From Walmart To Google, Companies Teaming Up To Buy More Solar And Wind Power

Originally published on March 28, 2019 9:30 am

Going green is often easier said than done, but a new business organization is hoping to change that. While focusing on large-scale energy buyers, the group plans to push for changes that could make renewable power more accessible for all Americans.

Companies from a variety of industries — including Walmart, General Motors, Google and Johnson & Johnson — are forming a trade association to represent firms that purchase renewable energy and remove barriers that make it complicated to shift away from carbon.

The new organization, the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance, is building on years of work between corporations and climate advocacy nonprofits. Currently, about 200 companies, cities and universities are involved.

Miranda Ballentine, the CEO of the new trade group, says the organization will help push energy markets and public policies to make it easier to actually choose to buy green energy.

It's harder than you might think for a company to choose renewables, Ballentine says.

"Especially in today's day and age, when we see many renewable energy technologies that are meeting or beating brown [conventional] power prices, you would think, 'Hallelujah! The day has come, clean energy is here, we can now just go out and buy it.' But there are a number of barriers," she says.

One is the way energy markets are set up. They vary by region — some areas allow more choice than others. But in many locations, buyers can't select a source for the energy they get from a utility.

"They can't actually say, 'I want power from that wind project over there,' " Ballentine says. "They literally cannot contract directly for certain sources of power."

In other cases, there are technological challenges. "Some renewable energy technologies like wind and solar don't produce 24/7 — they produce when the sun is shining and when the wind is blowing," Ballentine says. "And we as energy consumers ... we need our power 24/7," she says.

REBA hopes to flex its purchasing power to support technological innovation and push utilities to offer more green options — calling for changes to public policy where necessary.

"The demand side of the equation really has a unique role to play and really has a unique voice and ability to drive the clean-energy market," Ballentine says.

Many companies have set green energy targets as part of overall sustainability efforts — whether out of a sense of corporate responsibility or in the pursuit of positive PR.

But Steve Chriss, director for energy and strategy analysis at Walmart, says there's a financial calculation as well.

Read the full article here:

https://www.mainepublic.org/post/companies-organize-make-it-easier-...

Angus King joins Republicans to reject Green New Deal resolution

Tuesday’s vote blocked the Green New Deal. Even if it had passed, the non-binding resolution would have called on the federal government to take specific steps to address climate change, but lacked the force of law compelling the government to do so.

The proposal has inspired a local version in the Maine Legislature. While the Maine proposal is similar in intent, it would create a task force to come up with the ways to meet its carbon reduction and renewable energy goals.

A public hearing on the bill is expected to take place in April.

The full article is here:

https://bangordailynews.com/2019/03/28/politics/angus-king-joins-re...

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Comment by Stephen Littlefield on March 28, 2019 at 6:36pm

The leftist regime of Maine is determined to break the backs of the working class by mandating the most useless forms of electrical generation! These are the most tone deaf people with so little intellect it is embarrassing! The only thing they seem to look at are the subsidies and what sort of BS these generating companies are using in their huckster presentations! Mean while Maine residents are being oppressed under ridiculously high electric rates. Good job! 

Comment by Willem Post on March 28, 2019 at 1:47pm

Big profitable companies are buying wind and solar systems for the various subsidies, including writing off the entire project capital cost in about 5 years.

This has huge advantages, because it eliminates a lot of federal and states taxes on profits.

Warren Buffett have been doing this for at least ten years.

He said without the subsidies, wind projects don’t make any sense. Just google and you will get all the info and his quotes.

 

Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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