Free Republic

Starting this month, 145,000 Wyoming ratepayers will make a down payment on what's projected to add up to billions of dollars in additional costs. Regulators recently approved Black Hills Energy's new $1.1 million surcharge on utility bills to research the viability of adding controversial carbon capture technologies to coal-fired power plants. Rob Joyce, acting director of the Wyoming Chapter of the Sierra Club, said the rate increases are due to the state's mandate for utilities to continue burning coal. "The people who benefit from these kinds of policies are the legislators who are connected to legacy fossil fuel companies, utilities...

Podesta’s net worth has skyrocketed since his time in the Obama administration, financial disclosures show ... John Podesta, the powerful Democrat consultant who Joe Biden tapped to oversee a multibillion-dollar climate investment fund, discussed those investments with an environmental group that had him on the payroll just months before, according to a new financial disclosure. Galvanize Climate Solutions, a green energy investment firm founded by billionaire Tom Steyer, participated in an Oct. 31 meeting with Podesta and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to discuss how to best use the $369 billion in federal funds. Galvanize paid Podesta $84,000 in advisory fees...

An investigation has been launched into the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) after Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration was found to have sent billions of dollars in taxpayers’ money to a fraudulent solar company. Biden’s DOE recently gave a $3 billion award to a solar energy company that has been accused of scamming vulnerable customers. Republican leaders in the House and Senate are probing the DOE over the move. The investigations are being led by House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Senate Energy and Natural Resources Ranking Member John Barrasso (R-WY). In a letter to DOE...

In July of 2022, the Supreme Court, in a landmark 6-3 decision, ruled that the EPA overstepped its authority by creating rules and regulations regarding forcing power plants to transition to clean or renewable energy sources. SCOTUS ruled that the EPA, in effect, created rules that carry the same weight as laws passed by Congress, thus violating Article I of the Constitution, which states that all legislative powers shall be granted to Congress only. Thus making Congress the only body that can introduce and pass legislation, not a state or federal agency. The court says it [the EPA] is protecting...

While investments in renewable energy have doubled since 2010, power grid funding has remained ‘static.’.. Electricity grid capacity available in the world isn't keeping pace with the rapid growth of "clean energy" technologies, possibly putting governments' climate goals at risk, according to a recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA). In order to achieve climate goals set by global governments, more than 80 million kilometers (49.7 million miles) of electric grids have to be added or refurbished by 2040, which is the “equivalent of the entire existing global grid,” according to the Oct. 17 IEA report. Even though “electrification...

The Florida Department of Education has approved screening videos that deny the Earth’s changing climate to schoolchildren in the state, according to the Guardian. Animations from Prager University Foundation, a conservative group that pushes untruths about sustainable energy and the warming of the planet, will now be a part of the public school curriculum in Florida. What’s happening? On the organization’s website, Prager University Foundation states it is “not an accredited university, nor do we claim to be.” In fact, it is a media platform and advocacy group that was founded by right-wing radio host Dennis Prager. It has produced...

New problems undermine the country’s old playbook as manufacturing powerhouse.. Europe’s largest nation and its main growth engine has become the biggest drag on its economy. ... In past economic crises, Germany could rely on its factories to pull it out of any recession by tapping the world’s insatiable demand for made-in-Germany products. But a mixture of short-term and structural problems means this is no longer the case. ... A sharp rise in energy prices last year made producing goods more expensive. And with inflation and interest rates up around the world, foreign consumers can’t always afford the higher price...

Siemens Energy announced Thursday that it will be undergoing a technical review after it was found that up to 30% of its wind turbines could have faulty components, according to statements made by the company. Siemens Energy, an international energy company that seeks to “decarbonize global energy systems,” announced that it is withdrawing its profit guidance for the year after subsidiary Siemens Gamesa found that there was a “substantial increase in failure rates of wind turbine components.” The company believes that between 15% and 30% of its installed fleets are suffering from component failures, Jochen Eickholt, CEO of Siemens Gamesa,...

The blight on the landscape of abandoned and decommissioned wind turbines stimulated Colorado's U.S. Reps. Ken Buck, Doug Lamborn and Harriet Hageman, Wyoming, to introduce the Production Tax Credit Reform Act. According to a press release, the bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to require energy companies remove decommissioned wind turbines from leased land as a condition of receiving federal tax credits. Currently energy companies are not obligated to remove wind turbines from leased land once they are decommissioned, putting the onus on landowners — typically farmers and ranchers — to remove the turbines. According to the United States Geological...

If a bill banning the use of fossil fuels in the creation of green energy projects were to become law, it would be the end of renewable energy. There’s no feasible way to manufacture and transport wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles without fossil fuels. New York state Sen. George Borrello, R-Wyoming County, has introduced a bill to require that all wind turbines, solar collectors and infrastructure for producing green energy be manufactured and constructed without the use of fossil fuels. His bill would also apply to the manufacture and distribution of electric vehicles. If the bill were to...

Inflicting heavy fines on developers of a project billed as supplying clean, renewable energy, a federal jury has awarded a couple in southwest Georgia $135.5 million after runoff from “Lumpkin Solar” severely polluted waters and soils on their rural property. According to a lawsuit filed by Shaun and Amie Harris, Lumpkin Solar’s developers – after clearing about 1,000 acres of timberland, farmland, and land previously used for hunting and fishing – failed to install adequate measures for erosion and sediment control. “The result is what one would expect – when it rained, pollution poured downhill and downstream onto the neighbors’...

Gov. Kathy Hochul is moving full-steam-ahead with her predecessor Andrew Cuomo’s insane anti-carbon energy plan, yet the Legislature wants to make it worse. In their one-house budget bills this week, lawmakers took Hochul’s plan to cap greenhouse-gas output and require companies to buy “allowances” (indulgences?) for emissions and added new requirements of their own. That’d make it even harder for companies to meet standards, stay under the caps and/or pay for those allowances — more poison for the state’s business climate. The added costs will also bring higher prices for consumers: added, New York-only “inflation.” And where Hochul would allow...

PAXTON [Illinois] — When a wind turbine collapsed last Thursday east of Paxton, a substantial amount of oil spilled from the turbine hub into the ground. Ford County Emergency Management Agency Coordinator Terry Whitebird said Austin, Texas-based RWE Renewables, which operates the Prairie Trail Wind Farm, where the turbine collapsed, filed a report with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency about the spillage, and he received a copy of the report. Whitebird has been on site and said a crew is ready to begin dismantling the turbine but has to wait until the area dries out from Wednesday’s rains.

Before the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea sprung massive leaks this week, spewing out tons of methane into the water and atmosphere, Europe had started planning for a long-term future without Russian gas — prompted by Putin's war in Ukraine. Since the February invasion, Russia had been scaling down gas exports through the pipelines that European countries rely so heavily on for home heating and other uses.

22,000 people lost control of temperatures in their homes for hours Tuesday.. DENVER — During the dog days of summer, it's important to keep your home cool. But when thousands of Xcel customers in Colorado tried adjusting their thermostats Tuesday, they learned they had no control over the temperatures in their own homes. ... Xcel confirmed to Contact Denver7 that 22,000 customers who had signed up for the Colorado AC Rewards program were locked out of their smart thermostats for hours on Tuesday. "It's a voluntary program. Let's remember that this is something that customers choose to be a part...

Every area of the U.S. could be in danger of experiencing power outages this summer amid a push to convert to renewable energy sources while taking traditional sources of power offline. "I think the entire country is incredibly vulnerable, because the entire country is facing a huge energy shortage and I don’t think there is any place that is truly safe," Daniel Turner, founder and executive director at Power the Future, told Fox News. At issue are blackouts that could become widespread across the country this summer as grid operators struggle to meet the increased demand, a problem that has...

Customers to pay 3x as much during 'peak' hours.. DENVER — Xcel Energy will soon start charging higher electricity rates during peak hours, and that is causing a lot of confusion and anxiety among customers like Tamara Casillas. “I’m a grandmother and I’m on a pension,” Casillas said. She points out that families are paying more for everything right now, from groceries to gas. “With inflation and everything that’s going on in the world, things are going to go up a little, and it’s getting harder and rougher for everybody,” she said. So, Xcel’s announcement that it will be raising...

ISLE AU HAUT — The news reports were glowing: A planned microgrid on Isle au Haut could “hold the answer to the future of electricity,” wrote ensia, an environmental media outlet based in Minnesota. It could one day “be a model for the entire nation,” according to another national broadcast. The project, depicted in 2020 as being on the verge of installation, would include solar panels to generate energy and supercapacitors and heat pumps to store it. That hardware would be accompanied by state-of-the art software that would decide when it was most cost-effective and efficient to store and release...

Skyrocketing gas prices are sparking major concerns in the UK, with households bracing for higher bills and food prices. The energy crisis has already hit millions of Brits, but is set to hit more still. The UK is highly dependent on consumer spending to generate output, indicating the economy could still be in the mire heading into the spring. A wave of concern over the swelling cost of living is sweeping across Britain. While households are bracing for higher tax bills and are already being stung by food prices leaping, it is swelling energy costs that will hit hardest in...

The oldest maxim in politics is “follow the money.” That maxim also applies to electric grids. Following the billions of dollars that have been spent on the Texas grid explains why the state continues to have electricity shortages. On Monday, ERCOT, the state’s troubled grid operator, asked Texans to reduce their electricity use. That request came exactly four months after Texas residents were asked to conserve electricity due to a massive winter storm. Before going further, I’ll give you the punchline: As I explained in these pages in April, about $66 billion was spent on wind and solar in Texas...