Fewer breezes led to less wind power generation in West last year

SALT LAKE CITY — The wind didn’t howl quite as fiercely in 2015 in Utah and eight other states across the West, leading to the nation’s smallest increase in wind generated power in 16 years.

A recent analysis by the U.S. Energy Information Administration said weather patterns in the western portion of the United States created only a 5.1 percent increase in wind generated power over 2014. By comparison, electricity from wind generation grew by nearly 20 percent in 2013 and by about 8 percent in 2014.

Dampened wind production in the West dominated the first half of 2015, when El Nino weather patterns fueled more pronounced wind generation in the central portion of the United States.

Utah, like California, experienced wind generation declines between 5 and 10 percent. Oregon, Idaho and Wyoming all saw decreases of between 10 and 15 percent.

The country continued to add wind generation capacity, which grew by nearly 13 percent last year. Texas accounted for 44 percent of that growth and is the nation’s top generator, producing 24 percent of U.S. wind power, according to the analysis.

Wind energy makes up 4.7 percent of U.S. electric power generation, second to hydroelectric in the renewable energy sector. Energy Information Administration analysts predict that more capacity will bring wind generation above the 5 percent mark by the end of this year. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, too, reports that employment of wind turbine technicians is expected to grow 108 percent through 2024, much faster than average for all professions as new capacity comes online.

Across the country, 11 states get more than 10 percent of their power generation from wind.

Utah is among those states this year that are adding more wind power. The 60-megawatt Latigo Wind Park came online in March in San Juan County and operates under a 20-year power purchase agreement with Rocky Mountain Power.

Beaver County is home to a 306-megawatt wind farm that had been operated by First Wind until it was acquired by renewable energy giant SunEdison in a business deal finalized this year.

SunEdison declared bankruptcy last week after a binge buying spree left it cash strapped.

Scott Albrecht, economic development director for Beaver County, said he met with company officials after the bankruptcy announcement to get a status update on how the development might affect planned solar projects in the county.

SunEdison completed six 3-megawatt solar projects in Beaver County and has three larger, 80-megawatt solar farms in varying stages of development.

“We’re still confident they will be completed and operational,” he said.

A fourth, 100-megawatt solar farm has yet to be constructed, so its fate is less certain, Albrecht said.

Email: amyjoi@deseretnews.com

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Fewer breezes led to less wind power generation in West last year

US will finally get its first offshore wind farm this year

Almost as long as I’ve been covering green tech, the Block Island Wind Farm has been in the works. The project, first approved by the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission in 2010, was seen as a smaller-scale pilot project that could prove the feasibility of offshore wind power generation in the U.S.

Six years later, it will be a 30-MW installation that will provide most of the power needs of Block Island, an island off Rhode Island that currently gets its electricity from diesel generators.

The project was initially planned for completion in 2012, but set backs and plan changes have delayed it. GE, the makers of the five 6-MW “Haliade” turbines that will make up the project, has just announced that the wind farm is on target to be up and running by the end of the year. Even with the delays, it will be the first completed offshore wind farm in the country.

The five wind turbines, each twice as tall as the Statue of Liberty and with a diameter of double the size of a 747 Jumbo jet wingspan, will be able to generate about 125,000 MWh of electricity, or enough to meet 90 percent of Block Island’s energy needs. They will be located three miles offshore of Block Island and underwater transmission cables will connect them to the island and mainland Rhode Island where excess energy will go to the grid.

Read More: TreeHugger

US will finally get its first offshore wind farm this year

A year after fixed-fee increase, Green Bay utility seeks another

A year after receiving an 83% increase in the fixed customer charge on monthly electric bills, Wisconsin Public Service Corp. is seeking another increase in that fee — this time by an additional 32%.

The state Public Service Commission will consider the Green Bay power company’s proposal this week and by the end of the year is expected to vote on a proposal from an Eau Claire utility to more than double its fixed charge.

The new bids to increase the monthly charges come after the Green Bay utility, Milwaukee-based We Energies and Madison Gas & Electric Co. all won approval of big increases a year ago.

The proposals — and those this year — met with widespread opposition from consumer advocates and other organizations, including AARP. Those critics say the higher fees discourage customers from conserving energy and hurt low-income electricity customers.

Utilities say higher fixed charges are offset in part by lower rates tied to electricity usage and are designed to help them better allocate costs associated with costs that aren’t linked to the price of energy, such as repairing power lines damaged by storms.

WPS also says rural electric cooperatives have imposed higher fixed charges on their members. Their rates aren’t regulated by the state, however.

If approved, the fixed charge paid by WPS customers will have more than doubled since last year, from $10.40 to $25 a month, Patricia Finder-Stone of AARP said during a public hearing on the Green Bay utility’s proposal.

“It makes consumers pay more before they even turn on their lights,” she said. “This increase has a disproportionate effect on seniors and others that are living on limited or fixed incomes.”

Last year, the PSC ultimately approved an increase of 85% to $19 a month for Madison Gas & Electric Co.; 75% to $16 a month for We Energies of Milwaukee; and 83% to $19 a month for WPS.

Wisconsin has become an outlier on fixed charges based on what utility regulators have approved around the country.

A review of decisions in other states by Renew Wisconsin found that 35 utilities proposed to increase their fixed charges in 2014 and so far in 2015. Of those, 14 utilities were required to keep the charges unchanged, while 18 were allowed increases between 1 cent and $4.30 a month. The biggest increases were the three in Wisconsin, ranging from $6.83 to $8.71.

“Only in Wisconsin have large increases been granted,” said Tyler Huebner, executive director of Renew Wisconsin, a renewable energy advocacy group.

When ruling last year, Wisconsin commissioners agreed with utilities that they should be able to charge higher fixed fees in response to changes taking place in the energy sector as costs fall for renewable energy that customers can generate themselves.

PSC staffers and analysts are recommending that the commission hold off on further increases to the fixed charge for WPS.

“Given the small amount of time since the current rates went into effect, the commission may wish to hold off on additional fixed charge increases until more information is available as to how WPSC’s customers are responding to the price signals” from last year’s decision, said Corey Singletary, energy policy analyst at the agency.

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A year after fixed-fee increase, Green Bay utility seeks another

6 Cleaning Tips to Make Your Home Healthier in the New Year

Ready for a brand new you and a healthier home in 2015? Jotham Hatch [pictured below], director of Training at Chem-Dry, is here to share six tips that will transform your surroundings right before your very eyes!

1. Regularly wipe down countertops. Countertops are not only where food is prepared, but it’s also where dirt, dust, bacteria and allergen particles floating in the air often settle. If you have a countertop with granite or tile, it’s best to use a mild cleaner and preferably one that can refresh the sealer. Sealers can degrade over time and it’s important to keep that sealer fresh to prevent bacteria from getting into the porous areas of the stone.

2. Keep carpets and rugs clean. To improve the life and appearance of your carpet, vacuum your carpets and rugs weekly with a bag vacuum, preferably one that has either a HEPA filter or a microfiltration system. However, it is important to note that while vacuuming does pick up dirt and dust on the surface, there can be a lot of bacteria and allergens trapped deep down within the fibers of the carpet – including pet dander and urine, particle pollution and everyday dirt and dust. While these toxins may not be visible to homeowners, they can still be the source of unpleasant health issues and allergy symptoms. Vacuuming and routine cleaning are helpful in maintaining cleaner carpets, but they are simply not enough. For this reason, the EPA recommends getting carpets professionally cleaned at least once a year, and in homes with pets and/or children, it recommends bringing in a cleaning service two to three times per year. For homeowners with pets, it’s advisable to find a professional cleaning service that has an effective urine detection and removal process. To eliminate the maximum amount germs from your carpets and rugs, request adding a sanitizer to the cleaning process to kill off and eliminate bacteria as well as a protectant, which puts a protective coating on the carpet fibers and makes it easier to keep carpets cleaner for a longer period of time on your own.

3. Don’t forget about your upholstered furniture. Most people think about vacuuming and cleaning their carpets and rugs but they forget about cleaning their upholstery, despite spending significant time every day on their couches and chairs. Similar to countertops and carpets, particles like dust, dirt and allergens settle on upholstered furniture as well. Vacuuming upholstered furniture is nearly as easy and is just as important as carpets, particularly in the high-traffic areas like family rooms. It’s recommended to vacuum the upholstery in your home once every other week and have it professionally cleaned once a year.

4. Sanitize high touch points around the house. Popular “hot spots” include door knobs, toilet handles, faucets and light switches. Spending a few minutes sanitizing those areas, particularly before and after guests come into the home, can go a long way toward minimizing the spread of germs. More preventive approaches to minimizing the spread of germs include being vigilant about washing your hands regularly throughout the day and placing a bottle of hand sanitizer in the high-traffic areas of the home, making it easy and convenient to keep your hands clean and germ-free.

5. Use door mats or area rugs in entry ways and high-traffic areas. While it’s easy to forget them, door mats and area rugs do a great job of trapping dirt and allergens before they enter the heart of your home. Part of the reason they aren’t as common in homes today is due to the misconception that hard surfaces are healthier than carpets or rugs, which is not the case. The fact is that carpets and rugs act as filters that capture and trap dirt, dust and allergens and prevent them from getting into the air and spreading throughout the home. On hard surfaces, these particles simply settle and then are stirred back into the air the next time there is traffic and activity in the area. Using door mats and area rugs is an effective and inexpensive way to prevent unwanted and unhealthy particles from getting deeper into your home or from remaining in the air where they can spread more easily to members of the family.

6. Check and replace your heating and air conditioning filters. While furnaces are vital to keeping homes warm in the colder months, it’s important to change the furnace air filter at regular intervals to prevent dirt, dust and other unhealthy particles from being distributed around the house. Follow the recommended replacement timing for each filter that is indicated on the filter package. To remind yourself when it’s time to change the filter, write the date that you’re performing the replacement on the outer edge of the new filter that you’re installing to make it easy to know when your next one is due. Another way to stay on schedule with future filter replacements is to send yourself an invitation in your online calendar for the date of the next replacement or for replacements for the remainder of the year, based on the manufacturer’s recommended cycle.

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6 Cleaning Tips to Make Your Home Healthier in the New Year