Friends of Mill Valley

I find disingenuous the behavior of PG&E, a company that failed last decade so that I now must pay off a loan secured by the state to preserve its monopoly business. They should be pleased to have me as a customer but fail to ask me what sort of energy I want--their current mix of nuclear/coal/CO2 producing sources or perhaps clean power from local renewable sources.

Also, PG&E has failed to meet renewable targets and has resisted purchasing power from solar array owners beyond a the cap of .05 of peak load. This threshold is minuscule and given PG&E overpaid ENRON their argument that they cannot afford to buy citizen generated power beyond this limit is ridiculous. We will never achieve fossil fuel independence with PG&E management. http://www.energyrefuge.com/archives/solar_power_systems.htm

Nobody can doubt that Friends is a hard working organization and a vibrant contributor to discussion in Mill Valley. I don't think that Marie's letter said otherwise. I think the point is that the "11 previous mayors" letter was emailed by Friends of Mill Valley to its members, but a response letter (from a current City Councilperson, previous mayor, and Mill Valley's representative to the Marin Energy Authority) was not, despite that Councilperson's specific request that this be done.

The conclusion has to be that the governing body of Friends have determined that Friends is against Marin Clean Energy, and communication will be geared towards defeating it, and not towards neutrality or presenting both sides of the issue.

Over the next decade every person in the United States will experience the reality of energy change. There is new legislation for the generation of energy (supply side) to end our dependency on fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal) and to increase our use of clean renewable energy. There is the smart grid (demand side) to reduce transmission losses, increase efficiency and enable new energy pricing models.

This posting was made prior to open4energy understanding the nature of the political interference by PG&E and their association with this site. The original posting, and unbiased information can be found below.

http://open4energy.com/forum/home/pgm/marin_clean_energy_opt_out_1002091...

Posted from the Marin IJ letters to the editor 1-23-10

As an engaged Mill Valley voter, I took the time to read the Marin County Civil Grand Jury's scathing report on "Marin Clean Energy: Pull the Plug."

I am stunned that there remains any debate after digesting this detailed 23-page review put together by an impartial panel of ordinary citizens.

Are we really supposed to suspend disbelief and trust that MEA can add a new layer of inexperienced bureaucracy, without adequate funding and expect it will be able to raise $500 million to build alternative energy facilities somewhere in Marin?

Having seen Mill Valley residents argue against a privately funded plan for housing for public school teachers in Mill Valley, I can tell you Marin defines NIMBY - regardless of how well-intentioned the project.

Ppsted from the Marin IJ letters to the editor 1-22-10

The Marin IJ's Jan. 19 editorial "MMWD should rethink loan offer to power authority" is a breath of fresh air.

The situation would be laughable, if the long-range implications weren't so financially risky.

How could MMWD, in response to successful conservation efforts, propose raising water rates nearly 10 percent at a time when it also allocated $100,000 toward start-up funds for Marin Energy Authority?

Now MMWD has been considering a sweetheart deal using ratepayer money to help fund an additional $1.6 million loan to MEA.

And don't forget that MMWD is moving forward with plans to construct a desalination plant that could cost $400 million.

That plant will require huge amounts of energy.

Posted from the Marin IJ letters to the editor 1-12-10

With San Anselmo finalizing its decision to join the organization known as Marin Energy Authority, it appears that "green power" has created a new bureaucracy.

MEA has a board of directors comprised of politicians. It has no funding and yet it thinks it can do a better job than PG&E. Members of our civil grand jury gave thoughtful consideration to the MEA proposal and advised against it.

If elected politicians want to start up a business, I think they need to resign before doing so and not use their public position to side-step good business practices and co-opt citizens into providing the capital through rates or bonds.

Posted from the Marin IJ letters to the editor 1-12-10

A story reported last week that the San Anselmo Town Council reaffirmed its commitment to join in the Marin Energy Authority. What might have been missed is that only two members of the council approved the commitment as one member offered a failed motion to hold off and two recused themselves because of relationships to PG&E. Hardly a majority.

What this means is that only two elected officials made the decision to financially commit the town's 12,500 residents. Somehow this does not really seem what democracy is all about, and why the decision could have been more fair had it been presented to the voters (who are the ratepayers) who will ultimately pay for the benefits or the failure of the venture.

While there is the highly advertised "opt out" option available, a good many of us recall how "easy" it was to opt out of the old RCA Record Club, or stop the flood of books from the Book of The Month Club.

The Marin Municipal Water District's plan to lend MEA $1.6 million dollars is an outrageously bad idea. It's enough that Marin County taxpayers ($840,000 in potential losses) and all Marin Clean Energy ratepayers will be at risk if MCE fails. We don't need to put every MMWD ratepayer at risk, too.

The MMWD Board needs to focus its financial resources on ensuring an adequate supply of quality water to all Marin County residents and businesses. To engage in high risk "vendor financing" of an unproven, startup venture with no track record of delivering a single kilowatt of power, is the epitome of fiscal irresponsibility.

The "annual savings" in energy costs promised by MCE are wide-eyed guesstimates. MCE's rate "guarantees" are, by their own admission, only good for one year. What happens after that? What happens when PG&E turns up the pricing competition and ratepayers start to opt out of MCE? How will MMWD's long term debt be repaid then?

Posted from the Marin IJ letters to the editor:

Supervisor Charles McGlashan's Marin Energy Authority death march gets more bizarre each day.

Now we find out that even if we opt out and stick with PG&E, we will still be on the hook as Marin taxpayers and Marin Municipal Water District customers if MEA gets into financial trouble.

And if we don't opt out, as MEA ratepayers, we will subsidize the county's and MMWD's electric service because MEA is planning to give discounts to certain favored customers.

It becomes clearer each day why McGlashan and the supervisors refused to put this to a vote of the people. The people of Marin are smarter than this and would have voted it down.

I wonder how much longer it will take before the people rise up and demand that they have a say in this matter?

Bob Lambert, San Rafael

Posted from the Marin IJ letters to the Editor:

While the initial costs to set up the Marin Energy Authority were paid for solely out of our tight county budget, assuring the cities that there would be no liability to them if they joined, their staff has suddenly realized that borrowing additional money to start the public power agency will be difficult since there are no assets (remember, the cities have no liability).

As a result, the board is considering providing discounts to new customers if they will guarantee the necessary loans.

Of course, if the project fails, those guarantors would be responsible for paying back the balance of any such loans.

While, at my insistence, the board reaffirmed that it would not ask any city to become a guarantor, so as to not break their promise that no city would be required to assume such a liability, it was obvious that some city representatives thought it might be a good idea.