Big Energy begs irresponsible Republicans not gut all EPA regulations...that's how bad it's gotten.

I'm not trying to be partisan here, but when big energy has to tell the decidedly radical Republican Party that they want to keep some climate regulation in place, we've got a huge problem. 

Politico: The Trump administration is opening the door to offering its own replacement for former President Barack Obama's landmark climate regulation — rather than just erasing it altogether.

A mend-it-don't-end-it approach on Obama's 2015 rule could appease power companies that say the EPA needs to impose some kind of climate regulation — even if it’s much weaker — to avoid triggering courtroom challenges that would cloud the industry in years of uncertainty. But it would run afoul of demands from some conservative activists, who have pressured EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to reject the idea that climate change is a problem requiring federal action.

Kevin Poloncarz, a lawyer with the firm Paul Hastings who represents energy companies supporting the Clean Power Plan, said if EPA simply rescinded the Clean Power Plan without announcing plans to consider a replacement, power companies could face nuisance lawsuits, so issuing the notice could be a compromise position. While it's in place, "the industry should feel some degree of comfort that they're insulated from those lawsuits."

But where do the coal companies stand on all of this?

Even coal-heavy power companies have said they support EPA issuing a replacement rule. American Electric Power, a Midwestern power company that gets slightly less than half of its electricity from coal, would back a new proposal "consistent with the EPA's authority under the Clean Air Act," spokeswoman Tammy Ridout said. 

Ryan Plunders Air and Environment endangering Children, Pregnant Women, Seniors, Minority and Low Income Communities for Big Energy!!!

The Paul Ryan congress is now rerunning a whole bunch of outrageous previously passed anti-American, anti-job creation, anti-environmental bills that turns "good old American values" inside out for big energy. Roll Call:

DELAY OF AIR-QUALITY STANDARDS: The House passed a GOP-sponsored bill (HR 806) that would extend from 2017 to 2025 stricter standards under the Clean Air Act for reducing ground-level concentrations of ozone, or smog. The bill also changes from five years to 10 years the frequency of EPA reviews to ensure that National Ambient Air Quality Standards reflect the latest scientific and medical information.

Voting yes on this danger to public health?  James Sensenbrenner, R-5, Glenn Grothman, R-6, Sean Duffy, R-7, and that independent rebel newcomer Mike Gallagher, R-8.

Democrats Counter: Well, you won’t hear the Dems talking about it much, and the press won't make any value judgments, but an important Democratic motion exposed how irresponsible and reckless the Republicans are right now. You'd think human life could stand in the way of big energy?

The Republican House defeated a bid by Democrats to prevent HR 806 (above) from fully taking effect if an EPA scientific advisory committee concludes it would raise health risks to vulnerable populations such as outdoor workers, children, seniors, pregnant women and minority and low-income communities. 

Democrats voting yes to protect children and pregnant women? Mark Pocan, Ron Kind, Gwen Moore.

More Recycled Republican Recklessness: Thanks to Wisconsin's Paul Ryan, big oil just got a pass to take public and private land. There is no going back on this stuff either:

NATURAL GAS PIPELINE PERMITS: The House passed a GOP-sponsored bill (HR 2910) that would set tight deadlines for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and other federal and state agencies  …  the bill would streamline an overly bureaucratic process. Critics said it would trample on private and tribal property rights and undercut environmental laws. In part, the bill would allow conditional permits to be granted on the basis of aerial data collected by drones that critics said would fail to detect historical sites, endangered species and wetlands.

Republicans voting yes...you guessed it: Sensenbrenner, Grothman, Duffy, and that real independent newcomer Mike Gallagher.

Democrats tried an American Made Steel motion, but Failed: Pointing out the error of their ways, in the most stark terms possible:

AMERICAN-MADE IRON AND STEEL: Voting 193 for and 232 against, the House defeated a Democratic motion requiring all iron and steel components of cross-border pipelines approved under HR 2883 (above) to be made in the United States.

Voting yes to adopt a made-in-America requirement: Pocan, Kind, Moore

Voting no for American Job Creation in the Steel Industry: Sensenbrenner, Grothman, Duffy, Gallagher

Walker's backward Fossil Fuel Energy Policy Killing the Return of Manufacturing in Wisconsin!!!

There's a reason why Scott Walker's Wisconsin isn't seeing a manufacturing Renaissance; his big oil pals are getting rich overcharging big business. I know, crazy right? Esquire Magazine's Charles Pierce explains Walker this way:

Scott Walker, the goggle-eyed homunculus hired by Koch Industries to run their Midwest subsidiary formerly known as the state of Wisconsin.

Walker's embarrassing AG lapdog Brad Schimel wrote an opinion piece recently in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He claimed...

As one of the top manufacturing states in the country, Wisconsin has much to lose if the Obama administration succeeds in its plan to destroy the viability of clean-coal electric generation. Manufacturing jobs in our state depends on affordable and reliable electric power. Because of the degree to which our state economies rely on manufacturing jobs, we will be disproportionately affected by the president's so-called "Clean Power Plan."

An outrageous lie the press failed to followup on.

Electricity rates paid by businesses and residents of Wisconsin now rank highest among eight Midwest states ... The analysis was released at a time when one of We Energies' largest customers, Charter Steel of Saukville, is raising concerns about the utility's rates and a power plant construction program that has left We Energies with more power than its own customers need.

The fact is, the states biggest manufacturers are getting pummeled with high utility rates, ending any chance they'll expand in Wisconsin. There's not peep coming out of the Walker administration, because they're in the pocket of big oil and energy. Look what he's done to the PSC. The rhetorical stall tactics have run their course:

Charter says We Energies has been telling customers for years to be patient because rates in surrounding states will catch up...

But that hasn't happened. In fact, the price difference is getting worse due to We Energies over expansion, which comes in at twice the planned required reserve:

Wisconsin exceeds the 7.1 percent planning reserve requirement set by MISO for 2016. Wisconsin’s planning reserve margin for the 2016-2022 period is between 14.2 and 17.5 percent.

Just as bad, the big cuts to "Focus on Energy" will kill whatever advantage we had:

An analysis of the state's energy situation found that residential electric bills in Wisconsin actually rank below the Midwest average, because customers here are using far less power on average than those in other nearby states ... nearly $8 a month below the average of all eight Midwest states ... Energy efficiency and the conservation program  Focus on Energy have helped keep average Wisconsin residential usage flat over the last two decades," said the report, 

But Walker couldn't help but mess that up too....

Wisconsin's electric utilities back the bill, which would cut funding for the Focus on Energy program by $7 million at a time when electricity costs in Wisconsin have risen above the national average. But the program's supporters cite its savings, pointing out that the program has delivered $3 of savings to customers for every $1 spent. 

Theresa Lehman, director of sustainable services at Miron Construction said at a time when capital spending budgets are tight, the program offers incentives that help customers cut their costs by allowing them to afford the upfront expenses of switching to more efficient LED lighting. St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton is saving $30,000 a year. Another client, Lake Mills Elementary School, received $100,000 in incentives from the program and is now saving $85,000 every year on its energy costs.

Walker's disconnect is unsettling. Hie rhetoric gives the appearance prices are steady right now, even while they increase, even without Obama's Clean Power Plan:

The federal Clean Power Plan was put on hold last month in a 5-4 vote by the U.S. Supreme Court. Wisconsin has joined with coal mining and coal-reliant states to challenge the rule, citing the impact it would have on the state's manufacturing sector.

School Funding taking hit in devastated energy producing Republican states!

Oil prices are plunging, and coal is on its way out. That's bad news for energy producing Republican states that have cut income and corporate taxes to the bone. They took the irresponsible route with an "eggs in one basket" approach to funding their state budgets.

Now their social obligation bills are due, and Republicans are broke. They were warned coal and gas prices could someday tank, and energy producing red state politicians ignored the advice. Edweek:

Reeling from drastic midyear cuts after they grossly miscalculated expected revenues amid falling oil prices and troubles in the coal industry, legislators in several mineral-dependent states, including Alaska and Oklahoma, are set to debate alternative revenue sources for state school aid.

"Generally speaking, when oil money was flowing well, we decided we didn't need sales or income tax revenue, and we ended up with a sole source of revenue," said Mike Hanley, Alaska's education commissioner, who had to shutter the state's pre-K program last year after the state told him to ax a third of his department's budget.
West Virginia imposed midyear, 1 percent cuts to state school funding ... included teacher layoffs, closed schools, and consolidation of some districts with waning student populations. Wyoming in the past used revenue from its coal-mining industry to build new schools. In 2013, the state received $736 million for school construction from that source. In 2019, it is projected to receive just $26 million.

Republicans abandoned a formula that's worked for year; a state tax system where everybody can expect to pay their fair share. And Republicans want to run the country?

During the most recent oil boom, Oklahoma's Republican Gov. Mary Fallin led the state's Republican-dominated legislature through a series of income and corporate tax breaks. The state now collects in taxes just half what it did in 2007. In December, Gov. Fallin declared a "revenue failure" after tax collections fell $50 million, or 12 percent short of projections in November. School districts had to make $47 million in cuts or 1.5 percent of their total budgets last year. Fallin predicts the legislature will face a $900 million shortfall next year.

In Alaska, Independent Gov. Bill Walker is proposing the state's first income tax in 35 years after analysts predicted the state will fail to collect two-thirds of the revenue needed to fill the state's $5 billion operating budget … The state earlier this year told its education department to cut a third of its budget, which axed, among other things, its preschool services and a professional development program for administrators. Some rural districts, which have just a handful of students left, are considering closing ... legislatures are debating whether to close schools with fewer than 25 students, a centuries-long mainstay in the mostly rural state. "When you start closing those schools, you start to eliminate communities," said Bobby Bolen, the superintendent of the Bering Strait school district.

Legislators in some oil states warn them to think long-term. "Education is not a one-time expense," said North Dakota state Rep. Jeff Delzer
 LOUISIANA: Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal recommended in November cutting $1.2 million from the state’s education department. Local officials say they’re seeing a decrease in sales tax after the oil industry laid off 10,000 workers in the last six months alone. Legislators predict a $1 billion shortfall next fiscal year.

WYOMING: The state for decades has used money from its coal-mining industry to pay for school construction. In 2013, it received $736 million from that source for school construction. In 2019, it is projected to receive just $26 million. Lawmakers will have to cut $500 million from the state’s $3.5 billion budget this legislative session. The two-year budget cycle ends in June.

Walker's PSC hiking Energy Bills again, while he sues EPA for possible hikes in energy bills?

UPDATE- Saturday: The rate increase was reduced, and that's a good thing. 

Rates for customers of a Green Bay electric utility are on track to drop in 2016, but the customer fixed charge will rise by $2 a month ... Customers of Wisconsin Public Service Corp. will pay a fixed charge of $21 a month next year, after the state Public Service Commission trimmed the utility's request to raise the fixed charge to $25. The utility had raised the fixed charge by more than 80% in January, to $19 a month from $10.40 a month.

That's still an increase. But something else was encouraging, probably due to the fact Wisconsin is getting national attention as an outlier in discouraging green energy:

While approving the smaller increase, commissioners also authorized a study looking at the impact of fixed charge increases on customers. On the fixed charge issue, commissioners Phil Montgomery and Michael Huebsch initially sought to keep it unchanged, with commission Chair Ellen Nowak advocating a $21 charge. Montgomery said it was time for the PSC to review the impact of the fixed charges. He and Huebsch agreed to the increase in the charge to $21 as long as the commission agreed to a review.

But rates were lowered because the utility, unfortunately, saved money cutting 182 jobs in the Green Bay area:

Savings were found primarily thanks to the low price of natural gas burned in utility power plants, The commission trimmed $11.3 million in expenses in light of recent job cuts in Green Bay announced by the utility's parent company. WEC Energy said this month that it eliminated 2% of its workforce, with cuts taking place at its operating headquarters in Green Bay, Milwaukee and Chicago. 

Below is the original story: -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The scary thing about conservative voters is that they never seem to get confused over confusing GOP policies. Maybe that's the disconnect between our two ideologies. Yet some of this stuff is ridiculously obvious.

An Energy Rate Hike vs An Energy Rate Hike...huh? Scott Walker and his AG lapdog Brad Schimel (oh boy did we see that coming), said they're suing the Obama administration over the new carbon emission rules because consumers would be hit hard by rate increases. jsonline:

The states say the rules will heap higher costs on consumers and business … require new plants to use expensive and unproven technology, said Schimel, a Republican.

Walker: "The Obama administration ignored the concerns submitted by Wisconsin ... instead pursuing a political agenda that will increase costs and prevent the construction of future power plants producing reliable, affordable electricity for our state."

No Really, Walker doesn't care about Increased Energy Costs: It's hard to watch Walker's manic support for one dying industry (coal), and support for reviving a depleted, stagnant automated industry (manufacturing). But wasting taxpayer money suing the government in the name of keeping consumer energy price down isn't just foolish, it's also a Walker lie.

Walker, not Obama, is about to increase energy costs again on Wisconsinites when his own GOP dominated PSC, approves a rate hike just last year. What, no complaining or lawsuits?

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%. 

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 ... 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.

So cry me a river Scott Walker and Brad Schimel, about rate hikes under the new EPA standards.  

Walker stacked the Public Service Commission deck so they could stuff the fossil fuel energy industry pockets with money:

The current chair is Ellen Nowak ... was the chief of staff to Waukesha County Executive … the legal counsel to the Speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly … deputy director of School Choice Wisconsin … practiced business litigation at Mallery & Zimmerman, SC in Milwaukee.

Nowak serves alongside Michael Huebsch (R)(16 years in the state legislature, four years as Wisconsin Department of Administration Secretary) and Phil Montgomery  (previously served six terms as a Republican member of the Wisconsin State Assembly). 

Keeping Seniors in their Homes? More BS: Walker's plundering Republican pirates say they're helping seniors stay in their homes by saving them a laughable $1 on their property taxes. But those same Republicans are forcing seniors to spend that dollar and $7 more on their energy bills. Oh wait, even that wasn't enough?

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."

Thanks to Obama-derangement syndrome: "Stand with Walker" voters can not only delight in getting bigger energy bills now, but they can also sleep comfortably knowing their sue happy state government will be locked in the coal fired past for some time. I also found the graph below that I just had to post here. The wonders of coal:

Walker promises national roll-out of Wisconsin's phony energy plan "All of the Above."

Scott Walker took office at just the wrong time when it came to business and job creation centered on alternative energy.

Bad timing too, because coal mines are shutting down due to lack of demand, while state's around the country are focusing in on natural gas, solar and wind energy. The writings on the wall...but not if Scott Walker becomes president.

Walker's "All of the Above" spin is anything but, and the charts below prove that spectacularly:

According to Bloomberg News, Walker's the worst:

As far as wind and solar developers are concerned, the Wisconsin governor may be the worst man for the job.

Five years after Walker took office, renewable energy in Wisconsin is lagging the boom in the rest of the country and industry blames the two-term governor for the shortfall. Walker and his appointees have pushed new restrictions on windmills, cut tax incentives and research funding and last year imposed the nation’s highest fees on rooftop solar owners.

“Renewable energy isn't only confined to wind and solar,” Laurel Patrick, a spokeswoman, said in a statement. “Governor Walker wants residents and businesses to have as many options as possible when it comes to energy resources.” an “all of the above” energy policy that didn’t favor any particular source. 

Walker said the country needs as many different “energy options as possible out there and if I was in a position as president I’d advocate for that.” 

The Horrible Reality?

The state hasn’t added any new wind capacity since 2011, according to the Washington-based American Wind Energy Association. And no Midwestern state has added fewer megawatts of solar in that time, says the Solar Energy Industries Association, another Washington group. 

The state has made life harder in other ways, industry says. Wisconsin officials have refused to clarify rules on whether solar companies can lease their panels to homeowners, keeping out national players. Gary Radloff, a policy analyst at the Wisconsin Energy Institute, which conducts research with private sector energy companies, said Wisconsin’s become “an island of renewable-energy stagnation amid a sea of growth.” 

Justice Scalia sides with saving Big Energy Money, rules against bigger Savings protecting American Lives.

The Supreme Court ruling, by the conservative activist justices, struck down Obama’s new EPA clean air standards.

Let's start with the first problem: Republicans always weasel out of answering questions by refusing to address “hypothetical's.” In this case though, Justice Scalia turned the tables.

In another Salvador Dali moment of logic, Justice Scalia came up with a hypothetical that’ll blow your mind: What if wind and solar did more harm than burning coal? He really said that.

Scalia: "The government concedes that if the agency were to find that emissions from power plants do damage to human health, but that the technologies needed to eliminate these emissions do even more damage to human health, it would still deem regulation appropriate. No regulation is 'appropriate' if it does significantly more harm than good."

But it doesn’t? It was a wretched twist of reality.

It’s an argument that defies logic, and is never addressed by the press either. Republicans have always said environmental standards must balance the cost to business with the cost to human health and lives.

Not even close, right, who would not try to save lives by cleaning up energy production? The fact that most utility companies are already moving in the clean energy direction anyway makes this whole question a moot point.  But not to our clueless conservative jurists stuck in the 20^th century.

The cost to energy company’s vs peoples worthless lives? That’s easy for Scalia. Saving lives…is unreasonable:

Just in case you didn't see this...

"We hold that EPA interpreted unreasonably when it deemed cost irrelevant to the decision to regulate power plants," Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in the court's majority opinion … The Obama administration argued that the costs were only a fraction of the industry's profits. The EPA eventually did (look at the costs) and determined that the benefits far outweighed the costs.

The new regulation could add almost $10 billion in annual costs. But the EPA countered that the economic benefits could reach as much as $90 billion per year, based on health benefits and saved lives. The plaintiffs countered that the maximum benefit could reach no higher than about $6 billion.

There was no mention of saving lives. And you wonder why the national debt keeps going up; Republicans won’t let it come down unless it has a tax cut tied to it.

In a fiery dissent, Justice Elena Kagan said the EPA acted "well within its authority" in imposing regulations that could save "many, many lives."

Saving many, many lives is such a "liberal" thing. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell flipped reality inside out about the actual cost of doing nothing:

"Middle-class families in Kentucky and across our country … are often the first to suffer." 

From Republican policy, yea. 

Big Oil's Scott Walker wants you to spend your tax savings on higher energy bills.

Both Scott Walker and Republican legislators have been very upfront about their intention to stuff insurance company pockets with lots of money, by forcing poor people into the private sector health insurance market. From IRIS to BadgerCare, they want you pay insurers. 

A similar method of cost shifting is now jacking up your energy bill. You want to save energy? Don't bother, it won't be worth it in Wisconsin, where over consumption is encouraged.

It's ironic too. Minnesota’s Xcel Energy tried and failed to get their own state to approve a customer base rate increase, the industries new way to soak consumers who may be creating their own energy with solar panels or saving energy with new appliances. No longer based on usage, big energy is doing everything they can to discourage customers from supplying their own power and selling that surplus back to the utility. But unlike Minnesota, Wisconsin will give Xcel Energy everything they want, including the money you saved with Walker's tax cuts.

This obvious power play by energy suppliers hasn't worked other states. But funny thing, Scott Walker’s crony packed PSC is more than happy to consider a rate hike, stripping customers of their hard earned cash.

Xcel is following the example of several other large utilities in asking to increase the flat fee applied to all residential, farm and small commercial bills. If approved, the customer charge would more than double -- from $8 a month to $18. In the past two years, three of the state’s five largest investor-owned utilities have significantly hiked customer charges. Madison Gas & Electric went from $8.70 a month in 2012 to $19 this year. Wisconsin Public Service nearly quadrupled its charge. Since 2001, the average customer bill has risen by about 25 percent after adjusting for inflation.

Critics say increasing these flat fees unfairly penalizes those who use less energy and creates a disincentive for home-based alternatives like solar panels. Kira Loehr, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board said “It hits those who use less and makes them pay more. That’s the exact opposite of what we think should be happening. It encourages increasing consumption, which raises costs for everybody in the long run.”

While acknowledging it favors big users. Don Reck, regional vice president of rates and regulatory affairs said, “We’re trying to make ourselves the provider of choice.”

Love the honesty, hate the utility.Walker is making sure whatever money you saved tax wise is going to campaign lobbyists and fossil fuel industry supporters in the form of higher monthly bills:

Wisconsin has been ground zero … The Wisconsin Public Service Commission has made it clear that it welcomes requests for increased fixed charges and related measures … The Minnesota PUC denied the monthly fixed rate increases. The Alliance for Solar Choice spokesperson Amy Heart. “That this isn’t necessarily a trend in the Midwest. The decision in Minnesota demonstrates just how out of step the Public Service Commission is in Wisconsin.”

Their rate hike does not compute: How out of step is our PSC? It’s hard to argue with the following explanation and big PSC problem:

The fixed-rate portion of an electric bill is meant to cover the cost of grid infrastructure … Since Minnesota essentially rejected that argument, and since the grid infrastructure delivering to Wisconsin Xcel customers is largely the same system as in Minnesota, experts say Xcel would have a hard time justifying higher fixed charges for Wisconsin customers. In other words, if it costs only $8 a month to deliver electricity to Minnesota Xcel customers, it doesn’t compute that it would cost much more to deliver to customers only a few miles away over the Wisconsin border.

Oh but it gets better Wisconsinites:

The Minnesota PUC decision was in keeping with the June 2014 findings of the state commerce commission and the December ruling of an administrative law judge, which both said that Xcel should reduce its rate increase requests. The PUC also approved the state’s first decoupling program, a structure where the utility does not get more profit the more energy it sells. That program should theoretically alleviate the need for the utility to increase its fixed rates.

As RENEW Wisconsin program and policy director Michael Vickerman and others see in Wisconsin ... the staunchly ideological position of the Public Service Commission, “It’s really the Public Service Commission in Wisconsin that’s driving the rate restructuring change, more-so than the utilities.” Vickerman said, “This commission has rang the dinner bell.”

The free ride is over folks, MG&E decides to bill for electricity, gas, record keeping, meters, poles and the electrical grid.

Gee, nice to know my monthly bill from MG&E is now getting me these "extra" services and benefits, like billing, record-keeping, poles, meters and the electrical grid. It sure is worth the extra cost as itemized here. Question; what was I paying for before?

Big Energy slows consumer solar adoption, proposes new natural gas power plant. Coincidence?

The good news is a few coal fired power plants are going to be shut down. The bad news?

We're going to get a new natural gas power plant at the same time the Public Service Commission is granting huge fixed rate increases to discourage the adoption of consumer installed solar panels.

jsonline: Wisconsin Power and Light Co. announced the project on Thursday, saying it's needed to replace older and less-efficient coal and natural gas-fired power plants owned by Alliant across the state.

Have no fear, Alliant Energy is "thinking" of cornering the solar market too with their own clean energy panels. Hey, if anybody's going to use the free low cost energy of the sun and charge something for it, it might as well be our monopolistic energy companies.

Utility spokesman Scott Reigstad said, "Over the coming months, we are going to look at how solar may fit into our plans."

Oh sure they will.  You think this might also be a way to raise customer bills for the new plant, make up for a drop in their profits, all the while paying out big stockholder dividends? Ya never know.

Alliant said its net income fell nearly 3% … its board has approved an 8% increase in its stockholder dividend target for 2015

Have we answered the question about the Koch brothers interest in reelecting Scott Walker yet? 

Wisconsin Congressmen vote to sell Natural Gas and Oil to Terrorists, and raise our prices by depleting our surplus energy supplies.

Nothing says “irresponsible” more than drilling off our pristine coastlines, quickly approving the XL Pipeline and banning fracking regulation of our public/tribal lands.

The XL Pipeline’s one intended purpose is to export our own supply of oil out of the U.S. for Big Oil profits. It could destroy of our water supply or return us to Middle Eastern dependence on oil, but who cares right?   

Oh, and say goodbye to those low natural gas prices to heat our homes. Republicans want to provide quick approval to export more of that too.

Republicans also want to sell natural gas and oil to terrorists and the countries that harbor them.

In what would appear too many as a political death wish agenda is really a winning platform that might put Republicans in control of the Senate. None of this is hyperbole. Read for yourself the new Republican Energy plan from Roll Call endorsed by our Representatives:   

REPUBLICAN ENERGY PACKAGE: The House approved a package (HR 2) of 19 GOP-drafted energy bills that previously cleared the House as strand-alone measures before faltering in the Democratic-controlled Senate in the face of environmental concerns and other objections. In part, the bills would expand offshore drilling for oil and natural gas, require speedy administration approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, expedite Department of Energy approvals of applications for exporting liquefied natural gas and prohibit federal regulation on federal and tribal lands of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

Higher gas prices at the pump and rising energy costs to heat our homes? Yes say Paul Ryan, James Sensenbrenner, Tom Petri, Sean Duffy and Reid Ribble. Heck, any rise in natural gas would mean more drilling, and higher pump prices are always blamed on the Democratic President.   

OIL EXPORTS TO TERRORISM-ENABLERS: The House on Thursday defeated a Democratic motion that sought to amend HR 2 (above) so that it would “prohibit U.S. oil exports to any country, company or individual that supports or harbors terrorist organizations, including ISIS or al Qaeda.”

Voting no to the Democratic amendment, and yes to send our energy recources to terrorist; Ryan, Sensenbrenner, Petri, Duffy, and Ribble. Your on the record now. 

Wisconsin Energy Industry wants to kill Solar and Wind power generated by Homeowners.

The Bottom Line: Our current regional energy monopolies need to change their business model from supplying energy via coal, gas and nuclear, to mostly providing the infrastructure to deliver energy.

Like the horse and buggy, technology is about to turn We Energy and MG&E out to pasture, and they don’t like it one bit. Big energy is fighting this in other states as well. In Arizona for example, companies actually wanted to charge customers who installed solar panels $100 more a month. That not only kills the green energy market, but penalizes people for trying to save money.

That brings us to Wisconsin:

jsonline: We Energies has dropped its protest of a move by a solar energy coalition and environmental group to get involved in the upcoming fight over its plan to slash payments to customers who generate their own power. The decision means the hearings will become a showdown on questions that could decide how the market for clean energy unfolds in the years ahead.

That already sounds like an outrageous move from a desperate energy company trying to hold onto the past.

We Energies is proposing big changes … say(ing) the move will be more fair for all of its customers. Like We Energies, Madison Gas & Electric Co. wants to pay less to solar power generating customers, as well as add a significant increase in the fixed charge on all customers' bills.

Those in the solar business disagree. They say the utility wants to limit customers' ability to take advantage of falling prices of equipment to generate solar power.

Earlier this month, We Energies … chastised them for … missing a PSC deadline for getting involved in the case. The groups countered that their tardiness should be excused. They claimed that We Energies didn't float its solar proposal and 75% increase in the monthly fixed charge on customers' bills until after that PSC deadline had passed … a customer generating solar power could see the amount paid by the utility drop by more than 34% in 2016.

Scott Walker and the Republican legislature have made it incredibly difficult for green energy to get started in Wisconsin, since big energy contributors call the shots here. That’s not a partisan statement either. Energy monopolies are killing jobs here:

Companies in the solar business, like SunVest Solar in Pewaukee, say the impact will be to spur more clean-energy development — and job creation — outside the state. SunVest develops solar projects in Missouri, New Jersey, New York and Wisconsin. "Unfortunately, 90% or more of that work is being done in other states," said SunVest owner Matt Neumann. "We're creating these jobs in other states and our tax credits are getting invested in other states."

One final note. The following comment is a lie, because rate payers have always paid for utility upgrades and improvements alongside their actual energy costs. The idea that a utility didn't get full compensation from a customer for the power grid is insulting.  

We Energies stresses that customers who don't produce their own power are gaining benefits from the power grid that they aren't fully compensating the utility for. 

Ryan, Duffy and Ribble vote against Energy Efficiency and Water saving Toilets.

From Roll Call, another look at what the U.S. will look like under Republican control.

The Republican-led House of Representatives passed the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.

See, Republicans are trying to manage the country by passing laws, like they're always telling us. They're making sure we don’t keep up with other industrialized nations moving forward:

1. Slashes funding for renewable energy programs in the Department of Energy by more than $100 million, while boosting funding for coal and other fossil fuels.
 2. Prevents the Energy Department from using appropriated funds for its climate model development and validation program -- an amendment from Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.). Gosar said his amendment "is not about making a statement on climate change or the validity of climate science," but about "restoring fiscal responsibility and efficiency to federal spending.

Too bad that same efficiency isn't allowed for everyday people like me, who pay a monthly water bill:

Slashes funding for a federal program that provides incentives for swapping low-efficiency toilets for higher-efficiency models. Gosar also offered this amendment, axing what he dubbed the "Cash for Crappers" program.

Real cute and sarcastic, but dumb. After I swapped out my old toilets for new ones (3), I saved between $50 to $60 a month…that’s a month. Gosar sure is “restoring fiscal responsibility and efficiency to spending” alright. 

Voting for this partisan regressive mess? Paul Ryan, Sean Duffy, Reid Ribble. Way to go guys.

Irresponsible Wisconsin Republican Congressmen vote to shrink Natural Gas Supplies, Raise Prices and Export Supplies to Countries that sponsor Terrorism.

In the back pocket of big oil, Republicans are not only pushing the XL Pipeline to export gas out of the countries, they're also planning on padding the industries pockets with natural gas export money. You can say goodbye to low natural gas prices for Americans already on tight budgets, like senior citizens:

EXPEDITED NATURAL-GAS EXPORTS: The House passed a bill (HR 6) requiring prompt Department of Energy (DOE) action on applications from U.S. companies to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to countries in Europe and elsewhere with which America does not have a free-trade agreement. Critics said this would truncate DOE's reviews of whether applications are in the public interest in terms of assuring adequate and affordable domestic supplies of natural gas.

Voting to drain our supply of natural gas and raising prices? Paul Ryan, Jim Sensenbrenner, Tom Petri, Sean Duffy, and Reid Ribble.

Democrats to the Rescue? Not if Republicans can help it:

LIMITS ON GAS EXPORTS: The House defeated a Democratic bid to prohibit natural-gas exports under HR 6 (above) that raise household energy costs for U.S. seniors on fixed incomes or benefit countries that are state sponsors of terrorism or conductors of cyber-attacks on America. 

I can hardly believe I'm about to type this: Voting against cheap natural gas prices for senior citizens and for selling gas to countries that sponsor terrorism: Ryan, Sensenbrenner, Petri, Duffy, Ribble

I wish I were making this stuff up. And yet Republicans are still threatening to be reelected in November.  

Bigger Energy Monopoly touted by Scott Walker.

Another Scott Walker victory?

Whew, just when we thought energy monopolies were going to lose their grip to the growing solar panel industry.

In what is already an unfair energy marketplace, Wisconsinites who don’t have a choice in who they buy energy from are about to see "competition" decline even further.

In a press release touting “superior service” and “competitive pricing,” Wisconsin Energy is about to become the 8th largest natural gas distributor in the country. Doesn't sound competitive to me. Just as disturbing, Wisconsin Energy will now control the big transmission line bully of the state, ATC.

At a time when utility companies are losing money to customers switching to solar panels, this merger sounds like a preemptive move to stop or slow down legislatively any attempt to compensate rate payers for producing their own energy. With monopoly size comes lobbying power.

The following hyperbolic announcement is just so much smoke being blown up our ass:

Wisconsin Energy to acquire Integrys Energy Group for $9.1 billion … creating a leading Midwest electric and gas utility … Larger, more diverse regulated utility company with the financial strength and technical depth to meet customers' future energy needs; creates 8th largest natural gas distribution company in America … to maintain high levels of reliability and improve customer service … the combined company will hold a 60 percent stake in American Transmission Co.

Words like “regulated” and supposed “competitive pricing” are already a part of the messaging campaign:

Gale Klappa, chairman and CEO of Wisconsin Energy said, "We believe this combination provides a unique opportunity to create the premier regulated utility system in the Midwest, with superior service and competitive pricing for years to come.

The merger has yet to be approved.

Keystone XL oil exports will only Raise the Price of Gas at the Pump

While it's not often mentioned, the Keystone XL Pipeline is all about exporting energy. It's also not mentioned ever how Midwest prices will increase when supplies are diverted away from our refiners. The price impact is small, but still....

So opposing the XL Pipeline for environmental and economic reasons makes sense. Add to it the following opinion poll about exporting oil to reduce gas prices at the pump. Even one refiner is finally being honest, claiming pump prices will go up if exports are allowed.  

jsonline: The number of Americans who believe U.S. oil should be kept on U.S. soil to lower gasoline prices rose in the last four months, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. A majority of respondents polled in March — 71% — opposed oil exports if they raise the price of gasoline, up from 67% in November.

The price of U.S. gasoline is set in a global market because the United States already exports nearly 5% of the gasoline it produces … the price of gasoline hovered near $3.35 a gallon in February, despite the explosive growth in the nation's oil production.

The oil industry wants us to believe the following:

U.S. exports would add to global supplies and lower the price of international oil benchmark Brent, some analysts argue. That may in turn result in lower gasoline prices across America. Patrick Hughes, an analyst with Height Securities in Washington, D.C. (said)…"But we're not expecting dramatic reductions in price, it will be a low percentage change," he added.

Refiners Opposed: I’m going to side with the refiner’s argument below, which states producers don’t give a damn about lower gas prices at the pump:

However, independent refiners such as Valero Energy, the first refiner to publicly oppose easing the restrictions, say this argument is flawed. "The whole reason producers support unlimited exports is because they're seeking a higher price for their oil," said Bill Day, a Valero spokesman.

ALEC, Big Energy Team up to maintain monopolies, fight Consumer Solar Energy Independence.

It would be nice to get ahead of the coming energy fight by revealing why there's a fight in the first place. First up, the groups opposing freedom and energy independence by turning logic upside down; choice pegs you as a "freerider:"

The American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec) will promote legislation with goals ranging from penalising individual homeowners-casting them as "freeriders"-and weakening state clean energy regulations, to blocking the Environmental Protection Agency, which is Barack Obama's main channel for climate action.

Details of Alec's strategy to block clean energy development at every stage – from the individual rooftop to the White House – are revealed as the group gathers for its policy summit in Washington this week. 

Check out the Guardian article here. Second, I had this story in the works just before the Guardian had theirs. From Bloomberg News: 
Americans are installing solar panels and lowering their cost for energy. But utility companies are not happy, since they’re still working with the old business model that makes them the monopoly.

Here’s how the fight is going between consumers and big energy:

William Walker estimates his bill would have dropped most months to an $18 service charge -- offsetting that $305 loan payment … he figured the (solar) system could pay for itself in as little as five years; his electricity after that would be free.

That is until his utility, a subsidiary of Honolulu-based Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. (HE), told the Walker’s they couldn’t connect their system to the grid. They aren’t alone ... hundreds if not thousands of the state’s residents are being put in solar limbo by a virtual moratorium on new connections. The reason ... circuits may become oversaturated, causing voltage spikes, damaging appliances ... The company needs more time to study the matter.

“Everyone is on board with getting solar and HECO has now put up a wall,” Walker said. “The only thing we can see is profit motivation.”

This is a big fight brought on by progress. Plus, it illustrates how utilities run by private interests instead of government, can block the natural progress of new energy sources:

Spurred by a drop in panel prices (and) robust government subsidies, rooftop photovoltaic solar is bursting out everywhere. About 200,000 U.S. homes and businesses added rooftop solar in the past two years alone. The U.S. set a single-quarter record with 31,000 residential rooftop installations in the three months through Sept. 30. Solar represented 72 percent of all power added in the U.S. in October.

Here's the rub:

Utilities, seeing a threat to about $360 billion a year in power sales ... HECO, despite criticism from Hawaii’s solar industry, denies the moratorium is anything more than an honest effort to address the technical challenges of integrating the solar flooding onto its grid. In California, where solar already powers the equivalent of 626,000 homes, utilities continue to aggressively push for grid fees that would add about $120 a year to rooftop users’ bills and, solar advocates say, slow down solar adoptions.

Similar skirmishes have broken out in as many as a dozen of the 43 states that have adopted net-metering policies as part of their push to promote renewable energy. In Colorado, Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL) has proposed cutting the payments it makes for excess power generated by customers by about half, because it says higher payouts result in an unfair subsidy to solar users.

In Arizona, 1,000 protesters last month swarmed the state capital while local and national solar advocates lobbied against an effort by utility Arizona Public Service to impose a $50 monthly fee on new solar adopters ... after two days of often contentious debate, voted to allow the state’s largest utility to charge customers about $4.90 a month for solar connections after Dec. 31 -- less than 10 percent of what it was asking for. Lyndon Rive, CEO of SolarCity Corp., said it was “crazy for a utility to charge for services they didn’t deliver.
 Representative Cynthia Thielen, a Republican state legislator is more than skeptical. “This is a company with a drenched-in-oil mentality. I look at the company as ultimately becoming obsolete unless it changes its practices.”

A pro-solar group in Georgia consisting of Sierra Club members and Tea Party founders calls itself the Green Tea Coalition. Money poured in to Arizona in the weeks leading up to the November vote by state regulators on the proposed monthly solar charge ... in a radio spot that featured the sound of a trumpeting elephant, the symbol of the Republican party, and called on listeners to prevent APS from “trying to kill energy choice.”

Republican and libertarian support for solar is informed by a “don’t tread on me” response to the utility monopoly system.

Jigar Shah, head of a consulting company and author of “Creating Climate Wealth” ... advice: get with the program, otherwise utilities are simply inviting people to leave the grid. “The utilities are playing this wrong ... It’s not the solar industry that’s the problem -- it’s their refusal to recognize the benefits of new technologies.”

Phil Undercuffler hopes HECO will drive lots of people off the grid. Then he will sell them batteries.
Battery storage is the holy grail of the off-the-grid crowd ... battery storage units sold by Outback Power Inc. ... “You watch, all these installers are going to go to batteries,” said Jeff Davis, a partner in an Oahu company called Kamiyama Solar Electric who is known as the Solar Guy on a local talk radio program. “The utility has opened up the genie bottle.”

ALEC tells Freedom Loving Conservatives to love their Dependence on Big Energy, and Penalize Solar "Freeriders."

So freeing yourself from big energy, and becoming more self-sufficient, makes you a “freerider?”

The Fear of Freeloaders: Conservatives hate it when others get something for nothing. That’s the tact ALEC is taking to appeal to the conservative base, in what could only be described as a Salvador Dali like agenda attacking green conscious consumers. It's so counter-intuitive.

Freedom loving tea party voters are now being told by their local energy company monopolies, that they’re not free to create their own energy. Huh? In fact, that company can penalize you for feeding your excess solar or wind energy into their noncompetitive infrastructure. Competition? Outrageous.

This convoluted concept is just confusing enough to for low information voters to default to a simpler message from the corporate lobbyists at ALEC, who by the way, include many of your not-so-hardworking Republican legislators. The Guardian:

ALEC: An alliance of corporations and conservative activists is mobilizing to penalize homeowners who install their own solar panels – casting them as "freeriders" – in a sweeping new offensive against renewable energy, the Guardian has learned.

American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec) will promote legislation with goals ranging from penalizing individual homeowners and weakening state clean energy regulations ... blocking Barack Obama from cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and state governments from promoting the expansion of wind and solar power through regulations known as Renewable Portfolio Standards.

Documents obtained by the Guardian … Alec wanted to lower the rate electricity companies pay homeowners for direct power generation – and maybe even charge homeowners for feeding power into the grid. "As it stands now, those direct generation customers are essentially freeriders on the system. They are not paying for the infrastructure they are using. In effect, all the other non direct generation customers are being penalized," he said.

Jaw dropping enough? Are you a believer yet? Need more convincing? It’s down the rabbit hole for more:

"How are they going to get that electricity from their solar panel to somebody else's house?" he said. "They should be paying to distribute the surplus electricity." In November, Arizona became the first state to charge customers for installing solar panels. The fee, which works out to about $5 a month for the average homeowner, was far lower than that sought by the main electricity company, which was seeking to add up to $100 a month to customers' bills.

Really, Arizona voters would have been good with their energy company charging them $100 for taking free sunlight or wind energy from Mother Nature? That doesn't sound loco to them, a corporate overreach?

Gabe Elsner, director of the Energy and Policy Institute, said "They are trying to eliminate pro-solar policies in the states to protect utility industry profits."  

Renewable Portfolio Standards require electricity companies to source a share of their power from wind, solar, biomass, or other clean energy. In the confidential materials, prepared for the August board meeting, Alec claimed to have made significant inroads against such clean energy policies in 2013. "Approximately 15 states across the country introduced legislation to reform, freeze or repeal their state's renewable mandate," the taskforce reported.