Would you pay $5-15 extra every month in exchange for a state assurance that more renewable energy is being included in your regional electric grid?

[I'm Gone 60]

Immediately. I'm all into renewable energy sources. But I live in the wrong location; people in Indiana seem to think coal plants and nuclear reactors are clean facilities...

France produces about 80% of its energy from nuclear power plants. I believe their safety record has been exemplary. Why not consider nuclear as an option?

Exactly. If we had built more we wouldn't have some of the problems we have now or will have in the future.

[almaty 19]

i agree..anything is better than the usual doing nothing.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

i agree..anything is better than the usual doing nothing.

Even nuclear?

[Fischkoepfin 1]

Immediately. I'm all into renewable energy sources. But I live in the wrong location; people in Indiana seem to think coal plants and nuclear reactors are clean facilities...

France produces about 80% of its energy from nuclear power plants. I believe their safety record has been exemplary. Why not consider nuclear as an option?

i guess that depends on what they do about nuclear waste

What do they do?

I have no idea, I was hoping someone would know

They don't know and are looking for a safe deposit somewhere in their mountain ranges. As to the safety record, it's ok, but not great. Most problems at nuclear plants don't get reported and I just recently read a statistic that in Germany there are about 200 failures/year that should be reported but are covered up.

Today is the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. I'm still convinced that nuclear energy while ecologically sound and not reliant on oil, gas, or coal, is not a good option. It's safe until something happens, and then there's a massive problem...

It would be much better to look into renewable energy resources and develop them further. Wind energy is a good start, but so are biomass power plants, solar panels, etc.

[almaty 19]

i agree..anything is better than the usual doing nothing.

Even nuclear?

'

where are the spent rods going? and how will they get there? ..i know they were being dumped in utah but is that still a fact...?

[Yodrak 7]

Agent Smith,

Interesting. But consider this - if everyone in NJ signed up for the program where would the state get that much 'clean power'? It simply doesn't exist, and it wouldn't take many participants in the program to use up the amount that does exist - which, by the way, is already being used by somebody. So the sources for the electricity being used in the region are not being changed, only the designation of what source is serving what customer.

As time goes on, agreed that the money collected can be used to create more 'clean power' sources, but how much. It takes one heck of a lot of solar panels, wind turbines, small hydro, and landfills to generate much electricity. It would take more than 500 windmills to replace 1 nuclear or large coal power plant, and those 500 windmills would require many times the land area of such a conventional plant. NJ may have a lot of landfills, but it does not have much open space for windmills or solar panels and I can hear the environmentalists now if someone actually did propose to start covering that open space with such structures.

'clean power' or 'green power' is beneficial and every bit of it that can be developed will be beneficial, but this news release is hype, not reality.

Yodrak

If you live in New Jersey, you are about to get that choice. See http://www.njcleanpower.com.

The CleanPower Choice Program from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities' Office of Clean Energy is a statewide program that allows you to support the development of clean, renewable sources of energy. By choosing CleanPower, you're choosing to support the generation of renewable energy sources that diversify our energy supply and help create a healthier environment. Solar power. Wind power. Low-impact or small hydro power. Landfill gas power. Clean power, that's good for New Jersey and will always be there for us.

When you make the CleanPower Choice, electricity is generated from clean, renewable energy sources located in New Jersey and the mid-Atlantic region. Importantly, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities' Office of Clean Energy verifies that renewable energy is delivered into the Mid Atlantic power pool that serves your needs. The more people who sign up for the CleanPower Choice Program, the more renewable energy sources that will be added to the energy mix.

We've made choosing CleanPower easy. In fact, it's never been easier. You're all set to go - nothing needs to be installed and all that changes is that more clean and renewable energy sources are being used to meet New Jersey's needs.

And you'll still receive only one bill a month from your current electric company. Your renewable energy purchase will simply be a separate line item on your bill. Of course, you can always stop at any time or switch your CleanPower marketer at any time too. If you ever have a problem with your electric service, you still call your local electric company.

Diminishing resources, the increasing cost of fossil fuels and the impact on the environment make choosing CleanPower more important than ever before. Recent natural disasters and world events reinforce our need to tap into clean renewable and available energy sources.

Edited April 26, 2006 by Yodrak

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Interesting. But consider this - if everyone in NJ signed up for the program where would the state get that much 'clean power'? It simply doesn't exist, and it wouldn't take many participants in the program to use up the amount that does exist - which, by the way, is already being used by somebody.

I recall reading last night that one of the suppliers of the NJ cleanpower program is proposing to add new windmills to their offshore windmill farm near Atlantic City. So in fact excess capacity can be created. That said, your argument that the capacity won't amount to a whole lot is well taken.

...I can hear the environmentalists now if someone actually did propose to start covering that open space with such structures.

I believe that. See here how Senator Kennedy is opposing a plan for a windmill farm in Nantucket Sound. I guess it would ruin his view and we can't have that!

[almaty 19]

Interesting. But consider this - if everyone in NJ signed up for the program where would the state get that much 'clean power'? It simply doesn't exist, and it wouldn't take many participants in the program to use up the amount that does exist - which, by the way, is already being used by somebody.

I recall reading last night that one of the suppliers of the NJ cleanpower program is proposing to add new windmills to their offshore windmill farm near Atlantic City. So in fact excess capacity can be created. That said, your argument that the capacity won't amount to a whole lot is well taken.

...I can hear the environmentalists now if someone actually did propose to start covering that open space with such structures.

I believe that. See here how Senator Kennedy is opposing a plan for a windmill farm in Nantucket Sound. I guess it would ruin his view and we can't have that!

that fat chopf##k...

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Must be nice living in NJ having a choice. Here in Ohio (at least in the Cincinnati area), electric rates jumped 30% in January w/o any choice or assurances whatsoever. So, I am paying $25 - $30 a month more for not much in return.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Must be nice living in NJ having a choice. Here in Ohio (at least in the Cincinnati area), electric rates jumped 30% in January w/o any choice or assurances whatsoever. So, I am paying $25 - $30 a month more for not much in return.

Our prices were hiked too. This cleanpower plan is another hike on top of that hike (albeit this time it's voluntary!).

[Yodrak 7]

ET-US,

As my earlier post shows, the choice is illusory. To expand on it, the way the electric system operates is that thousands of sources feed electric power into a grid and millions of customers take power off the grid. Think of it as a large pond or reservoir into which many streams are feeding and many pipes are withdrawing. Who can say which inlet stream is feeding which outlet pipe? Which customer is using electric power coming from which generating source is a matter of accounting. A customer opting for 'cleanpowef' will cause a change in the accounting, nothing more. It will not create more 'cleanpower' to displace 'dirtypower', at least not in the near term. Only a supplier of electricity building a new source, which takes time, can accomplish that.

As for rate hikes, states that have deregulated energy prices and work on a 'market' principal have rates that fluctuate with the trend of increasing slowly over time so that the increases are small but continuous as costs of producing the electricity increase. On the other hand, in states that have not deregulated, the utilities absorb cost increases and over time incur large deficits that must be recovered when they eventually go to their state commission to request a rate increase. The rate increases are infrequent, but when they ultimately occur they are large and very noticable. Especially if the state had imposed a lengthy freeze on rates that held them at below-cost level for a period of many years, as MDYoung is about to experience in Maryland.

Yodrak

Must be nice living in NJ having a choice. Here in Ohio (at least in the Cincinnati area), electric rates jumped 30% in January w/o any choice or assurances whatsoever. So, I am paying $25 - $30 a month more for not much in return.

Edited April 26, 2006 by Yodrak