AUSTIN, Texas – Texas fue calificado en último lugar en una encuesta nacional que calificó la fiabilidad del uso de electricidad - algo que no sorprende a aquellos que sufrieron apagones durante el verano pasado. Como resultado, la Comisión de Servicios Públicos incrementó la fijación del máximo por tarifas de $3,000 por hora de mega watts a $4,500 por hora tomando efecto hoy 1 de Agosto. Esto hace que las compañías proveedoras de electricidad puedan incrementar sus tarifas al consumidor con el fin de poder asegurar suficiente ingreso para la construcción de nuevas plantas generadoras de electricidad.

Aquellos que abogan por el consumidor temen que los que sufrirán por el incremento en tarifas son las familias propietarias de viviendas y los pequeños negocios. Tim Morstad del AARP de Texas da su explicación.

“Lo que es más frustrante es que existen reguladores estatales que dicen que necesitamos implementar estas tarifas porque los proveedores de electricidad necesitan construir más plantas generadoras, pero no hay garantía que estas compañías en verdad van a construir las plantas generadoras como resultado del incremento en tarifas.”

Añade que el incremento actual simplemente generará incremento en ganancias de las compañías proveedoras, a demás de ser el comienzo de costos más altos para el consumidor en Texas. La Comisión de Servicios Públicos señala que está considerando incrementar la fijación del máximo por tarifas un 100 por ciento más, supuestamente antes de que termine el año.

Morstad considera que cualquier incremento en tarifas reta la seguridad de los miembros de edad mayor del AARP que viven de un ingreso fijo. Cada año, Texanos vulnerables que no tienen suficiente dinero para la manutención de una unidad de aire acondicionado, fallecen por causas de calor extremo. Aunque está de acuerdo que la capacidad actual del estado de proveer electricidad no abasta a la creciente población, opina que el incremento en tarifas es algo prematuro.

“Existen otras cosas por explorar, tales como la manera de reducir la cantidad de electricidad que usamos, y a lo mejor poder lograr que se considere innecesario la construcción de nuevas plantas generadoras. Deseamos que se exploren todas las otras posibilidades primero.”

De acuerdo a representantes de la industria, los consumidores no verán incrementos automáticos después de hoy. Lo que verán serán incrementos provisionales durante la temporada de alta demanda. Críticos advierten que incrementar la fijación del máximo puede comprometer a varios de los pequeños proveedores que en el pasado han garantizado tarifas fijas a sus clientes.


get more stories like this via email

A round of public testimony wrapped up this week as part of renewed efforts by a company seeking permit approval in North Dakota for an underground pipeline carrying carbon emissions. Economic benefits were again touted but the plan still has opponents.

Last year, North Dakota's Public Service Commission denied a permit request from Summit Carbon Solutions, which wants to build a maze of pipelines in several Midwestern states. Emissions from ethanol plants would be captured for underground storage in North Dakota.

Skott Skokos, executive director of the Dakota Resource Council, said they remain unconvinced it would be a worthwhile project.

"It felt like déjà vu," Skokos observed. "I don't think Summit did anything to relax the concerns of the public."

Company officials have submitted a new application with a revised route as they try to ease concerns about safety and landowner rights. During comment periods, Summit leaders and other speakers discussed how the project would provide economic boosts, including corn prices. However, skeptics restated their concerns about potential ruptures and lasting negative effects on the landscape.

Skokos pointed out large carbon-capture projects like these have yet to prove themselves, noting smaller initiatives are not as likely to rile up opponents. He pointed to the Red Trail ethanol plant in North Dakota.

"They're storing it, basically, almost on-site, next to the facility and they're not affecting a bunch of landowners in the process," Skokos emphasized.

The Summit regulatory case has two upcoming public hearings in North Dakota, one scheduled for May 24 and the other on June 4. The company has run into similar opposition and permitting headwinds in other states, including South Dakota.

Leaders concerned about pollution and climate change are raising awareness about a ballot measure this fall on whether the state should mandate buffer zones around new oil and gas wells.

Voters will be asked to uphold or revoke Senate Bill 1173, which would require a 3,200-foot setback around any new well near schools, neighborhoods and hospitals.

Meghan Sahli-Wells, former mayor of Culver City and a leader with the group Elected Officials to Protect America, fought to phase out the Inglewood oil field and said no community should be a sacrifice zone.

"A study from Harvard found that in California, 34,000 people died in 2018, prematurely, from fossil fuel air pollution," Sahli-Wells pointed out. "These figures are three times higher than other studies."

The Stop the Energy Shutdown campaign, supported by the California Independent Petroleum Association, opposes the setback rule, arguing it could constrict local supply and cost jobs in the industry. A court put the bill on hold pending the outcome of the November election. A "yes" vote would keep the setbacks. A "no" vote would rescind them.

Clean energy advocates are also speaking out against companies operating older low-producing wells rather than pay to shut them down and seal them up properly.

Ahmad Zahra, a city council member in Fullerton, said Assembly Bill 2716 would incentivize their closure by charging companies $10,000 a day to operate so-called "stripper wells."

"We have over 40,000 oil wells currently sitting orphaned or idle, leaking methane and volatile organic compounds into the air, water and soil," Zahra emphasized.

Other states are following California's lead. Rep. Debbie Sariñana, D-Albuquerque, New Mexico, is sponsoring a bill to require setbacks near sensitive locations since more than 32,000 children in the state attend school within a mile of an oil and gas extraction site.

"Over 80 schools in northwestern New Mexico - the San Juan Basin and southeastern New Mexico, the Permian Basin - are within one mile of an oil and gas well," Sariñana noted. "Some schools are surrounded by dozens and even hundreds of wells within a single mile."

The construction of more solar farms in the U.S. has been contentious but a new survey shows their size makes a difference in whether solar projects are favored by neighbors.

South Dakota's largest solar installation, the Wild Springs project in New Underwood, began operations in March and covers more than 1.5 square miles. The survey showed projects under 100 megawatts are generally favored by neighbors, while larger ones like Wild Springs are unpopular.

Kristi Pritzkau, finance officer for the City of New Underwood, said the construction traffic was tough on the town of just over 600 but the project's builder, National Grid Renewables, is giving back to the community.

"They had to use our well, so they paid for the water, and they paid for a new pump for it, too," Pritzkau pointed out. "They've been really great with the city."

Prtizkau noted the company donated to the town's pool and Lions Club and has created a school scholarship program, all part of the more than $500,000 of charitable giving it has promised in the project's first 20 years of operation. It is also expected to bring in $12 million of tax revenue to the county in the same time frame.

Sioux Falls-based Missouri River Energy Services has plans to build a new solar project near Brookings and build a transmission line from South Dakota into Minnesota.

Tim Blodgett, vice president of member services and communications for the company, said federal grant programs and tax credits provide incentives and South Dakota produces more energy than it can use.

"With the development of more wind, the development of solar, there's a lot planned right now to get these resources out of this area," Blodgett explained. "Into Minneapolis and other places where there's larger demand for the energy."

Currently, more than half the state's power generation comes from wind, followed by hydropower.


get more stories like this via email