CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

ALBANY, NY (10/23/2009)(readMedia)-- The New York State Public Service Commission (Commission) previously announced it will hold a technical conference to explore issues associated with the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) Program. Issues to be discussed include benefits and costs of the program, program design and implementation, and an assessment of the potential for the development of additional renewable energy resources and associated costs.

The technical conference will be held on Wednesday, October 28, 2009, in the 19th floor boardroom of the Commission's Albany office at Three Empire State Plaza, and video broadcast in the videoconference room on the 4th floor of the Commission's offices at 90 Church Street, New York City. Pursuant to procedures established by the building management, anyone planning to observe the meeting in the New York City videoconference room must notify Jan Goorsky at 212-417-2378, 48 hours in advance of the meeting, and must be prepared to show valid photo identification upon arrival at 90 Church Street.

The technical conference will commence at 10:00 a.m. and conclude at 5:00 p.m. An agenda for the conference, including presenters, is below. Presentations by invitation only.

In addition to the video broadcasting of the technical conference in the Commission's New York City offices, the conference will be broadcast live on the Internet. The Internet broadcast can be viewed through NewYorkAdmin by accessing http://www.NewYorkAdmin.com from a computer capable of using RealPlayer. RealPlayer can be downloaded from the NewYorkAdmin Web site. The Commission has no financial interest in the Web site, its management, maintenance or administration.

(Click to read entire press release)

One of the fastest growing Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) in the state, Ambit Energy announced it will launch energy service in the New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) territory in the first quarter of 2010.

"We look forward to expanding our presence in New York and are proud to say that we can now offer almost every customer in the state a lower cost option compared to the incumbent provider," said Ambit Energy CEO and co-founder Jere W. Thompson, Jr."The New York markets continue to prove themselves as very
receptive to the benefits of competition in the energy industry."

Ambit Energy will now offer its competitive rates to a market of more than 871,000 electric and 256,000 gas customers across more than 40 percent of upstate New York. To date, only about nine percent or 100,000 customers have taken advantage of the open market by switching to an alternative energy supplier.

As they have done in other New York market areas such as Con Edison and National Grid, Ambit`s independent consultants will plan to offer the benefits of Ambit Energy`s service to as many of the remaining 91 percent as possible.

"With this launch, our Independent Consultants are able to serve another huge New York market," said Ambit Energy CMO and co-founder Chris Chambless. "And with our Guaranteed Savings Plan, they are well-armed to help New York consumers in the NYSEG territory switch and save. It`s been our experience that New York consumers are extremely open to saving money."

As in other New York markets, Ambit Energy will offer a competitive monthly rate and annual savings guarantee. In addition, each customer will receive an instant savings each month up to two percent as they avoid sales tax charges on the delivery portion of their bill.

For information on Ambit Energy`s rates and services, or its upcoming service launch into the NYSEG Territory, visit AmbitEnergy.com or call (877) 28-AMBIT.

for Ambit Energy
Allison Lowe, 972-499-6631 or Nick LaVecchia, 214-270-1782

Many good points are made in the article describing the fourth annual “Sustainable Delaware” conference held at the University of Delaware this week, as well as honoring Professor John M. Byrne, director of the University’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy.

I do have a gripe with the over-use of the word “sustainable.” As an environmentalist and naturalist, “sustainable” means no net loss of environmental, or natural, elements. Every construction project extracts more than it replaces. No building today can, by itself, return more than it depletes. Period. Only through significantly improving the natural environment can we begin to come closer to a truly sustainable balance – we must first truly learn to overcome net environmental loss – with plants; yes, native P-L-A-N-T-S. So it is truly puzzling that this conference did not include presentations by Dr. Douglas Tallamy, department head of the Department of Entomology and Applied Ecology at the University.

Nor was there any mention made of the use of rooftop landscaping. And we all must accept the fact that each and every one of us is a plant parasite, and environmentally dependent with every breath we take and every vegetable and meat product we eat.

So as we go through each day using our extraneous distancing gadgets like iPhones, computers, automobiles and air conditioning/ heating, etc., please remember plants came long before us. Every plant is a miracle that eventually allowed your being, and mine.

Allan F. Ferver Jr., Earleville, Md.

What causal factors move public opinion? Are you a fundamentals guy or do you believe in path dependence models so that small shocks set off a contagion/multiplier effect as everybody is talking about the "Octomom" or the "balloon boy". In the Case of Global Warming, has Al Gore's movie worn off? Or has the recession cut too deep? Or has it been too cool outside? Today in Westwood it is 85 degrees and sunny.

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1386/cap-and-trade-global-warming-opinion

While this is an interesting graph, the Pew Research people don't answer the "so what". If "belief" in global warming is down, what political economy outcome will be affected? Should Al Gore have pushed for Waxman/Markey in 2006? Should he have waited to release his Nobel Prize movie until a Democrat was President?

The question posed is a slightly strange one. I don't know what "solid evidence" is. But, I do think that the trend line is related to underlying interest in the topic.

HARRISBURG - Cabot Oil and Gas are facing fines after state environmental regulators said the gas-exploration company reported three chemical spills in northeastern Pennsylvania.

The DEP said that Cabot is being fined about $57-thousand dollars for violating state environmental laws.

Last week, the department allowed the Houston-based company to resume a drilling technique that uses liquids to fracture rock and release natural gas.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Two more Upstate utilities announced good news today. Their customers will pay less for heat this winter.

New York State Electric & Gas said a typical residential customer will pay $827 for heat this winter during the five months from November through March, a 13.8 percent decrease from last year’s bill of $959. NYSEG said a typical customer uses 724 therms of gas per winter. At that usage level, this year’s price is expected to average $1.14 per therm, compared with $1.32 last year.

Rochester Gas & Electric, a sister company of NYSEG, said a typical residential customer will pay $792 this winter, a 15.5 percent decrease from $937 last year. A typical RG&E customer uses 713 therms per winter. This year’s price is expected to average $1.11 per therm, compared with $1.31 last year.

NYSEG serves customers in Auburn and southern Cayuga County, and in pockets of Onondaga and Madison counties. RG&E has customers in northern Cayuga County.

(Click to read entire article)

New York Governor David Paterson plans to reconsider the rules that enable New York’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), according to a recent report in the New York Times. Power plants have long contended that the RGGI system of auctioning emission allowances puts companies who are locked into long term contracts at a serious disadvantage. Such generators, argue representative groups such as the Independent Power Producers of New York (IPPNY), cannot recoup the extra costs associated with purchasing allowances. Similar concerns prompted Indeck Energy in January to file a lawsuit challenging New York’s authority to implement RGGI, and alleging that the regulations would essentially impose an unauthorized tax.

News of Paterson’s agreement to reexamine the rules has provoked a sharp response from environmental groups. Luis Martinez, energy attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, commented, “Reopening the rule for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to give power plant owners another bite at the apple is not only unnecessary to address their concerns, it takes us in the wrong direction. Governor Paterson should be fulfilling the needs of consumers, not making deals with industry behind closed doors.” IPPNY has disputed any suggestion that the decision to reopen the rules was the result of behind the scenes maneuvering, stating, “For several years, these concerns were communicated in IPPNY's comments to the Department of Environmental Conservation and to the press and public through multiple press releases during the RGGI rulemaking process. Both during the rulemaking process and after, IPPNY made those same concerns known to the Executive Branch in a manner that is available to every citizen and interest group in this state.”

Environmental groups have submitted Freedom of Information Act requests for Governor Paterson’s schedule and records of any communications with power generator groups and are calling on his administration to release the details of any agreement with energy producers.

New York RGGI Implementing Regulations:

• DEC Adopted Part 242: CO₂ Budget Trading Regulations
• NYSERDA NYCRR Part 507 CO₂ Allowance Auction Program Regulations

The New York State Public Service Commission has announced that utilities providing natural gas services in the state have adequate supplies, delivery capacity and storage inventory to meet customer demands under severe winter conditions.

In New York, there are about 3 million naturalgas heating customers. Almost half of the state’s households use natural gas for heating and residential customers constitute the majority of natural gas customers.

“The availability and price of gas supply remains a priority concern of the commission,” said Public Service Commission Chairman Garry Brown. “Despite lower gas prices, low-income families or families on a fixed-income might still find it difficult to manage due to these challenging economic times.”

As part of the readiness review, the state Dept. of Public Service provided a report to the commission regarding the arrangements utilities have made to obtain adequate gas to meet expected customer demands under severe winter weather conditions.

According to New Energy Finance wind analyst Tyler Tringas, new build asset financing for wind projects was down 52 percent globally in the first quarter of the year. Total activity was slightly down quarter-over-quarter in the second quarter, at $11.6 billion.

“In the U.S., we expect loan activity to increase over the next 12 months,” said Tringas. “The credit crisis effectively broke down the so-called ‘tax equity’ financing structures that financed the majority of new wind projects in the past.”

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provided a possible solution for the problem by allowing the Treasury Department to issue grants for 30 percent of the cost of new renewable energy projects. That, along with a loan guarantee program by the Department of Energy, should spur lending activity after what has been a basically frozen 2009.

“Now that the first sets of rules have been issued, the reaction has been generally positive, with several new wind financings closing just days after the announcement,” said Tringas. “Banks, which avoided new lending this year, seem generally eager to deploy new capital into the renewables sector.”

(Click to read entire article)

WASHINGTON — As the Senate eyes global warming, the nation’s energy producers are splintering into competing camps battling over policy decisions worth hundreds of billions of dollars in coming decades.

Producers of natural gas are battling their erstwhile allies, the oil companies. Electrical utilities are fighting among themselves over the use of coal versus wind power or other renewable energy sources. Coal companies are battling natural gas firms over which should be used to produce electricity. And the renewable power industry is elbowing for advantage against all of them.

Some supporters of global warming legislation say the division in the once-monolithic oil-and-gas industry, as well as other splits among energy producers, could improve the prospects for the legislation.

“It’s much harder to pass clean-energy legislation when Big Oil and other energy interests are united in their opposition,” said Daniel Weiss, climate policy director at the liberal Center for American Progress. “The companies that recognize the economic benefits in the bill can help bring along their political supporters.”

(Click to read entire article)