Green Washing Utilities Attack Renewable Energy
Like a sniper shot taking out a platoon leader, the legal action taken byPP&L against third-party financing of solar has inflicted damage to afledging industry by inserting uncertainty that will spook investors regardless of how the Oregon PUC responds.
As co-founder of Onsite Energy in the 1980’s, a wholly owned subsidiary of PacifiCorp (owner of PP&L at that time), our company grew very rapidlybuilding private energy projects using efficiency improvements and renewable energy sources.
These projects were financed almost entirely by the samethird-party ownership structures questioned by PP&L today.
PP&L’s legal action is evidence that renewable energy technologies are viewed as a threat to generation sources favored by the shareholder ownedutilities and their regulators. Other examples abound: Northwest Natural Gaspromoting imported LNG for peaking gas-fired turbines that directly competewith the peak electricity produced by solar photovoltaic; PGE’s complicity with Enron’s efforts to profit off of manipulation of generation and powersupply; Oregon PUC issuing a memo concerning energy demand written by energyspeculators and their consultants.
These barriers are the tip of the iceberg of the actions that can be placed to slow or kill renewable energy projects.
Is this a business environment that can implement the goals of theLegislature and the Governor for 25% of the State’s electrical generationfrom renewable sources by 2025?
The current energy crisis is exposing our dependency on these economically and ecologically damaging energy sources. The good news is that technology exists today that is financially competitive and environmentally superior to fossil fuels. Oregon has immense renewable energy resources that are immediately developable.
In his book, Winning Our Energy Independence, S.David Freeman makes a compelling case for removing barriers and immediatelyimplementing alternatives.
Paul Sansone
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