Dirty Energy Companies Playing Dirty

by Meg White
President Obama frames his decision to allow increased offshore drilling, new nuclear power plants and the pursuit of "clean" coal technology as a type of a stopgap measure to fill American demands for cheap energy while renewable sources of energy are developed. But is this a case of sleeping with the enemy?

The CEOs of big energy corporations, who rely on coal, gas and nuclear plants to create the bulk of their energy, nod alongside the administration. But on the local level, they appear willing to block these developing industries through a combination of lobbying and monopoly. Two recent stories illustrate how traditional energy companies are keeping wind and solar energy companies from gaining a local foothold.

So let's say you own a small business. You want to install a solar panel on your roof, but the start-up costs are enormous for such infrastructure, even with the tax incentives. In some other states, you can enter into a "power purchase agreement" with an solar energy company. The company basically installs the panel and maintains it, making its money by selling the energy to you and to traditional power companies. A wealthier entrepreneur might make back the money they invested in the panels by selling the excess energy back into the traditional system.

But if your business is in the state of Georgia, you're out of luck. A traditional energy company known as Georgia Power has nurtured a complex web to ensure a lack of viability in the state's solar marketplace.

According to James Marlow, vice chair of the Georgia Solar Energy Association, the state of Georgia has "about a dozen state policies preventing creation of solar energy." Among them, the Territorial Act requires an owner of solar power panels sell their energy back to Georgia Power exclusively. But because the company sticks to a strict limit on how much energy it buys, there's a waiting list of people who want to enter into such an agreement with Georgia Power, but cannot.

Georgia Power can hide behind the cap because it's established by the state legislature. But according to this Inter-Press Service article, the company lobbied lawmakers for the very low cap in the first place. Furthermore, the piece notes that Georgia Power charges customers more to buy solar energy and keep prices of "dirty" energy low by flooding the market. Company plans to build two new coal plants and two new nuclear power plants will surely further exacerbate this problem.

Much as areas of the sunny south are limited in their access to solar power by such maneuvering, traditional energy companies are doing their best to keep turbines off the wind-swept plains of the Midwest.

Exelon Energy is spending its time and money in Springfield, IL. The energy company is lobbying against a relatively obscure part of a clean energy bill that would require utilities to buy clean energy from local sources before venturing elsewhere. Progress Illinois reports that Exelon is trying to prevent local competition from springing up:

Publicly, the company is claiming the measure will drive up consumers' electric bills. But Crain's suggests that there could be another underlying reason:

But a continued influx of homegrown wind power could hit Exelon where it hurts the most, reducing wholesale power prices in Illinois. That's because wind tends to blow hardest at night, when power demand is lowest. In recent years, real-time prices at night have turned negative at times, requiring generators to actually pay to unload their juice, because supply has outstripped demand. More local wind power likely would exacerbate that effect. Exelon's nukes run around the clock, making them more vulnerable to these price swings, while natural gas- and coal-fired plants can shut down when demand is weak...

As far as [Illinois Wind Energy Association's Kevin] Borgia is concerned, claims that electric rates would skyrocket under the new local requirement don't add up. That's because the Renewable Standards Portfolio imposes a rate-impact limit, which holds the line on renewable-related hikes.

Where pay-to-play politics are the norm, the corruption of a bill that's supposed to be about wind and solar power is to be expected to some degree. After all, this very legislation may end up defining the incineration of tires as energy derived from a renewable resource. Talk about the stench of corruption...

But I don't doubt that there are efforts by traditional energy producers in most states to try to stifle the development of renewable and clean energy sources. Because Georgia Power can't own the sun and Exelon Energy can't own the wind, they have to work with the resources they have: dirty energy sources and bought-off politicians.

The calculation being made here is clear: These energy companies are choosing their profit margins over American jobs and the country's safety. By standing quietly in the way of their fellow citizens' ingenuity, they're showcasing the worst kind of short-sightedness possible.

Obama may be right about the need for a slow transition to alternative energy. But if by handing over new leases on life to dying industries we're propping up the very people standing in the way of innovation and the building of a new green economy, we're working against our own best efforts.

Let The Sun Shine In......