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Know your solar rate
The average going rate for solar power ranges from
8¢ to 12.6¢ per kWh
8¢ to 12.6¢ per kWh
If you're being quoted a higher price, shop around.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
A Black Box in your Car?
A black box in your car? Some see a source of tax revenue
The devices would track every mile you drive —possibly including your location — and the government would use the data to draw up a tax bill.
Ryan Morrison is chief executive of True Mileage, a Long Beach company testing devices that can track drivers' mileage. "People will be more willing to do this if you do not track their speed and you do not track their location," he says. (Mark Boster, Los Angeles Times / October 24, 2013)By Evan Halper
October 26, 2013, 7:11 p.m.
WASHINGTON — As America's road planners struggle to find the cash to mend a crumbling highway system, many are beginning to see a solution in a little black box that fits neatly by the dashboard of your car.
The devices, which track every mile a motorist drives and transmit that information to bureaucrats, are at the center of a controversial attempt in Washington and state planning offices to overhaul the outdated system for funding America's major roads.
The usually dull arena of highway planning has suddenly spawned intense debate and colorful alliances. Libertarians have joined environmental groups in lobbying to allow government to use the little boxes to keep track of the miles you drive, and possibly where you drive them — then use the information to draw up a tax bill.The tea party is aghast. The American Civil Liberties Union is deeply concerned, too, raising a variety of privacy issues.
And while Congress can't agree on whether to proceed, several states are not waiting. They are exploring how, over the next decade, they can move to a system in which drivers pay per mile of road they roll over. Thousands of motorists have already taken the black boxes, some of which have GPS monitoring, for a test drive.
"This really is a must for our nation. It is not a matter of something we might choose to do," said Hasan Ikhrata, executive director of the Southern California Assn. of Governments, which is planning for the state to start tracking miles driven by every California motorist by 2025. "There is going to be a change in how we pay these taxes. The technology is there to do it."
The push comes as the country's Highway Trust Fund, financed with taxes Americans pay at the gas pump, is broke. Americans don't buy as much gas as they used to. Cars get many more miles to the gallon. The federal tax itself, 18.4 cents per gallon, hasn't gone up in 20 years. Politicians are loath to raise the tax even one penny when gas prices are high.
"The gas tax is just not sustainable," said Lee Munnich, a transportation policy expert at the University of Minnesota. His state recently put tracking devices on 500 cars to test out a pay-by-mile system. "This works out as the most logical alternative over the long term," he said.
Wonks call it a mileage-based user fee. It is no surprise that the idea appeals to urban liberals, as the taxes could be rigged to change driving patterns in ways that could help reduce congestion and greenhouse gases, for example. California planners are looking to the system as they devise strategies to meet the goals laid out in the state's ambitious global warming laws. But Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Transportation Committee, has said he, too, sees it as the most viable long-term alternative. The free marketeers at the Reason Foundation are also fond of having drivers pay per mile.
"This is not just a tax going into a black hole," said Adrian Moore, vice president of policy at Reason. "People are paying more directly into what they are getting."
The movement is also bolstered by two former U.S. Transportation secretaries, who in a 2011 report urged Congress to move in the pay-per-mile direction.
The U.S. Senate approved a $90-million pilot project last year that would have involved about 10,000 cars. But the House leadership killed the proposal, acting on concerns of rural lawmakers representing constituents whose daily lives often involve logging lots of miles to get to work or into town.
Several states and cities are nonetheless moving ahead on their own. The most eager is Oregon, which is enlisting 5,000 drivers in the country's biggest experiment. Those drivers will soon pay the mileage fees instead of gas taxes to the state. Nevada has already completed a pilot. New York City is looking into one. Illinois is trying it on a limited basis with trucks. And the I-95 Coalition, which includes 17 state transportation departments along the Eastern Seaboard (including Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Florida), is studying how they could go about implementing the change.
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| "OMG. A new bridge toll and now a mileage tax?" |
In Nevada, where about 50 volunteers' cars were equipped with the devices not long ago, drivers were uneasy about the government being able to monitor their every move.
"Concerns about Big Brother and those sorts of things were a major problem," said Alauddin Khan, who directs strategic and performance management at the Nevada Department of Transportation. "It was not something people wanted."
As the trial got underway, the ACLU of Nevada warned on its website: "It would be fairly easy to turn these devices into full-fledged tracking devices.... There is no need to build an enormous, unwieldy technological infrastructure that will inevitably be expanded to keep records of individuals' everyday comings and goings."
Nevada is among several states now scrambling to find affordable technology that would allow the state to keep track of how many miles a car is being driven, but not exactly where and at what time. If you can do that, Khan said, the public gets more comfortable.
The hunt for that technology has led some state agencies to a small California startup called True Mileage. The firm was not originally in the business of helping states tax drivers. It was seeking to break into an emerging market in auto insurance, in which drivers would pay based on their mileage. But the devices it is testing appeal to highway planners because they don't use GPS and deliver a limited amount of information, uploaded periodically by modem.
"People will be more willing to do this if you do not track their speed and you do not track their location," said Ryan Morrison, chief executive of True Mileage. "There have been some big mistakes in some of these state pilot programs. There are a lot less expensive and less intrusive ways to do this."
In Oregon, planners are experimenting with giving drivers different choices. They can choose a device with or without GPS. Or they can choose not to have a device at all, opting instead to pay a flat fee based on the average number of miles driven by all state residents.
Other places are hoping to sell the concept to a wary public by having the devices do more, not less. In New York City, transportation officials are seeking to develop a taxing device that would also be equipped to pay parking meter fees, provide "pay-as-you-drive" insurance, and create a pool of real-time speed data from other drivers that motorists could use to avoid traffic.
"Motorists would be attracted to participate … because of the value of the benefits it offers to them," says a city planning document.
Some transportation planners, though, wonder if all the talk about paying by the mile is just a giant distraction. At the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in the San Francisco Bay Area, officials say Congress could very simply deal with the bankrupt Highway Trust Fund by raising gas taxes. An extra one-time or annual levy could be imposed on drivers of hybrids and others whose vehicles don't use much gas, so they pay their fair share.
"There is no need for radical surgery when all you need to do is take an aspirin," said Randy Rentschler, the commission's director of legislation and public affairs. "If we do this, hundreds of millions of drivers will be concerned about their privacy and a host of other things."
Marinwood CSD votes Unanimously to approve the use of Pesticides in Marinwood Parks and Open Space
In a unanimous decision, the Marinwood CSD adopts a new Integrated Pesticides Management plan that allows the use of pesticides in all areas of the Marinwood Parks and Open Space. I was the only speaker in the room that objected to its use especially in open space . An outright ban of glyphosate (roundup) is being proposed all over Marin at this time by environmental organizations. Glyphosate has been declared a carcinogen by the State of California.
all support a ban on Glyphosate in Marin County
Candidate Al Dugan seeks supervisor’s post to boost fiscal responsibility, public engagement
Candidate Al Dugan seeks supervisor’s post to boost fiscal responsibility, public engagement
Al Dugan of Novato says the people of Marin deserve a better shake at the Marin County Civic Center.
That’s just what they’ll get, the 65-year-old Dugan said, if he’s elected to represent the 4th District on the county Board of Supervisors.
Dugan, a retired insurance executive who now provides risk management consulting services, is among eight candidates running for the seat of retiring Supervisor Steve Kinsey. The post at stake on the June 7 ballot covers West Marin and Corte Madera, as well as parts of San Rafael, Larkspur, Novato and Southern Marin.
Dugan, a prolific letter-to-the-editor writer with views on issues ranging from the problems with regional government to local housing policies, thinks the people who pay the bills don’t have enough say in what goes on or how their money is spent.
“Homeowners are under-represented in Marin County,” he said. “They don’t get the representation they need,” he added. “The taxpayers and property owners of Marin are our shareholders.”
Speaking of taxes, “I think the property tax has reached a point where it is significant, and I don’t believe we should be looking at add-on taxes or parcel taxes,” he said. “There’s enough revenue coming in ... more than enough,” according to Dugan.
The key problem with county decision-making is that residents have little say in what happens, he said. “My biggest complaint is the lack of transparency” with decisions “pre-determined before the meeting,” he said. “There’s an over-reliance on third-party consultants and special interests.”
The county has failed to engage with the wider community it is supposed to serve, he asserted, vowing to attend local homeowner and neighborhood association meetings, launch programs that promote participation in public affairs such as town halls, and beef up county communications including video media.
“We should use media to educate the people,” he said. “I plan to work with community leaders who are directly involved with the issues to come up with the best solutions.”
Dugan said he is running for election because officials have failed to tackle key issues “such as excessive development, making sure Marin got a proper housing allocation from Association of Bay Area Governments, fiscal sustainability and the need for real transparency and community engagement.” The key issue is “intolerable traffic and excess development, which are inextricably linked,” he said. “I want to maintain our small-town suburban rural character (and) will work for better planning and more realistic housing allocations with community engagement that are in sync with the general plans of the jurisdictions.”
Local control is critical and “ABAG got it wrong” although the regional agency is improving amid a welter of planning criticism, he said. “The danger we have ahead is the Metropolitan Transportation Commission taking over” planning for jobs and housing. “Job growth and housing should reflect the general plans of the jurisdiction,” he said. See the full Story in the Marin IJ HERE
Monday, March 21, 2016
Like it or not, There is a Train coming to town!
.whether you like it or not. Gridlock in San Rafael; demolished transit center; Anderson Drive eliminated???; bike and pedestrian path??? There's a train coming to town!
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Cranky Old Man by Mak Filiser
It seemed like a usual nursing home with usual patients. However, in that dull space somewhere there was a man who was beautifully scripting about his life during his last days in a form of heart-touching poem. Mak Filiser, 86, died in the geriatric ward of a nursing home and since he had no visitors, the nurses believed that he left nothing behind of any real value.
But the day a nurse came to clean out Mak’s room after he passed on, everything changed. One of the nurses noticed something. It was a poem that Mak had written. She proceeded to read it and was so floored by his words that she ended up making copies of it and sharing with every employee at the nursing home.
In today's world when children are leaving their parents at old age homes, this should be an eye opener. Our parents and grandparents raise us, care for us, and love us and then one day we forget all about them. The poem is entitled; “Cranky Old Man” and it no doubt give us some very valuable lessons. Take a look…
Cranky Old Man by Mak Filiser
What do you see nurses? What do you see?
What are you thinking…when you’re looking at me?
A cranky old man…not very wise,
Uncertain of habit…with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles his food…and makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice…I do wish you’d try!’
Who seems not to notice…the things that you do.
And forever is losing…A sock or shoe?
Who, resisting or not…lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding…The long day to fill?
Is that what you’re thinking? Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse…you’re not looking at me.
I’ll tell you who I am . . . . .. As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding…as I eat at your will.
I’m a small child of Ten…with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters…who love one another
A young boy of Sixteen…with wings on his feet
Dreaming that soon now…a lover he’ll meet.
A groom soon at Twenty…my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows…that I promised to keep
At Twenty-Five, now…I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide…And a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty…My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other…With ties that should last.
At Forty, my young sons…have grown and are gone,
But my woman is beside me…to see I don’t mourn.
At Fifty, once more…Babies play ’round my knee,
Again, we know children…My loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me…My wife is now dead.
I look at the future…I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing…young of their own.
And I think of the years…And the love that I’ve known.
I’m now an old man…and nature is cruel.
It’s jest to make old age…look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles…grace and vigor, depart.
There is now a stone…where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass a young man still dwells,
And now and again…my battered heart swells
I remember the joys…I remember the pain.
And I’m loving and living…life over again.
I think of the years, all too few…gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact…that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people…open and see.
Not a cranky old man.
Look closer…see…ME!!
Geyserville, CA once a SolEd customer Buys Solar Instead and Save at least 50%
The Sonoma County Water agency, once a customer of SolEd Benefit Corp, realizes huge saving by purchasing solar equipment outright. The 60kw system is similar in size to the Marinwood CSD Solar project. Marinwood CSD approved the SolEd contract at rates approaching 7 times the cost of a similarly purchased system. Danlin Solar is the same electrical contractor for both projects but purchasing the solar system instead of a Power Purchase Agreement with SolEd will save at least 50% of the cost.
This item recommends the Chair to execute an energy services contract (Agreement) with Danlin Corporation for $145,082 for the design, construction, and maintenance of the Geyserville Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Project, located at the Geyserville Sanitation Zone Wastewater Treatment Plant ($139,986 for design/construction and $5,096 for five years maintenance)..
HISTORY OF ITEM/BACKGROUND: In February 2013, the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Water Agency executed a Memorandum of Understanding with Strategic Energy Innovations to support the development and evaluation of an aggregated solar procurement solicitation for public agency facilities and to allow those facilities to participate in the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Fund program. Using a grant from the California Solar Initiative, Strategic Energy Innovations created a program for public agencies to participate in a regional group purchase of municipal solar projects. The program leverages the grant funding to defer upfront funds for planning, site assessments, and procurement activities while providing technical expertise and best practice knowledge. A similar SEED program was developed by Strategic Energy Innovations in the Silicon Valley, where aggregating 14.4 megawatts of solar projects realized economies of scale resulting in an estimated 12% reduction in solar PV proposal pricing. On behalf of the Water Agency and other SEED program participants, as the program administer, the City of San Rafael issued a Request For Proposals (RFP) in July 2013 for design-build solar energy projects at numerous public facilities in Sonoma, Marin, and Napa counties. The intent of the RFP was to Revision No. 20140617-1 56 develop 6.7 megawatts of solar PV projects across 32 candidate sites, including a 46 kW solar PV system at the Geyserville Sanitation Zone Wastewater Treatment Plant. The proposals received in November 2013 all showed favorable pricing. The City of San Rafael and some of the participating public entities, including the Water Agency, reviewed the proposals and interviewed the top proposers. The winning proposal team was comprised of Sunetric and SolEd Benefit Corporation as the financing and project integration arm and Danlin Corporation as the construction arm. While most program participants entered or planned to enter into power purchase agreements with the Sunetric team, the Water Agency could realize additional savings by purchasing the system outright. Sunetric and SolEd Benefit Corporation offered to withdraw from the team and allow Danlin Corporation to be the lone entity with whom the Water Agency could enter into design/build agreement under the original proposal terms and pricing. Danlin provided additional project experience documentation and project references that proved that Danlin as a stand-alone entity met the RFP experience and qualification requirements. The Water Agency’s Power Resources Fund aggregates all power production and consumption across all Water Agency enterprises. Geyserville Sanitation Zone Wastewater Treatment Plant would host the solar PV system; the Water Agency’s Power Resources Fund would fund the project and the Water Agency would own and operate the solar PV system.
FINANCIAL ANALYSIS Currently, the Geyserville Sanitation Zone Wastewater Treatment Plant consumes approximately 93,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh), which costs approximately $14,000 per year. A small portion (less than 5%) of this power is offset by an existing small wind turbine constructed in 2012 that was partially funded by a grant from the California Energy Commission. This solar PV project would generate additional power on site and save an estimated $11,850 in the first year of operation based on current electricity rates. Based on a capital construction cost of $139,986, the payback period of the project is 10 years. Even if energy rates rise more slowly than historical averages or maintenance increases faster than expected, the payback period would not extend beyond 12-14 years. Given the project has an estimated useful life of 25 years, this project has financial benefit to the Water Agency.
From the staff report from County of Sonoma
This item recommends the Chair to execute an energy services contract (Agreement) with Danlin Corporation for $145,082 for the design, construction, and maintenance of the Geyserville Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Project, located at the Geyserville Sanitation Zone Wastewater Treatment Plant ($139,986 for design/construction and $5,096 for five years maintenance)..
HISTORY OF ITEM/BACKGROUND: In February 2013, the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Water Agency executed a Memorandum of Understanding with Strategic Energy Innovations to support the development and evaluation of an aggregated solar procurement solicitation for public agency facilities and to allow those facilities to participate in the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Fund program. Using a grant from the California Solar Initiative, Strategic Energy Innovations created a program for public agencies to participate in a regional group purchase of municipal solar projects. The program leverages the grant funding to defer upfront funds for planning, site assessments, and procurement activities while providing technical expertise and best practice knowledge. A similar SEED program was developed by Strategic Energy Innovations in the Silicon Valley, where aggregating 14.4 megawatts of solar projects realized economies of scale resulting in an estimated 12% reduction in solar PV proposal pricing. On behalf of the Water Agency and other SEED program participants, as the program administer, the City of San Rafael issued a Request For Proposals (RFP) in July 2013 for design-build solar energy projects at numerous public facilities in Sonoma, Marin, and Napa counties. The intent of the RFP was to Revision No. 20140617-1 56 develop 6.7 megawatts of solar PV projects across 32 candidate sites, including a 46 kW solar PV system at the Geyserville Sanitation Zone Wastewater Treatment Plant. The proposals received in November 2013 all showed favorable pricing. The City of San Rafael and some of the participating public entities, including the Water Agency, reviewed the proposals and interviewed the top proposers. The winning proposal team was comprised of Sunetric and SolEd Benefit Corporation as the financing and project integration arm and Danlin Corporation as the construction arm. While most program participants entered or planned to enter into power purchase agreements with the Sunetric team, the Water Agency could realize additional savings by purchasing the system outright. Sunetric and SolEd Benefit Corporation offered to withdraw from the team and allow Danlin Corporation to be the lone entity with whom the Water Agency could enter into design/build agreement under the original proposal terms and pricing. Danlin provided additional project experience documentation and project references that proved that Danlin as a stand-alone entity met the RFP experience and qualification requirements. The Water Agency’s Power Resources Fund aggregates all power production and consumption across all Water Agency enterprises. Geyserville Sanitation Zone Wastewater Treatment Plant would host the solar PV system; the Water Agency’s Power Resources Fund would fund the project and the Water Agency would own and operate the solar PV system.
FINANCIAL ANALYSIS Currently, the Geyserville Sanitation Zone Wastewater Treatment Plant consumes approximately 93,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh), which costs approximately $14,000 per year. A small portion (less than 5%) of this power is offset by an existing small wind turbine constructed in 2012 that was partially funded by a grant from the California Energy Commission. This solar PV project would generate additional power on site and save an estimated $11,850 in the first year of operation based on current electricity rates. Based on a capital construction cost of $139,986, the payback period of the project is 10 years. Even if energy rates rise more slowly than historical averages or maintenance increases faster than expected, the payback period would not extend beyond 12-14 years. Given the project has an estimated useful life of 25 years, this project has financial benefit to the Water Agency.
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| Marinwood CSD got burnt on the Solar PPA deal. It was voted on without considering alternatives methods of financing or competitive bids from qualified solar providers. Just changing our rates with PGE can save us 30%! |
Controlling soft costs wins “the lowest price ever for a solar PPA for distributed generation.”
Anatomy of a Deal: 4-Cent-per-Kilowatt-Hour Solar in Palo Alto
Controlling soft costs wins “the lowest price ever for a solar PPA for distributed generation.”
by Eric WesoffMarch 20, 2014
Palo Alto, California's municipal utility already has low electricity prices -- local recreation center Oshman Family JCC reported paying about 9 cents per kilowatt-hourat certain rate tiers. But THiNKnrg, an energy project developer, was able to provide the center with a 50 percent discount and close a deal with a twenty-year solar PPA price at 4 cents per kilowatt-hour.
This is a relatively small project -- it comprises 398 kilowatts spread across twelve rooftops. And although that doesn't compare in scale to, say, Austin's 5-cent-per-kWh, 150-megawatt PPA, the JCC project distinguishes itself by creatively financing a small project while keeping soft costs down.
The JCC's solar installation is a 397.5-kilowatt system powered by 1,840 Trina PV panels that have been factory-integrated with Tigo power optimizers and connected to KACO inverters. Mark Holtzman, CFO of the Oshman Center, said the PPA would save about $30,000 per year in electricity bills and an estimated $1.5 million in energy savings over the twenty-year contract.
"This is one of the more innovative deals we have done," said Zach Rubin, CEO ofTHiNKnrg. The PPA takes advantage of the usual 30 percent investment tax credit, plus a generous five-year, 29-cent-per-kilowatt-hour performance-based incentive (PBI).
Rubin acknowledged that an aggressive PBI made the deal work at 4 cents -- but suggested that absent the PBI, this project could still compete with the fossil-fuel-based power from most utilities. (Austin Energy's net sub-five-cent price does not include any state PTC and works out to a non-subsidized price that still can compete with fossil fuels in the 13 or 14 cents per kWh range.)
Rubin said that Palo Alto had been "great with permitting" despite the city's self-described "reputation as being a very difficult place to get approval and pass inspections for solar panel installations." In fact, the city has overhauled its permitting process and driven down time to permit issuance from 122 days to three days. The utility also claims to have halved the frequency at which plans are returned with corrections. These are the kind of soft-cost savings that can make or break a project.
Another source of soft-cost savings, according to the project developer, was in the use of a standard template for the various tax appetite entities that "didn't require a lot of back-and-forth," according to the CEO, who added, "Closing costs and transaction costs can kill a deal." (Join the developer of this project, Zach Rubin -- along with Vikram Aggarwal, CEO of EnergySage, and Kristen Ardani, Solar Markets and Policy Analyst at NREL -- for "Cracking the Code on Soft Costs" at the Solar Summit in Phoenix next month. I will be moderating that panel and hope to see you there.)
A distinguishing financial feature of this project is the fact that Conergy, with its owner Kawa Capital Management, a private equity firm, accessed the tax equity appetites of a small pool of individuals, according to the CEO. Conergy "closed one of the first leveraged tax equity partnership structures with individual investors who could utilize the investment tax credits," said John Marciano, Partner at Chadbourne and Park and tax counsel for Conergy and Kawa, in a release about the project. He continued, “This is a landmark transaction, one of the first leveraged partnership structures to successfully close with individual investors."
Rubin revealed that the project sold for $2.87 per watt and had a sub-$2.50-per-watt installed cost. The developer makes a margin and "JCC gets a discount to their electric rate and a reduction in demand charges."
Technologically, the site stands out as Trina's largest installation using the integrated Tigo optimizers. Rubin said that Tigo optimizers were an easy decision to make on economic terms. "In a PBI-based system, you want to extract every kilowatt-hour."
Here are some vital statistics on the project:
Eduardo Manzur of THiNKnrg was kind enough to provide this flow chart of the moving parts that go into a project of this nature:
Palo Alto Mayor Nancy Shepherd noted the complexity of this public-private-nonprofit partnership and restated her goal for Palo Alto to be the greenest city in the world. Located in Northern California, Palo Alto is the home of Stanford University, Packard's garage, a high concentration of venture capitalists, and a crop of high-tech startups that occasionally build useful things. The city estimates that meeting its goal of being 100 percent carbon-neutral will cost the average ratepayer about $3 per year.
Does a 4-cent-per-kilowatt-hour PPA price accurately reflect the true cost of solar?
It does in this deal.
Every PPA, whether or not it is based on a renewable source, relies on its own ecosystem of subsidies, tax breaks and financial engineering to make it work -- which makes 4-cent-per-kilowatt-hour solar as real as this project in Palo Alto.
Editor's Note: Marinwood got burnt with a 20 year contract that locks us into paying up to $.30 kwh . This is 7.5 times more expensive that Palo Alto!
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| Marinwood CSD is getting burnt by a bad solar deal at 30 cents kwH |
Sacramento Municipal Utility District warns people not to pay more than 12.6 per Kilowatt Hour for Solar!
The Average Rate for Solar is $.08 cents to $.12.6 cents per kilowatt Hour. If you are quoted a higher price , shop around advises the Sacramento Municipal Utility District HERE Marinwood CSD contracted with SolEd at an eye popping $.30 cents kwH. Ouch!
Looking for solar answers?
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| Marinwood CSD got burnt with a bad Solar deal at 30 cents kwH |
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