will go on display in the environmental showcase, as well as being available for test drives.

The new prototype twins Subaru’s existing Stella model with the electric powertrain from the company’s earlier R1e concept, which has been undergoing testing for the last two years. Whereas the R1e is a tiny two-seater, the Stella is a more practical 5-door model, and will be used for the development and test-marketing of next-generation EVs in Japan in the coming years.

The car, powered by a powerful Li-Ion battery, is capable of a top speed of around 60mph, with a range of 50 miles between charges - more than adequate for urban journeys. The battery can either be fully charged overnight at home, or topped up to 80% capacity in 15 minutes using a fast-charger. Charge time has been a major barrier to consumer acceptance of EVs and, although this still doesn’t match up to the speed of filling up with gas, it’s certainly getting there.

July 3, 2008

Hon. Jaclyn A. Brilling
Secretary to the Commission
New York State Public Service Commission
Agency Building 3
Albany, NY 12223-1350

Dear Commissioners:

The Citizen Power Alliance represents several environmental and energy groups who are deeply concern that the Iberdrola acquisition of Energy East will result in a diminishment of energy competition in New York State.

You have heard from several of our member groups already and many members have submitted documents on this subject to the PSC.

The degree of inordinate political pressure placed on the Public Service Commission to reverse the long established de-regulation policy of NYS is outrageous. In order that the public can continued to be protective from all the ills of an integrated energy cartel, the PSC must stand firm and accept the ruling of Judge Epstein.

The Iberdrola deal is bad business for New York State. It would be a nightmare for ordinary residential ratepayers and small business.

When the commissioners meet to decide and vote on this acquisition, the key point to remember is that control of our utility infrastructure is the issue. Claims of future investment are bogus diversions of the real impact of allowing a foreign global cartel to dictate electric pricing and distribution to our state.

This is a homeland security concern. It is your responsibility to look through the false spin and phony carbon credit trading that is at the core of a scheme to control our electric energy system.

Our members speak for scores of neighbors in their own communities. A reoccurring question from individuals is who will look out for the resident ratepayers if the PSC buckles under the pressure that fundamentally alter the long established de-regulation NYS policy.

CPA urges the PSC commissioners to view the Iberdrola takeover of Energy East as a moral issue that demands rejection. It is not about fake job creation, bailing out wind developers, discount electric rates for special business customers or for pie in the sky alternative energy percentages. No, what it is about is a sellout of the citizens and taxpayers of New York State.

Take the high road and make the correct decision. Reject the Iberdrola - Energy East approval.

Regards,

Citizen Power Alliance