National Grid to Buy Power for 24.4 cents. Who is going to pay for it?

We wanted to tell you about this as soon as we saw the press release, but National Grid couldn't get our power turned back on fast enough. Weird. They can't call you when you ask them to but if you tell them that you are going to call the Television Stations, a supervisor calls you right away!

On December 10th, 2009 Alex Kuffner, a Staff Writer for the Providence Journal, wrote:
National Grid will pay Deepwater 24.4 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity starting in 2013 when the eight-turbine wind farm three miles from Block Island is expected to go on line. The price will then rise by 3.5 percent annually over the 20-year agreement.

National Grid estimates that the typical Rhode Island household’s annual electric bill — which currently stands at about $957 — will see an increase of $16.20 in the first year of the contract. That includes a 2.75-percent markup on electricity generated from renewable sources that National Grid is allowed by state law. It also includes the cost of a power cable from Block Island to the mainland that would be required for the project. The wind farm would supply power to Block Island, but any excess would be fed to the rest of the state.

National Grid’s estimate of the additional cost for its customers differs significantly from Deepwater’s calculation, which is about $7. The discrepancy can be explained, in part, because Deepwater’s number does not account for the cost of the cable. Deepwater did not factor in that cost because it’s still unclear who would install it.

Companies like National Grid get away with stuff because they don't tell you the whole story. We will help you by looking at our electric bill.
National Grid Charges us:
For Delivery Services
$0.03376 per kwh a Distribution Energy Charge (Fair Enough)
$0.0035 per kwh for a Dem Side Mgmt Chg (Is that Politics or Environment?)
$0.015 per kwh for a Transmission Charge (What are they transmitting that hasn't been distributed?)
$0.00235 per kwh a Transition Charge (Transition from what?)
Total Distribution Cost Per Kwh is $0.0561

For Supply Services
$0.092 per Kwh Energy Charge (Didn't you already charge us for distributing energy to us? We liked that price better)
$0.00093 Kwh Renewable Energy Charge (Is this where the wind turbine expense will end up?
Total Supply Cost Per Kwh is $0.09293

Sub Total is $0.14754 per Kwh

And then they charge us a Gross Earnings Tax. Your welcome for your bonus CEO.

Wait a minute. They say the average bill will only go up $16.20 in the first year based on the 9.2 cent charge. It really costs us 14.754 cents. That is 160% of what they say they currently charge us. It doesn't seem like much until you realize that it's multiplied by thousands of kwh.

$16.20 multiplied by 160% is $25.92. They are going to pay 24.4 cents per kwh. That is 165% of what we actually pay. Now that we have determined what we actually pay, let's figure out what they are actually going to charge us. $25.92 multiplied by 165% is $42.768 more, THE FIRST YEAR. Before they figure out they and the wind turbine folks have underestimated some other expense they need to pass along to us.

They base their figures on 500 Kwh for the average user. That doesn't add up with their numbers either. $957 divided by 500 Kwh is $1.91 per Kwh. $957 divided by $0.14754 is 6486 Kwh per average customer. Makes a little more sense.

He goes on to say:

A calculation that uses the 12.9-cent number as a baseline would close the difference with the 24.4-cent price of wind power. Doing that results in Deepwater's $7 figure for the additional cost to the typical customer, defined as someone who uses 500 kilowatt hours of electricity a year. To put that number into context, a ratepayer who uses that amount of power currently pays about $957 a year.

However, Grid offers a different approach. For one, the utility did not use a projection in its own calculation. It compared the 24.4-cent cost of wind power to the current 9.2-cent cost of wholesale power.

Moreover, Grid says, Deepwater's figure is incomplete. The utility says that the cost of the cable, estimated at $35-$50 million, must be considered because it is a necessity. It makes no sense to build the Block Island wind farm without it.

Block Island currently gets its electricity from diesel-powered generators on the island. The price of power from those generators is notoriously high, with rates within the past two years climbing to three to four times what is paid on the mainland. The goal of Deepwater's wind farm is to take those generators offline and provide clean power at a cheaper price to Block Island.

But the wind farm has the capacity to provide more than enough power for the island, so any excess would be fed underwater to the rest of the state. Conversely, on some days, the wind will not blow, so Block Island would need a backup source of power. The cable would supply that electricity from the distribution system that serves the rest of Rhode Island.

National Grid estimates that the cost of the cable in the first year of the contract with Deepwater would be about $8 million and would then decrease in subsequent years. By passing that cost on to the consumer and not adjusting for a possible rise in the cost of fossil fuels, Grid calculated a figure of $16.20 in total additional costs to the customer.

At least they are honest when they say they will pass the cost along to the customer. The only way to know what the real cost to the customer is going to be is to tell us what percentage of the power, blah, blah blah. It's a lot of number crunching that would of course be boring here. If we find the answer to that question, we will post it on our website cleanhandsrecycling.com

In the mean time. Don't get us wrong. We love wind power! We love alternative energy. Unfortunately, we need to keep using our current, take advantage of us while you can, system until we get there!

Have a great day!

We are committed or should be committed

The previous post was because we are committed to following our self decided rule and write on the blog every day, even our Anniversary. What followed was a three day power outage, two storms, five free appliance drop offs, five Christmas Tree pick ups. Several people not replying to get their free Christmas Tree. Not having the resources to deliver the Christmas Trees due to people not responding. P.S. It's the week before Christmas and we don't get paid for most of what we do and we would like to enjoy the holidays as well. But that's all behind us now, right?

First we want to cover the people not responding. We are confused by this. Do people think that it's a scam? We would love to hear what your answers are to that question. The first month we advertised that we were giving away Appliances, we contacted a Non-Profit to give them three Refrigerators. We called them to tell them that we could deliver them within the next three days. They sounded so excited when we called. They never called back. Never gave us an address. We called and left several messages, nothing.

Now we want to tell you what we wanted to tell you about on December 9th. The main reason we do this. It is to help people. Through another venue, a woman asked us for help, not knowing about our website http://cleanhandsrecyling.com or what we do. She sent us this email on December 2nd.

I am looking for a knitting machine with manual. I am 64 years old and a shut in. Bored to death! Years ago I used to knit for my family and would love to get back into it. I don't mind waiting for this item. I don't have much money as I am on fixed income. But am willing to spend a small amount of money if in good condition. Also looking for baby girl clothes , blankets ect as my youngest daughter just had a baby six weeks ago. The dad took off on her and left her to fend for herself. She is beside herself on how to manage and raise her daughter all alone. Any help will be welcomed. My oldest son wife died not long ago and left him with a five year old. Looking for some nice toys for her so her Christamas is special. She misses her mommy.

Thanks so much for listening to all my sorrows. If you cannot help I will understand but I felt it wont hurt to ask. I know there are still good people out there that have things and have no idea what to do with things they no longer need.

Also the daughter who just had the baby would welcome clothes for herself. she wears medium size sometimes large like for shirts like the girls wear to day.She is tall and needs tall jeans I think she wears 6,7,8 depending on who makes them and prefers strech ones.

Long list I know. But Christmas is right around the corner and I want them all to be happy. Hope you understand. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

On December 8th, Our Anniversary, we delivered 15 bags of items for her grandchildren. We are trying to get the Knitting Machine Before Christmas.

This is the email she sent us afterwards.

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the effort you put in to getting thoses things for me. I t will help greatly come Christams morning for my grandchildren. I have most things wrapped now and can't wait to especially see my older grandchilds face. I had her last night for a little while and I gave her that little kittie that head moves around and meows and you would have thought I gave her a million dollars. Her face lit up. We played together pretending feeding it and wrapping it in a blanket and she was in her glory. Its so nice when there young they are so easy to please.

I know your very busy but just had to drop you line to let you know that what you did was very appreciated.

I feel so bad that I did not offer you a cup of coffee or tea but my mind was on over load. I was torn in just sitting in just talking and realising your little one needed to be home in her warm bed. She looked kinda sleepy.Poor thing.

I hope your day is a good one and that this email finds you in good health.

Have a very happy holiday

Toys for Tots wouldn't have given her 15 bags and we like Toys for Tots. She wasn't able to get help through other avenues. We provide our services for free so that people can recycle what would otherwise be wasted or put in a landfill. We give away Appliances and other items so that people who don't qualify for help because of some policy, can still get help.

In the very near future, we are going to stop advertising our Free Appliances on Craigslist. The best way for people to hear about us is from you. Be sure to sign up to follow the blog so that we can see your responses to our questions and hear how you think we are doing! Tell someone about our website http://cleanhandsrecycling.com and what we do so we can keep helping people. Happy Tuesday before Christmas!

Short and Sweet

Don't have much time today, because it's our Anniversary. That's why I shouldn't be posting, but also why I must. People always want to know how we got started. It was three years ago.

More on how we met later. One day she said, you know, it makes more sense for us to work together and only make $100 a day combined than for us to work apart and make $500.

I agreed. She is right most of the time. We aren't sure why it took us so much longer than just doing it the next day. We had a lot more then than we did when we started this.

We didn't have a vehicle, let alone a truck. Maybe it was all of those days we made so much working apart. Now, sometimes we don't even make $100 in a day.

But we have fun. We do the right thing and we are together. Tonight is our Anniversary. Gonna wrap up so we can watch a movie. We just got back from a donation that came up by chance. But that's what we did for our Anniversary, gave something back. It's what we wanted to do.

Do what you enjoy doing and the rest will just happen. Can't wait for the rest of our life.

Appliance Clunkers Rebate Program EEARP

The July 14, 2009 Department of Energy Press Release is Titled:
Secretary Chu Announces Nearly $300 Million Rebate Program to Encourage Purchases of Energy Efficient Appliances
Then in Italics: Program Benefits Every U.S. State and Territory

The Appliance Clunkers Rebate program will not help consumers or the U.S. Economy. It benefits Utility Companies, Appliance Dealers and Manufacturers far more than it will help American Consumers. First, there is the 10-25% administration fee that goes to the individual State Governement leaving us with AT MOST $270,000,000. With their population figures at 308,000,000 Americans, that works out to less than $0.88 each.

Thanks to the Appliance Clunker Program! With gas prices still so high, our family can drive an extra 20 miles for the Winter Vacation! Although the people in American Samoa and the Northern Marianas are doing pretty well to get $1.75 and $1.18 each respectively because there is a $100,000 minimum grant. Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands only get their fair share. I wonder why there isn't any money for the Marshall Islands, I'm guessing it's because they don't have Appliance Dealers or Manufacturers.

The Energy Star Program which will be the launching pad for the Appliance Clunkers Program serves 600 Utilities, 74 million households, 2,000 retail partners representing more than 27,000 storefronts, and 2,645 manufacturers.

Rest assured, if the Utility companies only benefit dollar for dollar from the Appliance Clunkers Program, that means each Utility Company gets a benefit of at least $500,000 each. Yes. Do you think they only get their $0.88 cents worth? Check your Utility Bill again for the last time you felt you got a fair shake.

The 2,000 retail partners. They stand to make at least a buck for their participation in the Appliance Clunkers Program, right? That would be $150,000 each if they all got their fair share.

And the 2,645 manufacturers? Roughly $114,000 each from the Appliance Clunkers Program. If they manufacture and sell their own brand, that's $264,000. That's if they only benefit dollar for dollar like the rest of the country. When was the last time you saw an appliance marked up or down by $1? It's more like $100, so add two zeros to the ends of the numbers for Utility Companies, Retailers and Manufacturers and it's probably much closer to their actual benefit amount.

They will never tell though. And the money will hardly trickle down from the top. Nice job CEO, here's your bonus for Inventing the Appliance Clunkers Program, have a seat next to Al Gore, inventor of the internet. Have you seen any ads on Job Boards where Utilities have to hire extra people to handle the expected surge due to the Appliance Clunker Rebate Program? How about Best Buy? Have you seen an ad where they have to hire people just to cover the overwhelming demand? At least manufacturers can delay those layoffs a little while to give them more time to offshore their operations.

Start Spending Recovery Dollars where they will be most effective SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS. The only segment that will pass the activity and savings on to the American Consumer is the Small Business Owner. Small Business Owners are responsible for 50% of the Gross Domestic Product. Non-Profits contribute 7%, they literally help people, while Utilities only contribute 2.3% The Appliance Clunkers Rebate Program was a great idea, with great merit.

There will be numerous benefits from the Appliance Clunkers Program, too many to list today. Too bad the benefits will take too long to get where they are needed and that's before it get's caught up in all of the Government Red Tape. Here is a site that compiles all of the Appliance Clunkers Details for Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island