DC: Former Vice President Al Gore hailed the city of Georgetown, Texas, for powering itself with only solar and wind energy, but now the city is losing millions on its green energy gamble.
Georgetown’s bet against fossil fuel prices cost the city-owned utility nearly $7 million this year, and prompted officials to look for a way out of their long-term contracts for solar and wind energy.
“It’s costing them big time,” vice president of research at the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), Bill Peacock, told The Daily Caller News Foundation in an interview. “This doesn’t appear to be the first time they’ve lost money, just the first time it was big enough to have to go public with it.”
Georgetown made national news after being featured in Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Sequel,” which was released in 2017. The film followed-up on Gore’s inaccurate 2006 film “An Inconvenient Truth.” more here
That will learn ’em
If only there had been some way to foresee that…
Georgetown=Austin light.
Everything Al Gore does turns to dross. He’s got a perfect 0 for nothing batting average. The Mendosa line (.200) doesn’t even go that low, that’s how bad his predictions are.
Georgetown tx is close enough to the orbit of ut and austin to believe that laws of physics and principles of economics are optional and do not apply there.
It’s ok. It was somebody else’s money they lost.
His only legacy is coming up with a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist…… now he’s jetting around the world creating the problem.
Any of you folks living in Excel energies utility area better get ready to drop your pants as well.
https://osmorsa.com/business/26089/xcel-energy-is-first-major-us-utility-to-commit-to-going-100-carbon-free/
In a broad sense, the shift to renewables is good for such utilities. When they shift from existing fossil fuel plants to new renewable energy, they shift from fuel (coal and natural gas) costs, which they make no money on, to investments in new renewable energy power plants, new batteries to store power and electric car chargers to help electrify the vehicle fleet, and tons of new transmission lines, much of which they can rate-base.
@Mickey moussaoui December 19, 2018 at 9:33 am
> That will learn ’em
Care to bet somebody else’s money on that?
The technology just isn’t there.
Maybe in 10 years.Solar/wind/batteries
are the cat’s meow for us CB/HAM radio
operators in an emergency.
Another thing= China will eventually run
out of areas to “strip” mine the rare earth
elements out of the ground to make panels.The
panels only last 25 years max and get weak long
before the 25 years is up.And wind ??? that’s
another “story”….
Gather up all those responsible and build a trebuchet and send them thru the blades of one of those horridly ugly wind turbines.
One of my four sons lives in Georgetown, Texas. He moved from Austin to Round Rock and then to Georgetown. The property taxes there are outrageous by Texas standards. He’s already talking about moving further away from the influence of Austin politics. I will never live within the limits of any city. I can burn leaves, grow a garden, park as many vehicles, let my grass get as long as I want and even shoot a deer from my back porch if I want to and I’m not giving that up.
“Georgetown’s bet against fossil fuel prices cost the city-owned utility nearly $7 million this year, and prompted officials to look for a way out of their long-term contracts for solar and wind energy.”
The UN-convenient truth! 😳
THIS is what happens when you don’t consult the magic 8 ball.
Laugh if you want, but it has a better track record than the “experts”.
I always thought the Mendoza line was .215, which was Mario Mendoza’s lifetime batting average. Not that this makes a bit of difference to Geoff’s point, but I think we should insult Mr. Medoza just a little bit less by raising his line from .200 to .215.
Maybe that town can get all their energy from cow farts instead.
The town should rename itself Poltroonville.
Georgetown should sue Al Gore while he still has assets. Once others realize Gore is a complete fraud they’ll file law suits as well. Better get in line before his ill gotten gains are gone.