Wednesday, March 19, 2014

When Bad Roads are Good Roads

The first time I ever drove through Samuel P. Taylor State Park, it was a busy weekend about ten years ago. The road was narrow and bumpy, and there were pedestrians and bicyclists and parked cars everywhere. It was vibrant. You could tell it was a place people wanted to be. It was also sketchy. I was driving a friend's old truck, and I had to be careful. I had to go slow.

Here is what it used to sound like to drive on, recorded last September. Click "play" to hear a sound that is gone forever--the sound of going to the beach, if you grew up in San Geronimo Valley.





Sunday, March 9, 2014

California Utilities Still Freeloading on Independent Power Producers - Part III

What you've all been waiting for--part III of the ongoing saga. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I suggest reading Part I and Part II for background.

But if you want to skip the details, here is the quick summary:

Part I Recap
We operated a solar photovoltaic grid intertie with Net Energy Metering on our home from 2001-2011. The year we sold the house, 2011, we had a big surplus of generated electricity, since the house generated electricity all summer but no one was living there to use it. This electricity was worth $154.52. In December 2011, I was told we would only be paid only four cents per kWh for this valuable, renewable, distributed, peak-hours electricity, or a whopping $18.52. SCE (Southern California Edison) was 10 months behind in sending out letters, and when we got ours we should send it back saying how we wanted to be paid, and then in another 3 months we'd get our check.

Part II Recap
Two years later, in November 2013, we got the letter. After overcoming considerable confusion about what it was, and why it was being sent to us, and what we were supposed to do, I re-read part I (see link above), and then I filled out the form and sent it back.

Part III

Welcome to Part III! This may be the end...

In February, 2014, we got another envelope in the mail from SCE. I opened it. I laughed. What was inside? Nine double-sided pages of account statements. The first page said "Do not pay. Your account has a credit balance of $5.48.