NY Electrical Utilities Stalls Growth of Independent Electron Producers!

According to Melissa Everett, the Sustainable Hudson Valley organization rarely steps into the complex world of policy, but right now they are doing that.

The solar energy industry in Central Hudson’s territory – the mid-Hudson Valley – needs our support. Here’s the story. There has been a “cap” on the amount of solar-powered electricity that customers can sell back into the grid – so-called “net metering,” and that cap has been reached.

Sustainable Hudson Valley and the New York Solar Energy Industry Association have petitioned to the Public Service Commission for an increase to that cap, from 1.2 megawatts to 3.0 MW.

Right now, at a moment of fast-growing interest in solar, interested homeowners are being told that they simply cannot recover their investment by spinning their meter backwards – a big problem. Legislation is moving through the New York State Assembly to raise the net metering cap much more, so this situation is especially damaging and ironic.

Central Hudson – which received the “Utility of the Year” Award from NYSEIA for its responsible dealings with the renewable energy industry – has indicated that they will not oppose this administrative proceeding, but support is needed to make sure the matter moves smoothly through the regulatory process.

Melissa is sending out a copy of the letter sent to the PSC by Sustainable Hudson Valley. If you agree that this issue is timely and important, please take a moment – now – to contact Melissa and ask her what you can do to help.

Melissa Everett, Ph.D.
melissae@earthlink.net
Executive Director
Sustainable Hudson Valley
PO Box 4112
Kingston, NY 12401
845-331-2670
http://www.sustainhv.org

Anti-Trust Complaint Filed With Department of Justice Against Some Major Members Of ACE NY, AWEA and Wind Industry

Seems a whole slew of people have some serious issues with certain members of the wind industry....Green Nuclear Butterfly is reviewing the documents filed with the Department of Justice now to see which of those major wind players have associations directly and indirectly with the nuclear industry...stay tuned!

http://www.cohoctonfree.com/updates/items/Antitrust4-25-07.pdf

Complaint Filed on April 25, 2007 with the Department of Justice under the Sherman Antitrust Act by Concerned Citizens from the States of New York, Vermont, Maryland, and California.

Nature of Complaint

This is an Antitrust Complaint alleging that an International Cartel is engaged in Market Allocation, Price Fixing and Bid Rigging in Windfarm Developments in New York and Vermont, as well as other states across the nation. This Complaint was submitted by 94 concerned citizens via email to the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division on April 25, 2007.

Summary of Complaint

A number of foreign companies, along with at least one domestic firm, have conspired to eliminate competition in the newly emerging domestic wind energy industry.Through a maze of ad hoc LLC’s, partnerships, affiliations, cross-ownerships, strategic alliances,memoranda of understanding, joint ventures, and associations these entities have allocated the market geographically and effectively prohibited any manner of competition for highly profitable business ventures. The end result of this collusion is that thousands of landowners and hundreds of municipalities have been denied substantial monetary gains that would otherwise be available in a free and competitive market. Due to a plethora of subsidies, incentives, and tax breaks the wind energy developments are highly profitable and virtually all of the earnings are funneled abroad to the foreign owners and investors.

Companies, Individuals, and Organizations Involved

1. Babcock and Brown: described as an international investment, advisory and infrastructure firm. Babcock and Brown member of ACE NY It should also be noted, that John Calloway, Chief Development Officer for Babcock and Brown is on the board of AWEA!

..Babcock and Brown: based in Sydney, Australia and trades on the ASX
as symbol BBN.

..Babcock and Brown Ltd.: involved in investment banking, structured finance advisory, arrangement and management business, principal investment and other wholesale financial services. It is controlled by BBN, and trades as BNB on ASX. BNB is a major investor in global windfarm development and operation. BNB has a total market capitalization of over $8.5 billion, of which $3.825 billion is owned by
the executives of the bank.

..Global Wind Partners: an investment fund, 67% of which is owned by BBN and BNB.

..Babcock and Brown Wind Partners: a listed fund; apparently a successor to Global Wind Partners that comprises three funds: Babcock and Brown Wind Partners Trust, Babcock and Brown Wind Partners Ltd, and Babcock and Brown Wind Partners (Bermuda) Ltd. Following an IPO in 1995, this fund traded on the ASX as symbol BBW. This investment fund is described as being managed by Babcock and Brown (BNB).

..Babcock and Brown Infrastructure Management Pty. Ltd. (BBIM):formerly known as Prime Infrastructure, it is an investment fund that had some oversight responsibility or ownership of Babcock and Brown Wind Partners.

..Babcock and Brown Infrastructure (BBI): a listed fund, managed by BBIM.

..Babcock and Brown Power: a listed fund; owns two power-generating stations in Australia (acquired in 2006), one of which is called Ecogen.

..Babcock and Brown Operating Partners LP (later became an LLC?): based in San Francisco and responsible for at least some of Babcock and Brown’s US operations. This unit has a joint venture with BP Alternative Energy North America for the development of a 300MW windfarm in Weld County CO. Babcock and Brown LP (presumably an informal name for Babcock and Brown Operating Partners LP) is described as an equity investor in Sweetwater Wind Power Project in Texas. They are partnered in this project with DKR Development LLC (the project developer), Catamount Energy Corp. (also an equity investor) and TXU (the utility Antitrust Complaint – April 25, 2007 8 buying 100% of the project’s electricity). DKR Development was founded in 2001 by four former Enron executives, one of whom serves on the Catamount Board of Directors.

..Babcock and Brown Power Operating Partners, described as a wholly owned subsidiary of BNB, acquired 100% of the membership interests in G3 Energy LLC in January of 2005. G3 Energy was involved with the development of windfarms in 4 states and Canada. Babcock and Brown Power Operating Partners, on September 8, 2005, won preliminary approval for a $300M 400 MW transmission line to bring power into San Francisco (Trans Bay Cable). Babcock and Brown Power Operating Partners, on 6-5-06, announced a deal to purchase 443MW of wind turbines from Mitsubishi for projects in New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas. Mitsubishi Power Systems (MPS) will also provide wind turbine commissioning, installation support and maintenance for 5 years.Babcock and Brown Power Operating Partners, on 1-23-06, announced that it had selected enXco, Inc. to provide operations and management support for B+B’s Kumeyaay project near San Diego. In the 11-30-06 DOE/EIA listing of power plants, Babcock and Brown
Power Operating Partners is designated as Utility ID # 50123, and as the Company associated with the Plant named Ecogen Wind in Italy NY and Prattsburgh NY.

..BBPOP Wind Equity LLC.

..BBWP (US) LLC.

..B+B Eifel UK Ltd.: a partner in a windfarm in Germany that later was acquired by B+B.

..GWP Pty. Ltd.

..BBI US Holdings Pty. Ltd.

..BBI US Holdings II Ltd.

..BBI Glacier Corp

..Sweetwater Wind 1 LLC, Sweetwater Wind 2 LLC, Sweetwater 3 LLC, Sweetwater Wind 4 LLC, and Sweetwater 5 LLC Antitrust Complaint – April 25, 2007 9

..Eurus Combine Hills 1 LLC

..Blue Canyon Windpower LLC

..Caprock Wind LLC

..Kumeyaay Wind LLC

..Jersey-Atlantic Wind LLC

..Wind Park Bear creek LLC

..Crescent Ridge LLC

..Argonnne Wind LLC

..GSG LLC

..Buena Vista Energy LLC

..Ecogen LLC and Ecogen Wind LLC ACE NY member. Also a member of AWEA.

..Cedar Creek Wind Energy LLC

..Cross-Sound Cable Company LLC

..Trans Bay Cable LLC

Green Nuclear Butterfly Under Corporate Surveillance?

One of the nice things about the Internet, is you can to some degree tell when others are snooping around your blog...so, the question is, who has ordered Reputrace to snoop around on the Green Nuclear Butterfly blog? Maybe we should hire them to track down the thugs that have been maligning us on line. If I were a betting man, guessing it's associated with the email I got from and employee of First Energy.

Some of the quotes from RepuTrace that should get your attention as activist.

http://www.reputrace.com/security/

"After locating discussion about a planned environmental protest (3 busloads of protesters) outside a company's location on an on-line chat room, the RepuTrace Team sent an urgent notification-along with the located link-to the company's Corporate Security Department days in advance. As a result, the company was well prepared and deployed uniformed guards in place to ensure all civilian traffic had access to their location and effectively managed the protesters."

"After an environmental activist posted information and a video from a recent demonstration outside a corporation's head office on the Internet, a potentially dangerous comment was posted. The reply disclosed the residential addresses to the entire Board of Directors leaving them and their families open and susceptible to being the target of an act of violence by other like minded extremists." Oh my God, those extremists might have picketed in front of one of the Board of Directors homes! Can't have that social embarrassment now, can we?

This second one amuses me...I reported to both the NRC, and Entergy that an extremist from their side of the equation was outing my personal information, such as home address, where my wife worked, and they shrugged it off. However, if one of their executive's information that is found online gets published, it is a different set of standards?

Update: Seems many within the blogging community are not thrilled at RepuTrace's snooping.

Thursday, May 10, 2007
Victims Of RepuTrace Stalking Unite (CoreX)

Recently, I became aware of a sinister corporate beast slithering through the bloggosphere as various bloggers and their words came under the scrutiny of the RepuTrace! In the coming days and months as this blog is discovered, let the victims of RepuTrace's vile and sinister stalking of bloggers be brought into the light of day as we share our stories of how this blight appeared on our blogs. A visit to their site paints a disturbing picture of a company, and a software meant to stalk and silence our voices one blogger at a time, one environmental activist at a time.

NRC's GREAT WHITE LIE-We Are Safe From A Nuclear Incident

Will this man from DOE save your life, or let you die?

Indian Point, Entergy, Patrick Moore (traitor to Greenpeace), Christine Todd Whitman, CASEnergy, the nuclear industry, their lobbying arm NEI and the NRC are spending millions in public relations dollars to convince us that a Nuclear Renaissance if the way to solve Global Warming, and as a part of that great lie, they routinely tell us that we are safe. No IMMEDIATE danger, the odds of a terrorist attack, and/or a significant nuclear incident at a nuclear reactor site are so low as to make it hardly worth the risk of consideration. It's a nice little WHITE LIE told by people living in nice little homes far away from said aging and brittling reactors as they try to do what is best for big business, rather than do what is necessary to protect human health and the environment...either for money, or stupidity, it seems that even the wind industry (AWEA, ACE NY) has bought into this lie, and is prepared to sell their soul for a few pieces of silver and some S&H Green Stamps. The problem is, it is a lie, and the NRC knows it.

If as the NEI and the NRC would have us believe, nuclear reactors are so safe from attack, why is our government spending billions in protecting against an attack, and preparing our emergency responders for the worst? I'd encourage all of your to spend some time browsing the DOE's Oak Ridge Institutes REAC/TS site. If you spend a bit of time there, you'll find some rather disturbing information that should make you think three or four times about the safety of reactor sites.

REAC/TS opening statement of purpose got my attention right away:

The REAC/TS mission for DOE is two-fold:

Provide 24/7 availability to deploy and provide emergency medical services at incidents involving radiation anywhere in the world.

Provide advice and consultation on radiation emergency medicine from its Oak Ridge, Tenn., headquarters or at the scene of an incident.

Additionally:

REAC/TS is identified in Section 501 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 as a response organization and member of DOE's Nuclear Incident Response Team.

REAC/TS is identified in DOE Order 5530 as the organization that provides medical assistance to DOE's Accident Response Group and the Federal Radiological Monitoring and Assessment Center (FRMAC).

This does not sound like a group who thinks the likelihood of an attack and/or nuclear incident is slim to none. Instead, it sounds like they think there is a very good chance of such and event. It describes its response teams as follows:

REAC/TS maintains specialized response teams to ensure our readiness to respond. Each team consists of a physician, nurse/paramedic, and a health physicist—all cross-trained in the details of managing a radiation emergency.

They finish off their introduction with a very alarming note that their teams were deployed immediately after 9/11 so they were ready to deal with further attacks that might involve nuclear materials. If as the NRC states,the likelihood of a terrorist attack is so small, then why did DOE immediately deploy these teams to New York, and other areas of the nation?

REAC/TS was also immediately deployed following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States as part of DOE's Consequence Management Response Team. The team stood ready to respond in the event that additional terrorist acts immediately following Sept. 11 involving nuclear materials.

Once you have read through this introduction, suggest you spend some time reading the Hospital Triage in the First 24 Hours After a Nuclear or Radiological Disaster pdf file. This document is NOT for the faint of heart. From the get go, REAC/TS dispels the nuclear industry claim that a nuclear event and/or incident is unlikely with this statement:

Sadly, today’s international environment is such that the real possibility exists that emergency department personnel might have to deal with not just one or two victims of a radiation accident, but overwhelming numbers injured in a malevolent act. Table 1 provides information about types of catastrophes involving radiological or nuclear materials.

...If radioactive atoms enter cells, they are said to be “incorporated.” As long as radioactive materials are on or in a person, the person is being irradiated. Contamination does not cause symptoms, unless the contaminants are corrosive, toxic, or thermally hot. However, note that fission product fallout (i.e., from a nuclear weapon or nuclear reactor core damage) should be brushed off the skin and clothing as soon as possible, since it can be highly radioactive. Caregivers should use strict isolation precautions (including wearing cap, mask, gown, shoe covers, and double gloves) when handling contaminated victims, and gloves should be changed frequently to avoid cross contamination.

Further, this document lays bare the NRC lie that the aftermath of such and event would be a nice neat and orderly evacuation plan. Instead, this document paints a picture of chaos,death, and some of us being left unattended medically, sentencing us to a slow agonizing death of cancer. Here are a few high lights:

1. Except for victims of serious trauma, decontamination can be
accomplished prior to admission to hospital emergency care. Uninjured individuals do
not require hospitalization unless they are vomiting, have diarrhea, or have conventional reasons for seeking emergency care.

2. During
the first 24 hours, those who are not injured (but are suspected of being internally
contaminated) should be advised to seek assistance from public health authorities. Public health authorities may recommend excreta collection and/or lung or whole body counts.

3. Request extra security for the emergency department. Be aware that a terrorist could be among the victims. Request police assistance for traffic and crowd control, assistance with gathering evidence, etc.

4. Patients who are incapacitated because of vomiting, diarrhea or shock might be
contaminated on arrival at the hospital. Removal of clothing and decontamination should be accomplished at the earliest opportunity.

5. If there is a history of loss of consciousness or evidence of cerebral edema or other CNS abnormality not due to physical trauma or stress, with a history of early vomiting (within minutes) and diarrhea, the victim’s dose is likely greater than 15 Gray. Long term survival is unlikely, since multiorgan failure will ensue.

6. Radiation does not cause immediate life-threatening problems. Serious injury
takes priority over concerns about contamination. (So what if being left untreated sentences you to a slow death from cancer.)

7. Trauma or burn victims in serious or critical condition after initial stabilization, who have also been determined to be significantly irradiated (based on accident history, history of early vomiting, diarrhea, early elevated temperature, erythema, elevated serum amylase in first 24 hours)should be given palliative/compassionate care. (In short, you are DEAD, and will not even get a chance to say goodbye to your family.)

8. However, with the real threat of nuclear/radiological terrorism, an emergency department staff may be overwhelmed by individuals requiring or seeking medical attention after a malevolent act.

Now, how vital,safe and secure do you really think Entergy's failing reactors are? How secure in Indian Point's evacuation plan are you now. Remember, the hardest hit in a nuclear reactor incident and/or terrorist attack will be A) the disabled,B) your CHILDREN, and C) the elderly (Grandma and Grandpa). Ask yourselves, "Do you really want to risk another 20 years of Indian Point?" If not, you have to plug in,have to join the growing number of activists that will do whatever it takes to shut this plant down.

Mark Gillis Admits First Energy Reactors Poison?

Mark Gillis (gillism@firstenergycorp.com), involved in Fleet Design Engineering for First Energy of David-Besse hole in the reactor dome fame, read Green Nuclear Butterfly's expose on ACE NY that was posted over the weekend. Seems he was impressed by the scope of our research, but confused with our position that A) the nuclear industry is not to be trusted, and B) the wind industry (ACE NY) is wrong to let the nuclear industry use them to green their image for 35 pieces of silver. More interesting, were comments within his email on his own industry, and a suggestion that we should allow as much alternative energy onto the grid as possible so that big time polluters could be shut down...sure in his own mind, aging brittling reactors are not included in that list of BIG TIME POLLUTERS who could/should be removed from the grid.

First, Mark Gillis refers to his company's, the industry's fleet of reactors as poison toads:

"In the swamp ofhuman suffering, it seems you are more interested in trying to kill a peskypoison toad while ignoring all the much more dangerous alligators."

We have a significant nuclear industry admitting here that reactors are POISON! He tries to paint reactors as the lessor of various issues, but admits the reactors are poison. Significant admission considering the Nuclear Industry's BATTLE CRY of vital, safe and secure.

Mark's comment on Green Energy as arguement for taking polluting energy off the grid reads as follows:

"The more "green" power on the grid, the easier it is to make the argument that we should shut down the big polluters."

Governor Spitzer has said Indian Point should be closed when it's energy on the grid can be replaced. ACE NY has a stated goal of putting 3000 Megawatts of wind power up on too New York's grid by 2015. Based on Mark Gillis of First Energy's email statements, ACE NY's stated wind goals, and Elliot Spitzer's own publically stated policy goals, the Green Nuclear Butterfly calls on Governor Spitzer, ACE NY, Mark Gillis and First Energy (a member of ACE NY) to publically pledge to the citizens and grassroots of New York that ACE NY's wind additions to our grid will count towards the necessary electron flows needed to shut down Entergy's aging, brittling and failing Indian Point Reactors.

We encourage our readers to email Mark encouraging him to make this public pledge, or if you like, give him a ring!

Mark R. Gillis Fleet Design Engineering, AK-GO-14 8-825-5540 (330-384-5540), Cell 330-472-7559