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Energy bills 'could overtake mortgages in five years'
May 19, 2013 by Emily Gosden in The Telegraph

Energy bills are rising so steeply that they could overtake mortgage repayments in parts of Britain in just five years' time, the chief executive of supplier, First Utility, has claimed. utility bill. Analysis by First Utility shows that UK dual-fuel bills have risen by an average of 8.5pc a year over the last five years to reach current levels of £1,420.

Also filed under [ UK]

£1m for wind farms to shut turbines for one day
May 5, 2013 by Tom Peterkin in The Scotsman

Power companies operating wind farms in Scotland were paid more than £1 million to shut down their turbines for a single day last month, Scotland on Sunday can reveal. ...The so-called "constraint payments" are paid by the National Grid to energy companies when energy supply outstrips demand - turbines are switched off so they stop producing electricity to rebalance the system.

Also filed under [ UK]

Siemens says German energy switch on track for failure on costs
April 30, 2013 by Stefan Nicola in Bloomberg News

Germany is burning more coal because gas plants are not economical, subsidies for renewables are pushing up power prices, and a greater share of fluctuating renewables threaten the stability of electrical grids, Michael Suess, chief executive officer of Siemens Energy, said.

Also filed under [ Germany]

New York renewable power plan would cost $382 billion by 2030
April 8, 2013 by Louise Downing in Bloomberg News

"It's too ambitious by 2030 to replace all the state's power with renewables," Angus McCrone, a senior analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance in London, said today. The projections, he said, look "unrealistic" for individual technologies. ...offshore wind turbines would cover an area of about 4,903 square miles, and onshore machines would cover a further 1,000 square miles.

Also filed under [ Impact on Landscape| New York]

More pain to come on power prices
March 18, 2013 by Peter Hannam and Brian Robins in Camden Haven Courier

Even though wind power is inexpensive to build, it is difficult to obtain the permits and approvals, and it also needs gas-fired power stations to generate electricity when the wind is not blowing. ...''At the moment, these are marginal fuels, free-riding on the system. Once that free ride is over, they will have to pay their way, and that will result in increased costs.''

Also filed under [ Australia / New Zealand]

California utilities' renewable energy spending up
March 15, 2013 by David R. Baker in San Francisco Chronicle

The utilities have warned that the push to buy renewable power will raise customers' bills. PG&E, for example, estimates that renewable contracts will add about 1 to 2 percent to bills each year through 2020. ...Long-term power purchase contracts with wind farms, solar plants and other renewable energy facilities averaged 9.9 cents per kilowatt hour.

Also filed under [ California]

Time of the essence for Germany's energy switch: Merkel
March 8, 2013 by Madeline Chambers in Reuters

But six months before a federal election, questions remain, not least how to pay for the shift. Consumers are wary about the extent to which they will foot the bill and Merkel wants to reassure voters that she is trying to curb steep rises in power prices caused in part by subsidies for renewable energy.

Also filed under [ Germany]

Ontarians could be able to decline wind power
March 5, 2013 in CTV London

Last year, Ontario spent millions of dollars paying other states and provinces to take our excess power, most of it from renewables. But the contracts between the province and wind companies gave wind power first dibs on the grid, meaning Ontario was paying other jurisdictions to take some of most expensive power, while spilling cheaper hydroelectric power at Niagara Falls.

Also filed under [ Canada]

Imperial County betting its future on renewable energy
February 27, 2013 by Shan Li in Los Angeles Times

Economists are more skeptical about the long-term benefit to the county. They point out that solar and wind farms bring in an initial boom of constriction jobs, but require very few workers once they're up and running. The five projects being built in Imperial County will generate 1,946 temporary construction jobs but only 71.5 permanent ..."Once you build them you don't need many folks to maintain them."

Also filed under [ California]

Fuel bills will keep soaring warns energy watchdog: Green targets could trigger 1970s-style power blackouts
February 20, 2013 by Tamara Cohen and Peter Campbell in Daily Mail

Fuel bills will soar as green targets leave Britain reliant on expensive imported gas, the energy regulator warned yesterday. Alistair Buchanan, chief executive of Ofgem, also raised the spectre of 1970s-style blackouts because 10 per cent of coal and oil-fired power production is being shut down next month.

Also filed under [ UK]

Britain 'on the brink' of energy crisis, warns regulator
February 20, 2013 by Rowena Mason in The Telegraph

Households must prepare for a sharp rise in energy bills within two years as Britain comes "dangerously" close to power shortages, the chief executive of Ofgem has warned.

Also filed under [ UK]

Berlin to exempt 1,550 firms from electricity surcharge
December 24, 2012 in Der Spiegel

Germany plans to exempt 1,550 large firms from a power price surcharge that covers part of the cost of switching to renewable energy. Critics say the list of exemptions is spurious and unfair to households and small businesses. It risks undermining faith in the government's switch to clean power.

Also filed under [ Germany]

Wind turbines ‘killing jobs' PC energy critic contends
November 23, 2012 by Patrick Raftis in Wellington Advertiser

Pettapiece said his party isn't opposed to "green energy" but does feel that Ontario's current approach to wind power is not efficient. "We're not against green energy, but it's got to be affordable. This is not."

Also filed under [ Tourism| Canada]

Wind farms to increase energy bills by £178 a year
November 22, 2012 by Rowena Mason in The Telegraph

Households and businesses will have to pay £7.6billion a year towards the cost of building "greener" power stations by 2020. This is three times the current level of £2.35 billion per year, as bill-payers are forced to remunerate companies for several new nuclear plants, thousands of wind turbines and potentially "green" fossil fuel stations.

Also filed under [ UK]

Campaign for Vermont: State can maintain low carbon footprint and reduce electric costs
October 9, 2012 in VermontBIZ

While renewable energy is well meaning, it is driving the cost of electricity higher in Vermont, which leads to money being diverted from consumers while also discouraging businesses from investing in the state, according to the Campaign for Vermont.

Also filed under [ Vermont]

Gov. Paul LePage blamed wind and solar power for rising energy prices in Maine
October 6, 2012 in Sun Journal

"Homeowners will pay $85 more per year on their electricity bill and business will pay more than $600 annually," says LePage - citing a study by the Maine Heritage Policy Center and Beacon Hill Institute. "Industrial users will suffer the most taking on more than $14,000 per year because of the mandate."

Also filed under [ Maine]

German offshore wind sector needs more than just new law: executives
August 28, 2012 by Christoph Steitz in Reuters

Grid operators are reluctant to build power lines at sea because they have to pay compensation should they break down. So many wind farms could lack the means to transfer the power they are generating back to the mainland. The government is trying to pass on those costs to power consumers to reduce the risk for investors.

Also filed under [ Germany]

Ontario Electricity up 9.8 per cent in 2011
July 6, 2012 in Lake Superior News

"There's a reduction in coal use from 2010, but it's not being replaced primarily by green-powered wind energy," Fedeli said. "That hole is being filled mostly by power from other sources. For example, the output increase from natural gas plants was 36% greater than that of wind."

Also filed under [ Canada]

Debate over whether utilities meeting clean-energy goals
June 17, 2012 by Bill Sheets in The Herald

"Balance is critical, and that is really where our focus is. And that's to produce as clean a power as we can, and to keep our customer bills affordable," said Grant Ringel, a spokesman for PSE told the Los Angeles Times.

Also filed under [ Washington]

Vermont leaders back away from renewable energy goals
February 22, 2012 by Dave Gram in The Associated Press

Klein and Cheney said they had been hearing a groundswell of concern voiced by business lobbyists that getting more power from renewable sources, which are usually more expensive than electricity generated with nuclear or fossil-fuel-fired power, would drive up electric rates and make Vermont less competitive economically.

Also filed under [ Vermont]

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