December 19th 2008
Government And Green Energy: A Horror Show
N
ow that Steven Chu, alternative energy guru, is about to be ensconsed in the Dept. of Energy and PEOTUS Obama is proclaiming alternative energy programs as the salvation of the national economy, it might do us well to pause a moment and consider just how horribly fleeced we are going to be by a raft of upcoming dishonest and inept government-sponsored alternative energy initiatives.
Add this LA Times story to the thick bibliography of stories about failed or deceitful government energy programs:
When members of the Los Angeles City Council agreed last month to put an ambitious solar energy plan on the March 3 ballot, they talked effusively about their desire for cleaner air and “green” technology jobs — the kind that could boost the economy during a recession.
What they didn’t discuss was an analysis by a city-hired consulting firm that called the solar plan “extremely risky” and considerably more expensive than was being portrayed by the Department of Water and Power.
Measure B, which calls for unionized DWP workers to install solar panels on rooftops and parking lots across the city, sailed onto the ballot with a unanimous vote. But days earlier, the council’s top policy advisor was so troubled by the proposal that, in an e-mail to Council President Eric Garcetti, he recommended that the council delay it until a future election.
After receiving the analysis from the consulting firm, Chief Legislative Analyst Gerry Miller warned Garcetti that the solar measure could result in “substantial increases” to the electricity bills of DWP customers.
Neither Miller nor Garcetti made those findings part of the public record. Since then, Miller’s office has rebuffed requests from The Times for a copy of the consulting firm’s analysis, saying the state’s public records law allows city officials to withhold any document that would reveal the “deliberative process” between the council and its chief legislative analyst.
The underpinnings of the $700 billion Obama wet dream stimulus program is the same as the DWP solar program’s underpinnings: Political grandstanding, overly rosy assumptions, a lack of transparency, an avoidance of the facts, and a willingness to spend other people’s money for their career gratification.
Garcetti blew off requests from the LAT to see the consultant report because “they were among several opinions that he solicited informally on the ballot measure.” Huh? Was public funding used for the report? You betcha. Turn it over Garcetti.
Oh, by the way, he also mentioned that solar companies that stood to line their pockets with the DWP solar contract disputed the consultant’s findings. Big surprise there. So release all the studies and let us poor, pathetically stupid people draw our own conclusions.
DWP, which is already planning to impose a rate increase of 24%, says the solar program shouldn’t add much more than 4% more to customer bills. And here silly old me thought that if you plugged into free energy from the sun, your energy bills would go down. If that’s not the way it works in sunny LA, be very, very concerned about expensive “stimulus” programs forthcoming from Obama’s Energy Dept.
Posted in Alternative Energy, Energy Policy, LA | 1 Comment » | |
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December 21st, 2008 at 3:00 am
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