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PG&E is trying to scam its way to meet its renewable requirements
by counting upgrades done on large hydro.<br>
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<h1>Dam scam</h1>
<p><i>Are efficiency upgrades renewable energy?</i></p>
<p>By Amanda Witherell</p>
<p>A
bill to have efficiency upgrades at large hydroelectric dams be
considered renewable energy is floating through the State Legislature,
with very few members swimming upstream against it.</p>
<p>The
legislation by Assemblymember Sam Blakeslee (R–San Luis Obispo) is
supported by Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which indicated it could
count an additional 460 gigawatt-hours toward its renewable portfolio
standard if the rule were changed. The utility company delivered a
total of 84,310 GWh of energy last year, and by 2010 it will be
required to provide 20 percent of that from renewable sources. Small
hydroelectric facilities of 30 megawatts or less are considered
renewable.</p>
<p>The bill received unanimous assembly approval,
but opponents say efficiency upgrades at dams are or should be
occurring anyway and don't deserve the coveted "renewable" title.</p>
<p>"California's
RPS program was established to promote generation of new renewable
energy sources. The RPS program was not designed to simply reward
actions that would have occurred without the program," the Planning and
Conservation League wrote to the Senate Natural Resources Committee.
The Sierra Club also opposes the bill, as does Sen. Carole Migden,
whose press secretary, Tracey Fairchild, said, "It doesn't ultimately
create one megawatt of true renewable energy." <b>(Witherell)</b></p>
<div class="entry_created_on">Tuesday July 31, 2007</div>
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<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
"The past is the Textbook of Tyrants; the Future the Bible of the Free" - Herman Melville</pre>
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