Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2014 11:53:14 -0400
From: J
Subject: Wind Power in Chatham?
On Wed, Jun 11, 2014 at 7:51 AM, Chatham Chatlist wrote:
>
> Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2014 04:51:21 -0400 (EDT)
> From: mphorn22
> Subject: Wind power instead of Duke/Progress Power?
>
> Hi All!
> Does anyone know anything about this “claim” that I recently read from an email newsletter
> group on the internet? It claims “local wind power” but the only local one I know is merely in the
> start-up-building stage. Is there another site that could be called “local?” And last time I heard,
> our local wind power group would be feeding into only Duke/Power.
I’d question it based on the premise alone. It seems very suspicious to me that there’s enough consistent wind across central NC to provide enough power that you’d be “100% wind power”ed as they claim. The summers in NC are the periods of highest demand, and coincidentally, not necessarily the windiest.
I will admit that I simply don’t know, and perhaps there are constant breezes at 150 feet or higher that don’t hit us on the ground, but I am familiar with the seeming weeks of high temps, high humidity and no cooling breeze that defines a central Carolina summer.
> “Ethical Electric – America’s only progressive clean energy company. Ethical Electric provides > 100% clean, local wind power to its members.Switching is fast & easy – you’ll still get the
> same bill, the same service, over the same wires.
Lets think about that for a moment.
Same Bill: So, your cost doesn’t go down, you pay the same?
Same Service: So, you STILL get your service from Progress Energy?
Same wires: So how exactly do you get energy directly from wind farms, while I get my energy from a nuke plant, on the same wires?
> All that changes is that instead of powering your home with dirty energy, like oil, gas and
> nuclear, while funding dirty politics, every time you pay your electric bill, you’ll be
> supporting 100% local, renewable energy. Are you ready to support 100% renewable power
> every time you pay your power bill, from Ethical Electric?”
> It would be wonderful if I could do this, but I question whether it is applicable to our area at
> this moment in time. I look forward to hearing your input.
So while very light on real information, their website says this:
>> Ethical Electric buys clean electricity from local, renewable sources such as wind and solar.
>> We supply it via your local utility company. They will still read your meter and send you a bill. >> You’ll still send your payments into your utility company.
>> There’s no new bill. No equipment to install. No home visit. No interruption to your service.
>> All that changes is that with Ethical Electric, you’ll be supporting 100% clean, local,
>> renewable energy every time you pay your power bill.
So you’re NOT getting 100% local, clean wind energy. I still don’t quite understand exactly what singing up does, other than make you feel good. You’re still paying Progress Energy (if that’s your current provider). You’re NOT getting a lower bill from allegedly cheaper clean wind power, and the power you get is likely still coming from Shearon Harris, regardless of what some website tells you.
They apparently buy energy from renewable suppliers and feed that back into the grid. Progress then pays them for the supplemental energy. That’s all.
The only real benefit I can see is that they do donate to charities:
>> And since we want to do as much as possible to change the world with our members,
>> Ethical Electric donates a part of your monthly bill to causes that benefit our planet and
>> create a better, more just, more progressive world.
But in the end, it seems it’s not available in NC anyway:
>> If you live in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New York, New Jersey or the
>> District of Columbia, you can become a customer right away by picking a clean energy plan
>> that’s available in your area right now.
In reality, it sounds a LOT like a feel-good pyramid scheme to me…
but maybe I am missing something from the limited marketing speak on their website.
> – Maryphyllis