What We Could Do With The $50 Billion The Nuclear Industry Wants

Greetings Readers:

Yesterday, I put out the hypothetical question, how many homes could we equip with solar for the $50 Billion that the Nuclear Industry wants us to give them for New Build reactors...I had done some very conservative estimates, and wanted to paint a more accurate picture in building a case for true renewables, instead of throwing our tax dollars down a nuclear rat hole. Well, ask and you shall receive, and Green Nuclear Butterfly thanks Sally Shaw, one of the noble people trying to help close down Entergy's Vermont Yankee Yankee of collapsing water tower fame for getting us some REAL TIME FIGURES on this important question.

She reached out to an expert in the field (a senior engineer with a very reputable firm) who gave us some time costs, with no incentives...we all know there would be incentives and deals to be had. Anyway, here are some staggering statistics.

For a 2000 square foot Home with 700 square foot of south-facing roof area using an annual load of 3000 KWH/yr load can be offset by a 2.5 KWdc solar array costing $21, 250 (real cost not w/ incentives) per house. Did I just hear a HOLLY MOLLY! When we take this information, we can quickly calculate that 2,352,941 would be solar powered for that same fifty billion dollars that the Nuclear Industry wants us to give them...and keep in mind, that $50 Billion IS ONLY A DOWN PAYMENT, just a start of the public money that the nuclear industry is expecting us to pay out.

For example, some experts are predicting, that GNEP will cost tax payers at least 500BILLION with no guarantee the technology will even work! It is clear, the pathway to a greener tomorrow is renewables, not nuclear.

Robert Kennedy Jr. investor in Citizenre

It has come to GNB's attention that Robert Kennedy Jr. is largely invested in Citizenre, a company currently under fire for being nothing more than a photovoltaic pyramid scheme.

What Citizenre has done through lavish marketing and network of representatives, is enlist over 5000 people to become solar sales affiliates on their website, without ever selling a single solar panel to anyone.

This would be a beautiful thing if it were not for the fact, after a year of being online, solliciting investment capital, and building their affiliates network, they have yet to acquire and sell a single solar panel to anyone, anywhere in the country, and investors are getting antsy.

It's a wonderful dream, selling PVs to your neighbors, installing solar one house at a time. Problem is many independent solar dealers around the country are doing that already, establishing ground rules and territory, and Citizenre stands to upset the growth of these small companies, who are starting to make real headway into the first adopter market of affluent suburbs.

Citizenre has expressed plans to open a photovoltaic factory in New York state. But many fear this is just talk, as there has been no physical evidence of this taking place, considering the cheapest and best panels are coming from China. How do they propose to reverse the trend of outsourcing electronics manufacture to Asia?

For Kennedy Jr. to stand making a return on his investment with Citizenre, the company also needs to have a very good relationship with the utilities, who in New York are refusing to lift the netmetering cap, meaning nobody right now in the state can get money back for the electricity they send back into the grid. Sierra Club is fighting this limit in Albany. The Utility refuses to compensate for your meter running backwards, that's because they saw the writing on the wall... as PVs get cheaper, and easier to install, what the heck do we need the Utilities for? All we need is the grid. Something Barry Commoner predicted would happen in his book The Politics of Energy back in 1980.

So maybe the reason Robert is so silent about his opposition to the relicensing of Indian Point is because he doesn't want to tick off Entergy anymore than he has to, in light of the money he stands to make if Citizenre does succeed in penetrating the residential PV market in a substantial way. Green energy afterall now means solar, wind and nuclear in the minds of the brainwashed public!

Yesterday Robert was revealed as a co-signer on the NUKE FREE website as a co-signer opposing nuclear industry loan guarantees. Maybe it's time he also made his solar energy interest known, so folks can undertstand what he understands, that if Indian Point closes, it's going to mean a boom in solar electricity installation, whether Citizenre turns out to be for real or not. Except Robert wants somebody else to get his hands dirty, so he can come up smelling roses, in case Indian Point gets its new license. Politicians! All the same!

Right now to many journalists Citizenre is beginning to look more and more like a stock scam... so if Robert got himself wrapped up in this, he may not want it to become public knowledge. But we here at GNB are all about full disclosure and putting our cards on the table. So how about it Robert, what's YOUR grand master plan to shut down Indian Point? Or don't you care anymore, as long as you can make a profit from monopolizing residential solar installations in the state?

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