“Over the past year, the cost of electricity for California residents increased by 5.2% versus a national average that rose 0.8%. If you are a business or industrial user of electricity in California, your May power bill was 42% or 64%, respectively, above the national average. We suspect power costs in California are going nowhere but up given the mandates in this clean energy plan.”
A recently completed study by the Associated Press (AP) into the performance of California’s Clean Energy Jobs Act showed that the money earmarked for the state’s coffers well below projections. More than half the money spent by the program has gone to consultants and auditors.
There’s more. The board created to oversee the plan has yet to meet after three years. And only 15% of the annual job creation target has been achieved over the three-year period the law has been in effect.…
“From a fuel-efficiency point, trucks deliver over 140 times the cargo as a car, but they do that while only burning about 3.5 times the amount of fuel. That would appear to be a notable achievement.”
“The trucking industry is already harnessed with the increased operating costs from new highway safety rules reducing the number of hours drivers can work each day and in a week. Increased capital investment costs will further squeeze trucking company profitability…. [P]repare for higher costs of all those products you purchase.”
The Obama administration’s Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has proposed regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from heavy-duty trucks, requiring that their fuel economy increase up to 40 percent by 2027 compared to baseline 2010 actuals. This is the next step in heavy-duty vehicle fuel economy efforts begun in 2011.…
“Rhode Island Department of Health, the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) director Janet Coit met with and expressed sympathy for the pipeline protestors’ cause. Remember, this is the state that will be hosting the first offshore wind energy project that will have the highest cost electricity in the continental United States at 24.4 cents per kilowatt-hour.”
“The governors of the states seem to have awakened to the economic benefits of utilizing more clean-burning, low-cost natural gas. Let’s hope they don’t cave into the politically expedience of bowing to more high-cost renewable energy.”
New England’s just-ended abnormally cold winter sent electricity and heating demand skyward, bringing into focus the battle over expanding natural gas pipeline capacity to the region. While there are two significant proposed pipeline expansions seeking FERC approval, environmentalists have become more militant.…