Duke Energy synopsis

Gene Addesso: Hold the praise for Duke Energy - http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/05/30/3899356/gene-addesso-hold-the-praise-for.html

In response to the May 27 letter “ Confidence in Duke Energy’s commitment” by Michael Renchek, president and CEO of Areva, Inc.: I agree that “a company should be defined by its conduct over the years, how it responds and what it continues to do going forward.” But unfortunately, Duke Energy’s conduct over the years, and its response to the coal ash spill at the Dan River plant, do not engender confidence.

Duke Energy told us that its coal ash storage in N.C. complied with all laws and regulations. That was not true. Duke Energy told us that though possibly illegal, its violations were harmless. That was not true. Duke Energy told us its coal ash storage was safe, well-maintained and reliable. That was not true. Duke told us that the pipe that broke under the Dan River lagoon was made of reinforced concrete. That was not true. Duke told us that it did not have corrugated metal pipes at other coal ash sites. That was not true. The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources found corrugated metal pipes at other sites.

Even after the Dan River spill was over, when we would expect a company to focus most strongly on prudent management of its coal ash, Duke Energy illegally pumped 61 million gallons of polluted coal ash wastewater into the Cape Fear River.

Now, on the basis of its conduct over the years, Duke is being investigated by a federal grand jury, has been cited by DENR for numerous violations of laws and regulations and is facing enforcement actions for violating state or federal clean water laws, or both, at every place where it stores coal ash in North Carolina.

We understand the need for reliable and affordable electricity; as a public utility Duke Energy is obligated to provide exactly those things. But Duke is also obligated to comply with the laws that protect our public waters, just like everyone else.

Until Duke Energy commits to cleaning up its leaking coal ash pits and stops putting our rivers and communities at risk, praise for Duke’s conduct and leadership on this issue is premature at best.

Gene Addesso

President, Roanoke River Basin Association, Danville, Va.

Great letter, pretty much sums up the latest from Duke Energy. 
Remember this one?  Classic!
http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/12/11/2539291/on-second-try-duke-energy-apologizes.html

Energy companies own the legislature here in North Carolina.

Duke Didn't Want to Apologize

And clearly, they didn't mean it when they did:

 "Duke had agreed to submit a public statement of penance for the way it mishandled its merger with Progress and fired CEO-to-be Bill Johnson on the day the merger was completed. Lawyers at Duke and at the Utilities Commission had agreed on a draft of the letter....

Rogers submitted his letter Tuesday. Several hours later, however, the company was forced to submit a corrected version, this time adding two key words: “we apologize.”

“This was a draft mix-up at our end – we basically submitted the wrong draft,”"

You just can't make this stuff up folks.  The North Carolina Utility Commission has  officially been walked all over, again.  And they know, and don't seem to care much:

"Public Staff Director Robert Gruber had been publicly demanding Rogers’ ouster as a moral equalizer.
Gruber said Tuesday that Rogers’ letter signals that Duke and the commission have reconciled.
“They owed the commission an apology in plain English,” said Gruber, whose agency represents the public in utility rate cases. “I’m satisfied it brings closure to the matter.”"

I'm sure the Duke authorities have learned their lesson and will never try to fool the commission, their shareholders, the legislature, and the general public again after such harsh treatment:

"As part of the settlement finalized this month, Duke will pay $30 million to benefit North Carolina customers and Rogers will retire by the end of next year. The settlement also reassigns two top Duke executives to other roles."

 Oooooooooh, $30 Million for all of us?  That's like being Duke CEO for like, 3/4 of a day or something, and we all get to share it.  Mmmmmm hmmmm, feelin' that satisfaction!

Progress ing to Higher Rates with Duke

Who could have seen this coming?  Progress Energy and Duke Energy are merging, and this is supposed to bring savings to consumers, and keep jobs in North Carolina.  Well, here we have their first new request for a rate hike since the "merger", and we already know they plan layoffs as the merger progresses.  At least there is some modernization happening, switching from coal to natural gas, for instance, but that will ultimately save the company money too.  They might quit the coal, but they're saving the shaft for us citizens/consumers of literal monopolized power.  It's time to re-think how we deal with the electric grid and the monopolies that exist in the energy industry, as a first step in a long term solution for our energy challenges. 

"He's Not a Good Fit"

 That's what she said. Ba-dump!


“Handshakes, pats on the back, congratulations all around,” Johnson said.
Minutes before the 4:30 p.m. board meeting, Rogers came to Johnson’s office and the two chatted before Rogers said, “We can’t be late for your election.”
The board met by conference call for 20 minutes and approved its new officials, with Johnson and Rogers listening in the same room.
The board then went into executive session, excusing Rogers and Johnson, who prepared to head back to Raleigh.
Several minutes later Johnson got an email from Duke’s lead director, Ann Maynard Gray, telling him to stay. During the executive session Gray introduced a motion: Johnson is not a good fit for Duke, should be removed, and replaced by Rogers, who had been Duke CEO since 2006.
Gray said she knew this would be a shock and expressed her apologies, McKee said. The five former Progress board members began enumerating Johnson’s attributes and qualifications and asked the board to reconsider, McKee said. For one hour, McKee said, Gray kept repeating: He’s not a good fit.
None of the other nine legacy Duke board members spoke.
“There were no answers,” McKee said. “It felt like a lifetime.”
The vote was 10 to 5, with the Duke members siding against the ex-Progress members."

 http://www.midtownraleighnews.com/2012/07/21/14553/johnson-duke-board-had-change.html

UPDATE:  More info and shenanigans over here.

The Biggest Balls of Them All...

...Belong to Ann Maynard Gray.
She gets nailed on the Churchill quote, but by the end she seems to be daring the commission to regulate Duke.

I thought you might be interested in this story: Duke directors: Johnson raised doubts from the outset, http://m.newsobserver.com/observer/db_111683/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=9eudnIey



Update:  Though Finley nails Gray on the Churchill quote, and they mentioned it in the N & O, but stories on Forbes and the Chicago Tribune leave out the damning retort, and act like Gray made a legitimate point.

"Gray revealed that concerns about Johnson arose the first time Duke’s corporate board met Johnson in November 2010, two months before the merger was announced.
“He did describe himself as an individual who liked to learn but not be taught,” Maynard said, who joined Duke’s board in 1997. “That comment stayed with me and I saw some reflections of that going forward.
“It was the first flag,” she said.
Finley pounced on Gray and demanded to know if Gray was aware that the comment she attributed to Johnson is a direct quote from Winston Churchill, one of the most admired leaders of the 20th century.
“No, I did not,” Gray replied softly.
Still, Gray warned the commission that the investigation will make it harder to integrate the two workforces.
“Are you implying,” Finley retorted, “that we need to bug out and get out of the way and let you get on with your business?”
Gray replied: “When it’s over it will be very constructive.”

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/07/21/2210285/duke-director-johnsons-controlling.html#storylink=cpy

Mo' Money, Mo' Power

Duke Energy CEO To Receive $44 Million Payout Despite Resigning On His First Day | ThinkProgress

Wow, just wow. 

Power Problems

And the Duke Energy/Progress Energy merger of monopolies is off to a roaring start. 

NC attorney general, utilities commission to investigate Duke Energy, http://m.newsobserver.com/observer/db_111683/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=qXCQzoDd

Who would have thought they were playing hardball? 

MonoMonopoly: Abuse of Power

Federal regulators approve Duke-Progress merger with minor conditions
I can't choose which company I get my power from now, yet they have found a way to give me fewer choices.  Is this capitalism?  Why on Earth would we allow 2 monopolies to become 1 even bigger monopoly?  I wonder how much power companies donate to political campaigns.  Maybe that has something to do with this.  Shouldn't we have more competition, not less?  Why aren't Tea Partiers marching in the streets over this?  Why isn't everybody against this? 

Who's More Radioactive?

Nuclear Waste vs. Coal Waste.... which is worse? Most folks probably think coal waste is worse since we use so much of it compared to nuclear, it blows into the air we breathe, coal ash gets in the water we drink, and coal is generally seen as "dirty". And they're right, coal is a dirty business no matter how you look at it. But did you realize that coal waste has more radiation than nuclear waste does? Well, this article from Scientific American claims it to be so, and they seem to have the science to back it up.

"Among the surprising conclusions: the waste produced by coal plants is actually more radioactive than that generated by their nuclear counterparts. In fact, the fly ash emitted by a power plant—a by-product from burning coal for electricity—carries into the surrounding environment 100 times more radiation than a nuclear power plant producing the same amount of energy."

Is it odd that the radiation around us is more likely to be from coal plants, than from all of the nuclear bomb tests and nuclear accidents over the years? This makes nuclear look even better, no?

Ounce-for-ounce, nuclear waste does have more radiation, but it is contained, while we just let the coal fires burn and spread radiation about the air and into "fly ash". I'm not saying nuclear is completely safe, but is it safer for us and the planet than coal? I'd have to say yes, and I'd have to say that we need to start building more nuclear plants now, because that's the cleanest & best way we have to make lots of energy for now.

Fusion, Come Here, We Need You

Energy woes.... from extraction to emissions, we all know that there has got to be a better way to make energy. I've long hoped that we could tap lightning, but power storage (batteries) may be too difficult to overcome. So, back to the wishing well for fusion, the holy grail of power. These guys are working on it:

"Livermore researchers are exploring the idea of a fusion-based system known as Laser Inertial Fusion Energy, or LIFE.

LIFE builds on technology developed for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) and promises safe, carbon-free, and sustainable energy. LIFE offers many compelling advantages, either as a pure fusion energy source or as one that combines the best aspects of fusion and fission energy systems."

It's all a bit over my head, but we can hope...

Kite Power

"Researchers in Italy have high hopes for a new wind-power generator that resembles a backyard drying rack on steroids. Despite its appearance, the Kite Wind Generator, or KiteGen for short, could produce as much energy as a nuclear power plant. Here's how it works: When wind hits the KiteGen, kites spring from funnels at the ends of poles. For each kite, winches release a pair of high-resistance cables to control direction and angle. The kites are not your Saturday-afternoon park variety but similar to those used for kite surfing -- light and ultra-resistant, capable of reaching an altitude of 2,000 meters."

This is smart thinking, alternative sources of energy like kites will make a difference. One source of energy we could potentially tap is gravity....there's gotta be a way.

Ying Yang vs Short Rug

By Mark Clayton, The Christian Science Monitor:

"The US Department of Energy (DOE) is quitting the hydropower and geothermal power research business - if Congress will let it....
Declaring them "mature technologies" that need no further funding, the Bush administration in its FY 2007 budget request eliminates hydropower and geothermal research, venerable programs with roots in the energy crises of the 1970s."

The US gov't subsidizes oil exploration out the ying yang, but now, when Bush says we want to cut dependence on oil (for national security reasons), we pull the short rug from under these somewhat proven technologies?

Scuderi Scoots

"Those models show the combustion in a Scuderi engine will be not only more powerful than conventional engines; it will also, surprisingly, be cooler. That means it will spew out far fewer pollutants than today's engines do.

The Scuderi engine could even boost mileage by recapturing energy normally lost during braking, as do hybrid cars. "Unlike current electric hybrids which store the energy in a battery, we are able to store energy in the form of compressed air," says Sal Scuderi. That can be done by simply adding a small air-storage tank, which costs far less than the generators and banks of batteries gas-electric hybrids need."

Yes! Radical new designs that can double efficiency...good stuff!

HumanCar for "Flintstones" of the future

Weeeee! This looks like fun and, bonus, it's enviro-friendly. Batteries included. Did I mention they're going over 60 MPH! Yeah, it's downhill, but still....
Click the link
and watch them row this thing...

Thanks Engadget

Transforming Grid

From CSM:

"" Long accused of dragging its feet on raising energy-efficiency standards for products, the Bush administration has proposed its first such standard.

Its proposal attracted little attention, since it didn't mean better dishwashers or more fuel-efficient cars. Instead, it deals with transformers - those ubiquitous gray canisters that hang from utility poles and could save the nation billions of dollars if they were upgraded."

Well thank goodness! This is a great way to save energy and upgrade the grid at the same time. Bush is brilliant....well, I've got to give him credit here, this is a smart step in the right direction.

Pre-fossil Fuel to the rescue?

"Farmyard animals are not being yoked together to pull cars but the fat in their bodies is being converted into biodiesel to drive fleets of the future.

The fat, or tallow, from one poor deceased sheep will produce about eight litres of biodiesel.

That's about 6 1/2 sheep to fill the tank of Holden's Astra diesel hatchback, meaning you'll get about 105km out of one animal on Holden's published fuel economy figures.

Pigs are better for travelling longer distances, with one unfortunate beast giving Astra drivers about 140km. "

This is pushing biodiesel to a whole new level.

Tidal Power

"How shall we ever slake our ever-growing demand for electricity? Even as concerns about global warming escalate, are we doomed to create more of the same old polluting, coal- and oil-dependent power plants? Or can common sense — and some radically new technologies — serve us better?

There's much talk of wind and solar power. But how about the oceans and their massive tidal and current patterns? Driven by the gravitational force of the sun and the moon, tides and currents represent a source that's as infinite and everlasting as any force on Earth."

This makes sense. There's plenty of "free" power out there to tap into, and that's why power storage (batteries) and delivery (the power grid) are integral to weaning away from fossil fuel.

Ped Power

From Wired:

"We can harvest between 5 to 7 watts of energy per footstep that is currently being wasted into the ground," says Claire Price, director of The Facility Architects, the British firm heading up the Pacesetters Project. "And a passing train can generate very useful energy to run signaling or to power lights."

Like solar and wind proponents, vibration harvesters argue that abundant, clean energy is all around us and goes to waste. The challenge is how to store the power efficiently so it provides a continual output even if the vibrations from footsteps or passing trains temporarily taper off."

Energy is abundant, if we can harness the vibrations of feet walking, just think how much power we could generate from say ocean waves, gravity...even earthquakes....how about lightning? Energy is all around, it's just a matter of harnessing and storing it. Battery technology and the power grid are two areas where we should spend more money and make revolutionary improvements that will set us free from fossil fuel.

Oily Market

Creeping toward oil as a social good | csmonitor.com: "The list of answers to higher priced energy, viable or not, is endless. What the US really needs first, though, is a consensus on just how much more government intervention is needed in the private business of oil. Yes, Congress passed another energy bill last year. But tell that to someone who just paid more than $3 a gallon.

A creeping federal role in oil has been taking place for decades, primarily for two reasons: One, foreign governments control more than three-quarters of oil reserves through national oil companies. And two, oil prices rise steeply when a crisis hits one of these often-unstable governments, or one of them uses energy as a weapon.

Look at recent months: Oil prices rose when terrorists tried to bomb Saudi Arabia's oil infrastructure. Militants in Nigeria shut down a fifth of that nation's pipelines. Iran threatens an oil export cutoff. Iraq's oil industry struggles with attacks. Venezuela plays politics with oil exports. Russia restricts exports of natural gas. China's government-controlled oil importers, meanwhile, are roaming the earth to lock up new oil supplies, as Japan did before it.

These nonfree market forces can easily kick up prices in a laissez-faire oil economy. Last year, Americans paid 17 percent more for energy than in 2004, making energy the largest driver of inflation. Another oil shock like that in 1973 could cost $8 trillion, or almost two-thirds of GDP. Such a potentiality pushes even free-market conservatives to ask for a larger federal role in oil, simply for national survival."

Someone e-mailed me recently regarding the Exxon boycott, and he described oil as a fungible commodity. That's true, but it's also a finite commodity, it will become evermore valuable as there is less and less available and becomes harder and harder to extract and refine. It's not a good example for free market capitalism, especially given the examples in this interesting article.

Cool Idea

Salt Lake Tribune - Utah:

"'They came up with this idea . . . and they made it work,' she said. 'It's a perfect solution to an incredible problem.'
Today, the young inventors say, U.S. drivers use about 7.9 billion gallons of fuel each year to run their air-conditioners, which draw power from the engine. By adopting their contraption - which taps into the electrical system, using fans to blow hot air through five Peltier chips and then releasing cold air - they say the country stands to save 3.9 billion gallons of fuel annually, or about $10 billion based on current gas prices.
Furthermore, the product would free drivers from Freon - which despite improvements, remains an ozone-depleting chemical in current air-conditioners. The Peltier chips, which they purchased on eBay for $9.99 each, have a life span of 20 to 30 years and an unfaltering cooling capacity. And like every component in the Space Beast, which can be minimized in size to about 2 inches in width, the chips are recyclable. "

Once again, plain ol' electricity to the rescue. Way to go, guys, you're smarter than GM.