"Renewable Energy"

I don't care if my cost stays the same, or even goes up a little bit. Renewable is competitive here. I just want it to be renewable and try to lessen the impact on the environment, air, etc.

Our state provided grants that allowed us to change our home into a 70% solar home. I think we should encourage more of this. We are not off the grid, we still use the same wires without an impact to the infrastructure and our bills are far far less than they were. What our cousin in the country has initially saved through geothermal is more than we pay all year, gas and electricity combined. That said, though, for me it's not only about the dollar. Companies will charge what they want to charge for what they provide. You need to make your own household changes to bring it down, even if it requires upfront investments and things like insulating an old house to modern spec. Lower utilities is partially on you, the homeowner. PEPCO hates us because we impact their bottom line. But I think PEPCO needs to do more than just cut down everybody's trees (that's another rant). Do I think PEPCO will suddenly cut us a break even if they went all solar/wind? Ha ha ha.

The issue of massive power lines and what to do with them and where is all over the place. There's a community where my friend lives that has those huge structures right through the neighborhood, and that's traditional power. So while nobody wants them, where to put them is not a new problem.

IMO, the long and short is that non-renewable energy is not going to last forever. One way or another we should look for options.

I think you are right to be skeptical. We have quite a few wind power operations and I haven't seen my bill go down. Right now as far as renewable energy goes they are not even a tiny bit as efficient as traditional sources.

most importantly I think you need to understand where your renewable is coming from. Really do your research. In CA there is the Tehacchappi (sp?) renewable project. They are stringing MASSIVE powerlines directly through a neighborhood. The green energy is converting wind energy from the desert and transporting it 200 miles in some cases to the LA area. The Massive power lines are almost 200 feet tall and set to carry 500kv of electricity. Oh and some of the towers are about 90 FEET from peoples homes. So if a 200 foot pole is 90 feet from a house and it falls do we think it might hit a house?? you betcha. And the the area it is in is very actively seismic (think earthquakes) with its very own fault line. The neighborhoods the lines are ripping through have seen a even bigger drop in their home's worth directly linked to theses new towers that went up in the last 2 years. The reason I know this is because it is in my mom's neighborhood. My dad is supposed to retire in the next year or two and he won't be able to because he won't be able to afford it as his home is worth nothing. Houses in the neighborhood can't sell because the transmission exposure is dangerous and no one wants to look at the nasty towers. Plus the homes in the neighborhood do not qualify for FHA loans due to their proximity to the power lines. take a look at what is happening http://www.hopeforthehills.org/ and do your research as to what it will REALLY cost people. The whole state voted on it and a few thousand are paying the price.
Oh and SCE outsourced the jobs from other states instead of contracting businesses in CA which is BS as well.

My electric company allows you to purchase your energy from traditional sources or from wind power. Guess which one is more expensive? Wind.

If the government and businesses really wanted renewable energy, they'd offer more tax credits for installing equipment such as solar panels on or around your home. Currently it is too expensive for most people to afford or have the know-how. Some people who don't have large incomes are able to do it. It's expensive and just as you finish paying for it, they need to be replaces. Instead of having lots of little energy producing equipment on individual buildings to take care of most of those building's energy needs, large structures are built. Big companies build them because they want to make a profit. Governments want them to build them so that they can tax the companies. If you have your own energy supply, the government and businesses don't make any money.

I read that our state legislature has already passed a mandate that requires 10% of our energy come from renewable resources by 2015. I think part of the issue is that the proposal bypasses the state legislature, but I certainly need to find out more about it too. I donate regularly to THAW (the heat and warmth fund) and they do not support this proposal as they are afraid that rates may increase, causing more hardship for those already having trouble paying their energy bills.

So far as I know I do not live in a renewable energy state so I don't know about utilities and jobs. We do still have our home in Illinois which I believe is and even with that house shut down the bills are a third of our bills here. This house is twice as big and back when both homes were functional his bills were the same as mine so I don't see it having saved anything.

The thing I really do know about is the effect rate ceilings have on service. Yes, that would hold your rate down but what it doesn't and cannot control is the service you get. They won't operate at a loss so that new technology that allows them to automatically switch grids in a power outage, you won't get that. The utility polls that should be replace won't be replaced until they fall down. You may not pay more in cash but you will be without power more frequently.

I don't think it is worth it.

It looks like a lot of people are missing the most important point of using renewable energy. We aren't necessarily talking about SHORT-TERM benefits. Focusing on how much you pay each month and whether or not you know someone who got a job in renewable resources totally misses the big picture. Utilizing more renewable energy has LONG-TERM benefits that *might* not be appreciated until our children or our children's children inherit our world. I know it's hard to think that far into the future, but we owe it to our kids to try.

I know we have renewable energy plans available with out provider. The difference in the actual bill doesn't seem to be much. And they CAN raise your rate, it's in the fine print (if the utilities commission approves their request).
I think this falls under the 'green' movement. All the hybrid cars, CFL bulbs etc, still not cost effective enough for it to catch on, IMO.

The main thing that has impacted our energy bills/cost is regulation of energy. When ours was deregulated prices dropped considerably. In fact, we just switched from TXU to Reliant and are saving 4 cents per KWH.

I believe the most important aspect of renewable energy is that is just that - renewable. I wouldn't put a lot of stock in immediate price breaks, however, long-term it should pay off in a variety of ways that could include price stabilization and staving off of rate increase. I am definitely no expert. Just what I have experienced.