From: Anthony Kownack, Corning Place Communications

Subject: Weekly Articles of Interest (New York Propane Gas Association)

Date: September 8, 2023

Bill,

Below, please find a compilation of articles, issued this week, that may be of interest to you. Articles
are also hyperlinked within each headline.

Thank you,

Anthony

Weekly Articles of Interest Include:

 Editorial: Be straight on green energy costs

 Albany County breaks ground on 2.1-megawatt solar farm amid challenges and future
uncertainties
 Why wind and solar power are running out of juice
 Fresh proof that New York’s ‘climate plan’ is pure fantasy

Editorial: Be straight on green energy costs

Times Union Editorial Board
Times Union
September 3, 2023

Weaning New York off fossil fuels and shifting to clean, renewable energy through the middle of the
century will be a massive undertaking. The state and green energy firms aren’t making the
transition any easier with the games we’ve seen of late.
 
All at once, anticipated price tags for some of the early projects in this transition are skyrocketing.
So are New Yorkers’ projected electricity bills. And a key state agency is being disingenuous when it
comes to what the impact on consumers will be.
 
This isn’t the way to sell a green future to a public that is being bombarded by defenders of oil and
gas trying to make New York’s 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act seem like
an unaffordable, unattainable boondoggle. The act requires the state to get 70 percent of its energy
from renewable sources by 2030, and achieve a carbon-emissions-free energy grid by 2040.
 
That’s going to take a lot of buy-in from New Yorkers. Before the end of the decade, for example, the
state wants to end the sale or installation of things like gas stoves, oil and gas furnaces, and
gasoline-fueled vehicles. When they need to replace their old appliances and cars, consumers will
have to turn to electric options.
 
The cost of building new energy infrastructure will also inevitably show up in electricity bills. We
knew that already, but some details last week were sobering. As the Times Union’s Rick Karlin
reported, according to the New York State Energy Research and Development Agency, wholesale
prices from some green energy producers could rise by 64 percent. Supposedly, inflation and other
unexpectedly higher costs are driving the projected increases to build wind and solar energy plants.
 
NYSERDA, which sets contracts for electricity sales by solar and wind developers, didn’t help the
debate by trying to cast the numbers in a transparently disingenuous light. It offered that the
increase would amount to only 1.48 percent, or $1.57, a month on a residential bill. But that
increase would be compounded — that is, the bill would keep going up, and up, and up over the 20-
to 25-year life of a solar or wind operation.
 
It’s important to note that these increases are for the moment hypothetical. They’re based on
requests from some energy developers for better terms for the energy they will produce, and
ultimately it’s the state Public Service Commission that approves wholesale energy prices. Some
builders of new transmission lines are getting in on the rush for more money, too. The green energy
developers, their trade group Alliance for Clean Energy, and unions whose members have a stake in
clean energy development all say more money is needed for these projects to be viable.

Here’s the question that NYSERDA and the PSC need to answer: Is that so? Have inflation and global
supply chain issues driven costs up so substantially and unexpectedly? And are they the sole cause
of this, or are heftier profits, executive salaries and investor returns buried in the calculations, too?
And what are the real costs likely to be to a consumer? Let’s see some sample bills over time.
If the state finds energy developers’ requests are unreasonably inflated, one option should be to
scrap those contracts and seek new bids.

We don’t want to see the state’s ambitious, admirable and vital energy goals set back. Increasing
wildfires, more intense hurricanes, heating oceans and melting ice caps virtually scream of the
urgency to build a clean, sustainable energy future. But the public can’t be expected to sign a blank
check. New Yorkers deserve a detailed, forthright bill.

Albany County breaks ground on 2.1-megawatt solar farm amid challenges and future
uncertainties
Tom Eschen
CBS 6 Albany
September 3, 2023

COLONIE, NY (WRGB) — In a project that's taken years to materialize, Albany County has
finally broken ground on a 2.1-megawatt solar farm, located on the corner of Watervliet Shaker
Road and Airline Drive. Officials say this location made the most sense. We learn more about this
project, and the likelihood of more in the town of Colonie.

Dan McCoy/Albany County Executive:

“I thought it would be a no brainer, we own the property. We can’t really do a lot with the radar tower
being there, so it’s not really like we can put buildings up or apartments, or something.”

As the state moves towards its aggressive climate goals, more and more solar panel projects have
been proposed, but at times finding resistance, either from reluctant residents, or in this case,
delays caused by the FAA, and National Grid

Lucas Rogers/Economic Development and Sustainability Coordinator:

“if you moved a little bit in this direction, it was challenging with one partner, if you moved a different
direction you had to go back in and make sure it was okay with the other partner, so everybody was
very helpful along the way.”

They say a glare analysis shows the panels won't interfere with pilots landing or taking off at
nearby Albany Airport, with its implementation also needing to go through a variety of Colonie
town zoning and planning processes.

“We were very adamant about certain setback requirements."

Colonie Town Supervisor Peter Crummey amended their solar law last year, with an emphasis
especially on deconstruction, which he says Albany County has agreed to pay for if necessary.
“25 years from now the facilities and how we drive energy in the future, these solar panels might
not provide the same opportunity it provides today, but what I don't want is a solar graveyard in
the town of Colonie.”

This is an Albany County project on Albany County land, but in recent years other solar proposals
have come about within the town's jurisdiction, with groups like Save the Pine Bush speaking out
against proposals for solar farms in the preserve.

Lynne Jackson/Volunteer, Save the Pine Bush: "Does it belong in a unique ecosystem where it's going to
affect the plants and animals that live there?"

Crummey says he supports Albany County's use of their land for this purpose, but also says the
future for more solar farms within Colonie's jurisdiction remains unclear.

“The land in Colonie is either very expensive, or not large enough to support economically a solar farm,
so I don’t think as we move forward that the town, unlike some counties and other parts of the state
that have vast wide open spaces, will ever be able to support. Investors for solar farms are probably
looking other places.”

Why wind and solar power are running out of juice

Jonathan Lesser
New York Post
September 2, 2023

Green energy and the push to electrify everything have been in the news recently but for all the
wrong reasons.
Instead of the green energy nirvana politicians and green energy advocates have promised, economic
and physical reality has begun to set in.

Start with the economic realities. 

Wind turbine manufacturers like Siemens and General Electric have reported huge losses for the first
half of this year, almost $5 billion for the former and $1 billion for the latter. 

Among other problems, turbine quality control has suffered, forcing manufacturers such as Siemens
and Vestas to incur costly warranty repairs. 

In Europe, offshore wind output has been less than promised, while operating costs have been much
higher than advertised.

Offshore wind developers in Europe and the US are canceling projects because of higher materials
and construction costs. 

In Massachusetts, Avangrid, the developer of the 1,200 MW Commonwealth Wind project paid $48
million to get out of its existing contract to sell power to ratepayers. 

That way, the company can rebid the project next year at an even higher price. 

Close by, the developers of the 1,200 MW SouthCoast Wind Project off Martha’s Vineyard will pay
about $60 million to exit their existing contract. 

Rhode Island Energy, the state’s main electric utility, recently rejected the second Revolution Wind
Project because the contract price was too high. 

And Ørsted, the Danish government-owned company that is developing the Southfork Wind and
Sunrise Wind projects off Long Island — as well as the Ocean Wind project off the New Jersey
coast — last week announced that, without additional subsidies and higher contract prices, it will
have to write-off billions of dollars in potential losses. 

The result: Even though Siemens Energy CEO Christian Bruch insists that “energy transition without
wind energy does not work,” 2022 saw 16% less new wind-power capacity than in 2021, according to
the American Clean Power Association. 

In New Jersey, the legislature passed a law in July, which is likely unconstitutional, to bail out Ørsted.   

The legislation will award the company with several billion dollars of investment tax credits that were
supposed to go to consumers.

Back on dry land, opposition to siting land-gobbling wind and solar projects continues to grow. 

Local governments in Iowa, Illinois, and Ohio have all rejected or restricted projects. 

Rural communities, it seems, do not want to host massive turbine farms  — nor the high-voltage
transmission lines needed to deliver electricity to power-hungry cities.
Then there are electric vehicles. 

Ford, which has bet heavily on its electric Lightning pickup and Mustang and received a $9.2 billion
government-subsidized loan in January, revealed that it has lost $60,000 for every EV it sold in the
first half of this year. 

Rivian, another EV company, managed to reduce its losses per EV to around $33,000, a big
improvement over the $67,000 loss per EV in the first quarter of the year. 

Proterra, a Bay Area-based manufacturer of electric buses and batteries that had a $10 million loan
forgiven by the Biden Administration, just filed for bankruptcy.  

Like the wizard in The Wizard of Oz, alternative energy proponents claim these are just temporary
little potholes on the road to economic and climate nirvana — all of which can be filled with more
money through renegotiated power purchase contracts and more zero-emissions mandates.   

Alternative energy madness – and that’s what it is – has had its biggest impact in California. 

But New York and New Jersey have adopted most of that state’s mandates. 

Sales of new internal combustion vehicles will be banned beginning in 2035 in the states.  All of the
electricity sold to retail consumers will have to be “zero-emissions.” 

SEE ALSO

Homeowners and building owners will be forced to replace gas- and oil-burning space and water
heaters with electric heat pumps.

And, gas stoves will be regulated out of existence.

New York also will soon implement another California import: a carbon “cap-and-invest” program,
which will impose a tax on fossil fuels sold by wholesalers and utilities. 

The billions of dollars collected each year will provide a green slush fund, allowing the governor and
legislators to hand out money to their politically favored cronies, as has so often been the case in the
past.   

Washington State began its “cap-and-invest” program in January of this year. 

Modeled after California’s, Governor Jay Inslee promised the program would have “minimal impact, if
any.  We are talking about pennies.”  

Instead, the program has raised gasoline prices – almost 50 cents per gallon so far this year. 
Washington State now claims the honor of having the highest gasoline prices in the nation:  In Seattle,
for example, the average price of regular gasoline is over $5 per gallon.

Of course, the entire point of the program was to raise gasoline and fossil fuel prices to encourage
consumers to switch to electric vehicles, mass transit, electric heat pumps, and so forth. 
But politics being what it is, Governor Inslee, along with environmentalists and legislative
proponents, now blames greedy oil companies for the price increases.  

‘We won’t stand for’ corporate greed,” the Governor said at a July 20, 2023, press conference. 

Once New York’s cap-and-invest program starts, probably next year, you can expect a similar
outcome: higher gasoline and diesel prices, higher prices for natural gas and fuel oil used to heat
homes and apartment buildings, and endless political demagoguery denouncing it all. 

As the push toward electric-everything powered by green energy barrels along, proponents also
refuse to confront basic physical realities. 

Electricity accounts for just one-sixth of all energy use.

The rest is fossil fuels consumed for transportation, space and water heating, and manufacturing. 

Convert everything to electricity and electricity consumption will increase.  A lot.

According to the New York Climate Action Committee’s Final Scoping Plan, New York will meet that
increased demand by building almost 15,000 MW of offshore wind, like the Southfork Wind and
Sunrise Wind projects, and over 40,000 MW of solar panels. (By comparison, the emissions-free
Indian Point Nuclear Plant, which former Governor Cuomo forced to close, had a capacity of just over
1,000 MW.)   

Siemens CEO Christian Bruch has doubled down on his insistence that wind power is a key to
solving the global energy crisis.dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images

Because the wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine, keeping the lights on will
require far more backup resources. 

This “reserve margin” – basically, the amount of generating capacity available to step in and meet
electric demand – will need to increase from the current 20% to over 100%. 

In other words, for every MW of generating capacity in 2040, there will have to be an equal amount or
more in reserve. 

That’s like having to buy a second car and keep it idling all the time in case the first one won’t start.

The Scoping Plan claims this will be accomplished by building over 20,000 MW of so-called
“dispatchable emissions-free generating resources” (DEFRs) and installing over 12,000 MW of battery
storage.  

Those claims are fantasy. 

Start with DEFRs, which are generators that burn pure hydrogen manufactured from surplus wind
and solar power. 
They have yet to be invented (we repeat – they do not yet exist). Nor do any large-scale commercial
plants to manufacture green hydrogen exist either. 

Hydrogen cannot be transported in existing natural gas pipelines. 

An entirely new infrastructure will need to be built.  

Assuming a new technology will be invented by whatever date politicians decree is foolish. 

That’s not how technology works. 

Just ask everyone working on commercial fusion power, which has been just 30 years off for the last
50 years.

As for battery storage, 12,000 MW will provide at most 48,000 megawatt-hours of actual electricity. 

That may sound like a lot but based on the New York Independent System Operator’s (NYISO) most
recent forecast, on a windless and cold winter evening in 2040, it would keep the lights on for only
one hour.  

The materials requirements for batteries also are staggering, which is one reason why replacing
existing internal combustion cars and trucks will be impossible. 

Batteries require large quantities of cobalt, much of which is now mined in the Congo using child and
slave labor. 

They also require lots of graphite, most of which comes from China – the same with the rare minerals
needed for wind turbines and solar panels.

Ultimately, nothing New York does will have any measurable impact on world climate because the
state’s carbon emissions are minuscule compared to the 35 billion metric tons of total global
emissions. 

As long as China, which accounts for almost one-third of world energy-related carbon emissions,
India, and other developing nations focus policies on economic growth, rather than cutting emissions,
New York’s efforts will have no environmental value.

Nevertheless, if politicians and environmentalists were serious about zero-emissions goals, they
would abandon the electrification mandates, and abandon reliance on wind, solar, battery storage,
DEFRs, green hydrogen, and other unrealistic and unreliable energy sources. 

Instead, they would embrace the one existing technology that dare not speak its name: nuclear
power.  

Unlike wind and solar, nuclear plants run all the time. 
New, small modular reactors will offer greater safety, lower costs, and easy scalability to meet
increased electricity demand. 

Storing spent fuel is a political issue, not a technological one, for which the best solution is to recycle
and reuse it, as France has done for the last half-century without incident.

The country is also developing a permanent storage site for nuclear waste that can no longer be
reprocessed. 

The economist Herb Stein once quipped that anything that cannot go on forever, won’t. 

That’s true of New York’s current alternative energy madness. 

It won’t save the world, but it will grind down the state’s economy and its residents until the folly is
too great to ignore.

Fresh proof that New York’s ‘climate plan’ is pure fantasy

Post Editorial Board
New York Post
September 4, 2023

In a fresh sign that New York’s state climate agenda is pure fantasy, contractors key to making good
on a major piece of the so-called plan just filed to charge 54% more to build their offshore wind
farms. 

Taxpayers won’t be on the line for that, but ratepayers will. 

That’s the bottom line of New York’s “net zero” climate plan to drastically reduce carbon emissions.

It aims is to stop burning natural gas and other fossil fuels (even for cooking and heat),
vastly increasing the use of electricity — even while magically switching the state’s electricity
generation from mostly fossil-fuel-based to all-alternative energy.

Since we can’t add significant hydro power and won’t build more nuclear plants, that
means ginormous increases in solar and wind power — plus new transmission lines.

And vast energy-storage capacities, for which affordable technology doesn’t even exist yet.

State officials pretend this will “only” cost a few hundred billion bucks (it’ll actually cost far more) but
don’t dare appropriate enough tax dollars for it, which means they’re mandating outlays that must
eventually show up in utility bills. (That’s what “Con Ed will pay” means, since it and other utilities
have nowhere else to get the cash.) 

This is the truth about the state Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act; recent hikes in
your utility bills are just a taste of what’s coming unless and until the law gets changed.
That is: State law orders bureaucrats to shut down fossil-fuel power plants and utilities to get ever-
more power from alternative sources that mostly aren’t even on the drawing board yet.  

And as the wind-farm price-hike “request” filed in the runup to the holiday weekend (plainly so that
few would notice it) indicates, the state’s leaders even lowballed the cost of the early rounds of
building that alternative capacity.

Even if they weren’t going to soar past initial estimates, the costs to New Yorkers don’t remotely
match the benefits to them.

Fact is, making New York and California and New Jersey and every other blue state — heck, the whole
country — carbon-neutral will make only a minuscule dent in global carbon emissions: China’s still
building coal plants at a record clip and doesn’t even pretend it’ll stop any year soon.

By the way, no one’s even talking about the big risks to New York’s plan.

One of them is the simple fact that the transition means the peak electric load will stop being in the
summer, when power’s needed to run air-conditioning.

Instead, if the plan works as intended, most blackouts will come in the deepest part of winter, when
everyone’s relying on electricity for heat.

Extreme cold already kills more people than extreme heat; that death toll will now grow.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state lawmakers imposing this idiocy will be long out of office when the
bills in dollars and blood really start coming due.  

They’re now just telling eco-conscious voters what they want to hear, trusting the public to forget
that everything always costs more and takes longer, with fewer benefits, than politicians (and the
bureaucrats who answer to them) claim.

The only real question is how much harm is done by this madness in the name only of fighting climate
change before New Yorkers wake up to the truth and put a stop to it.