Climate and energy

Wind project moving forward in Ellis County. Most KS wind folk know the contentious history of the Ellis County wind project. Wind developer Iberdola is now one step closer to making that project work. County commissioners will hear the proposal July 28 (Hays Daily News).

Net metering to come to Wyandotte County? If the legislature can’t put together a statewide net metering policy, that may not stop some Kansas utilities, like BPU (KMBC 9).

Wichita man featured in WSJ story about not using AC. (WSJournal) Quotable:

Troy Newman, of Wichita, Kan. Last summer, his home energy bills hit an unacceptable $300 a month. So he has installed dark curtains on his south-facing windows and limited his family’s use of heat-generating appliances. All summer cooking, for instance, is done on the outdoor grill. Much of the laundry is hung on a clothesline.

On hot afternoons, Mr. Newman runs a hose to the roof and douses the shingles for 20 minutes, which he swears lowers the temperature inside. “I don’t know if it’s all that good for the life span of the roof,” Mr. Newman says, “but when it’s 110 degrees, I really could care less.”

Though he recently added 1,200 square feet of living space to the house, Mr. Newman says his energy bills are at least $100 a month lower than they were last summer.

Great post from Climateer Investing on the state of the U.S. electrical grid. Including links to video!

Best places in the county for renewable energy (Forbes). KS is prominently mentioned. Definitely check out the maps feature. Slick.

Utah moves to a four day work week for state employees (LATimes). Hmm.

Wind forecasting. Pretty much just for dorks, but an interesting FERC ruling on wind forecasting. (FOr non-dorks, wind forecasting helps integrate intermittent power into the grid.) (Energy Legal Blog).

The Pope REALLY gets going on climate change. He’s spoken on the topic before, but he is definitely kicking it up more than a notch (WSJ Environmental Capital blog).

—Maril Hazlett, www.climateandenergy.org