Paying an extra 4 dollars a month in order to lessen the amount of $$$ that gets sent overseas to radical islamic havens is money well spent and an alternative energy that TX and the USA should embrace. Kudos to the great state of Texas!
Alternative forms of energy are *supposed* to do something better for us as a whole than what we're using right now. If the opportunity cost for less pollution is less than $50 a year, then sign me up.
That way I don't have to feel bad about not donating to any non-profits.
I agree. However, considering that this will be clean energy instead of energy produced by burning other products, I think it's a start. My only concern is that with all the "incentives" and tax breaks energy companies get from federal and state governments, why are our energy costs going up, by double digits, all over the country? Deregulation was supposed to make energy cheaper due to "competition" they claimed. But, if it's almost impossible to get fair competition in the cable tv field, what makes you think that we'd have that in the energy sector. It's not like it takes a couple of million dollars to do that.
We need an energy policy today. We haven't had that in decades. Our country is going down the crapper left and right, but all our "elected officials" worry about is bailing out big banks, with our own tax money.
If you think $4 is too much, you're drinking the wrong cool-aid. All the objections I've been hearing is that renewables cost too much and will ruin our economy. At $4 (less that a gallon of gas) let the market work!
I happen to live in Texas and have the pleasure of occasionally seeing the blades for these monsters as they are being delivered (the sight alone tends to slow traffic a bit). They are ridiculously huge and thus, probably cost a pretty penny which explains the extra $4 a month.
The savings from renewable energy is always a long term result not immediate. Long term, since unlike a coal plant this will not require any fuel to be purchased; and not immediate because obviously someone has to fund the initial development.
All said though … way to go Texas (and frankly considering how much history this state has as in oil I am pleasantly surprised to see this happening here) but then again Texas has an ego it has to maintain … everything larger etcetera
The $4 per month (which won't be billed until around 2014) is for the cost of the transmission lines. It does not include the cost savings that will result from wind displacing natural gas. Those savings are estimated (by ERCOT, not by me) to be three times as large.
Regards, Thomas O. Gray American Wind Energy Association www.powerofwind.org www.awea.org www.20percentwind.org
Since when did anyone say alternative energy was going to be cheaper. I think everyone has been pretty aware for a while now that going green means spending it.
I'm not sure why you think alternative fuels are supposed to cost people less. I think the idea is that they are alternatives to the conventional fuel.. The price for all fuel can't logically be identical so alternative fuels will be either more or less than conventional fuels, but I have never heard reasoning that all alternatives must be less than the standard..
Well $4/person doesn't seem like much, but it's $4/month per person. According to http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/48000.html there are about 24 million people in Texas (23.5 million in 2006). If every 4 people makes the average "customer" size (actually it's more like 3.5 or so on average), that means Texans would be paying $24 million extra PER MONTH. That's $288 million per year!!! That just doesn't make sense to me. It's a minimal gain in pollution from coal/natural gas (the big polluter is cars, not power plants!!!). I for one think T. Boone is an idiot.
This is great for Texas because they use so much natural gas. Since a natural gas turbine has a quick response time (you can turn it on and off in a matter of minutes as the wind blows or stops blowing) and can be run as a synchronous condenser (helpful for regulating wind's power factor), it is a pretty good fit for wind generation. As NG has gone from $2 to $8 to $14 (!!!) over the last couple of months, the feasibility of these turbines has gone from "meh.." to "woohooo".
Unfortunately, for the rest of us that either don't have wind or run on a higher mix of coal, wind is not quite as feasible, but getting there.
This has nothing to do with oil or the Middle East or gas prices. Do you realize this stuff the electricity that goes to homes/businesses? We don't get that from oil (it was at 1.5% of total power production in 2006 and falling)!
I have to agree and it maybe unpopular but I grew us in NYC and I have a house in the Penn. County, there is a difference in air quality but its really not that bad. I went to Asia for 6 months last year and if you want to see air pollution look at Beijing, Shanghai, Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City. People in the country complain about pollution and i don't think most of them know what it is. I could be being tricked by the commercial but to my understanding coal is pretty clean. In fact i am pretty sure thee is a coal plant not to fair from here and you wouldn't know. Al this wind power stuff is cute until it starts costing more than what we have. Essentially, what they are staying is even with the increase in the cost of oil and the doubling of the cost of NG this will still cost more per month. You call it the power lines or whatever you want but thats still BS. If we are building these plants to "stop giving terrorist money" rather than fight for some liberal environmentalist BS then we should build nuclear plants. They emit no pollution and generate a lot more and more stable power and they are not such blight because its one plant instead of 1000s of windmills hence they take up less space too. I don't blame Mr. Pickens for trying but this is clearly a load of crap if its going to cost more to get power for a free source than it would to get power from a source we import from generally hostile countries at a high premium or that we have plenty of in your own country. I wish they would give the environmentalists their own wonderland island so they can all be happy in a bio dome somewhere and raise taxes and whatever else and not bother other people who just want to live regular lives not destroy the planet but still be able to enjoy it .
The Cobra Tag may help you win that losing battle, acting as a Bluetooth device that attaches to your key ring and connects to your phone, it gives you the opportunity to find the missing item if it's less than 30 feet away.
The most commented posts on Engadget over the past 24 hours.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
Liberal idiocy.
It will only cost an additional $4 per month per customer in Texas.
Aren't alternative forms of energy supposed to cost people less?
Wake up, America!
Paying an extra 4 dollars a month in order to lessen the amount of $$$ that gets sent overseas to radical islamic havens is money well spent and an alternative energy that TX and the USA should embrace. Kudos to the great state of Texas!
Alternative forms of energy are *supposed* to do something better for us as a whole than what we're using right now. If the opportunity cost for less pollution is less than $50 a year, then sign me up.
That way I don't have to feel bad about not donating to any non-profits.
I agree. However, considering that this will be clean energy instead of energy produced by burning other products, I think it's a start. My only concern is that with all the "incentives" and tax breaks energy companies get from federal and state governments, why are our energy costs going up, by double digits, all over the country? Deregulation was supposed to make energy cheaper due to "competition" they claimed. But, if it's almost impossible to get fair competition in the cable tv field, what makes you think that we'd have that in the energy sector. It's not like it takes a couple of million dollars to do that.
We need an energy policy today. We haven't had that in decades. Our country is going down the crapper left and right, but all our "elected officials" worry about is bailing out big banks, with our own tax money.
If you think $4 is too much, you're drinking the wrong cool-aid. All the objections I've been hearing is that renewables cost too much and will ruin our economy. At $4 (less that a gallon of gas) let the market work!
I happen to live in Texas and have the pleasure of occasionally seeing the blades for these monsters as they are being delivered (the sight alone tends to slow traffic a bit). They are ridiculously huge and thus, probably cost a pretty penny which explains the extra $4 a month.
The savings from renewable energy is always a long term result not immediate. Long term, since unlike a coal plant this will not require any fuel to be purchased; and not immediate because obviously someone has to fund the initial development.
All said though … way to go Texas (and frankly considering how much history this state has as in oil I am pleasantly surprised to see this happening here) but then again Texas has an ego it has to maintain … everything larger etcetera
The $4 per month (which won't be billed until around 2014) is for the cost of the transmission lines. It does not include the cost savings that will result from wind displacing natural gas. Those savings are estimated (by ERCOT, not by me) to be three times as large.
Regards,
Thomas O. Gray
American Wind Energy Association
www.powerofwind.org
www.awea.org
www.20percentwind.org
Since when did anyone say alternative energy was going to be cheaper. I think everyone has been pretty aware for a while now that going green means spending it.
Stupid nonsense.
I'm not sure why you think alternative fuels are supposed to cost people less. I think the idea is that they are alternatives to the conventional
fuel.. The price for all fuel can't logically be identical so alternative fuels will be either more or less than conventional fuels, but I have never heard reasoning that all alternatives must be less than the standard..
Wake up, AUTiger89!
I learned to speak conservative watching the last election so let me explain in your own language:
You must be a terror loving, al Queda jihadist to want to see America crushed under the heel of muslim oil control for the next 100 years.
Why do you hate freedom so much?
Well $4/person doesn't seem like much, but it's $4/month per person. According to http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/48000.html there are about 24 million people in Texas (23.5 million in 2006). If every 4 people makes the average "customer" size (actually it's more like 3.5 or so on average), that means Texans would be paying $24 million extra PER MONTH. That's $288 million per year!!! That just doesn't make sense to me. It's a minimal gain in pollution from coal/natural gas (the big polluter is cars, not power plants!!!). I for one think T. Boone is an idiot.
This is great for Texas because they use so much natural gas. Since a natural gas turbine has a quick response time (you can turn it on and off in a matter of minutes as the wind blows or stops blowing) and can be run as a synchronous condenser (helpful for regulating wind's power factor), it is a pretty good fit for wind generation. As NG has gone from $2 to $8 to $14 (!!!) over the last couple of months, the feasibility of these turbines has gone from "meh.." to "woohooo".
Unfortunately, for the rest of us that either don't have wind or run on a higher mix of coal, wind is not quite as feasible, but getting there.
Dan L (and others who keep bringing up oil):
This has nothing to do with oil or the Middle East or gas prices. Do you realize this stuff the electricity that goes to homes/businesses? We don't get that from oil (it was at 1.5% of total power production in 2006 and falling)!
I have to agree and it maybe unpopular but I grew us in NYC and I have a house in the Penn. County, there is a difference in air quality but its really not that bad. I went to Asia for 6 months last year and if you want to see air pollution look at Beijing, Shanghai, Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City. People in the country complain about pollution and i don't think most of them know what it is. I could be being tricked by the commercial but to my understanding coal is pretty clean. In fact i am pretty sure thee is a coal plant not to fair from here and you wouldn't know. Al this wind power stuff is cute until it starts costing more than what we have. Essentially, what they are staying is even with the increase in the cost of oil and the doubling of the cost of NG this will still cost more per month. You call it the power lines or whatever you want but thats still BS. If we are building these plants to "stop giving terrorist money" rather than fight for some liberal environmentalist BS then we should build nuclear plants. They emit no pollution and generate a lot more and more stable power and they are not such blight because its one plant instead of 1000s of windmills hence they take up less space too. I don't blame Mr. Pickens for trying but this is clearly a load of crap if its going to cost more to get power for a free source than it would to get power from a source we import from generally hostile countries at a high premium or that we have plenty of in your own country. I wish they would give the environmentalists their own wonderland island so they can all be happy in a bio dome somewhere and raise taxes and whatever else and not bother other people who just want to live regular lives not destroy the planet but still be able to enjoy it .