The Briefing Room
State Chapters => Texas => Topic started by: IsailedawayfromFR on December 21, 2018, 02:16:53 pm
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A green energy scheme to supply a small town in Texas with 100% of its electrical needs via cheap solar and wind power is, instead, costing the city almost $7 million.
Georgetown, TX was featured in the sequel to Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" as the "future" of American power generation. But falling fossile fuel prices is making the scheme ruinously expensive for the town.
Daily Caller Foundation:
"It’s costing them big time,†Bill Peacock, vice president of research at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, told The Daily Caller News Foundation in an interview. “This doesn’t appear to be the first time they’ve lost money, just the first time it was big enough to have to go public with it.â€
Georgetown made national news after being featured in Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Sequel,†which was released in 2017. The film followed up on Gore’s inaccurate 2006 film “An Inconvenient Truth.â€
“I think Georgetown is already a trailblazer,†Gore said during his 2016 visit to learn about Georgetown’s plan to get 100 percent of its energy from wind and solar power.
“And one thing that Georgetown demonstrates to other places that are just beginning to think about it is that the power supply is not only more affordable, the cost is predictable for at least 25 years into the future and really beyond that,†Gore said.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2018/12/texas_city_featured_in_al_gore_film_lost_millions_in_green_energy_investments.html (https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2018/12/texas_city_featured_in_al_gore_film_lost_millions_in_green_energy_investments.html)
Glad I don't live in such a brain-dead community as Georgetown. To believe Al Gore when he says solar and wind are more affordable.
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I was not aware that Georgetown was doing this. Talk about brain-dead city planners. Of course it's more expensive and less reliable.
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Georgetown renegotiating solar, wind power contracts
https://www.statesman.com/news/20181216/georgetown-renegotiating-solar-wind-power-contracts (https://www.statesman.com/news/20181216/georgetown-renegotiating-solar-wind-power-contracts)
Dec 16, 2018
The city of Georgetown’s bill for wind and solar energy ended up being $8.6 million more than anticipated in fiscal year 2018 because the falling prices of oil and gas meant it had to sell its surplus renewable power for less than forecast, said City Manager David Morgan.
The city had budgeted $45 million for renewable energy but ended up paying $53.6 million, he said.
Georgetown was able to reduce the $8.6 million unanticipated extra to $6.8 million through savings from lower capital improvement utility project costs, Morgan said. It paid the remaining $6.8 million with reserves from the city’s energy fund, he said.
The City Council also approved a budget amendment Dec. 12 that will build the reserves in the electric fund, which helped to pay for some of the loss, from $1.9 million back up to $4 million in 2019.
Georgetown is in the middle of renegotiating its 20- to 25-year wind and solar contracts to try to get a better deal, Morgan said....
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Just last month Georgetown publicized another euphoric scheme on green energies (without telling anybody about the huge loss in money due to solar energy).
Georgetown, Texas: Redefining Neighborhoods Through Renewable Energy
Georgetown, located north of Austin, was the first in Texas to go 100 percent renewable energy in 2017. Now, the city of nearly 70,000 thousand people wants to generate power locally in a move staff say could change how neighborhoods are designed in the future.
The Republican town in a dark red county got a lot of attention when it signed 20-year energy deals with renewable providers.
National interviews, mentions, stories all led to $19 million in free publicity, according to a city-commissioned study.
“There are cities in the U.S. that have already reached the goal of 100 percent renewable energy," said Vice President Al Gore in his film "An Inconvenient Sequel," "Look what's happening in Georgetown, Texas."
The city is doubling down on its green strategy. Last month, Bloomberg Philanthropies gave the city a million dollars for its next innovation.
“This is our idea,†Mayor Dale Ross said. "What if we had a virtual power plant in the city of Georgetown, and what would that look like?â€
Ross said by renting residential rooftops, installing solar panels and backing it up with state of the art battery technology, the city can offset the quickly growing community’s energy needs at a savings. They want to start with 14 to 15 residential rooftops, or 90 kilowatts worth, along with eight to nine battery backups.
Since announcing they would go renewable more than two years ago, Ross, a self-described conservative Republican, has maintained that this was a business decision. Fossil fuel companies came in with bids that were less attractive in length and cost, he said.
https://www.keranews.org/post/georgetown-texas-redefining-neighborhoods-through-renewable-energy (https://www.keranews.org/post/georgetown-texas-redefining-neighborhoods-through-renewable-energy)
Not only this, but they are being sued by the Texas Public Policy Foundation as the city refuses to be open about the success of its solar installations and contract commitments.
note: article says the city manager is a conservative republican. Right.....