The Fenberg Rider--you don't mind paying more right? Pay careful attention to how the state fixes its budget oops: it's your money. F1's, like mules, are sometimes sterile.
Well, at least they're starting to be a little more honest about how much "our" renewable energy transition will cost.
I've written a lot about the costs (financial and otherwise) for upgrading our power grid and running power lines in from places where the Front Range wants to site renewables in the far-flung parts of the state.
One thing I've not written a lot about, and it's something that gets lost in the shuffle, is the costs associated with upgrading the grid that will take that power and distribute it to houses along the Front Range.
I'm not talking about the usual maintenance and aging either. Those costs are there to be sure, but here I'm talking about the extra capacity that must be accounted for in order to handle the solar panels on roofs and to handle the extra load from heat pumps and EV's; our current distribution system is not going to be adequate.
Quoting Senator Fenberg from the Sun article linked first below, "'We need to account for the fact that increased load does have a cost,' Senate President Steve Fenberg, a Boulder Democrat and cosponsor of the bill, told a Senate Finance Committee hearing. 'There are investments that need to be made.'"
I suppose at least the politicians are being honest about how their policy will be adding costs to consumers. That's kind of new.
And a bill by Fenberg (among others--see the second link below) which will grease the skids for adding those costs to consumers has cleared both chambers of our legislature and is now headed to Gov Polis.
Not surprisingly, it has the support of many, including Xcel, trade unions, electrical trade groups that would do the work and/or profit, and environmentalists.
You know who else? The folks who are supposed to speak for Xcel's captive customers in front of the PUC. Quoting the Sun article below, "'This kind of cost recovery has to happen,' Cindy Schonhaut, director of the Colorado Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate, which represents residential and small commercial customers, said in an interview. 'The distribution system needs help. But we realize a lot of stuff is going to end up on consumer bills,' Schonhaut said."
If you're an Xcel customer, that feeling you have on your back right now is a target being painted. Reason being that, after Polis' likely signature, the cost for this will be added as a "rider" on your electric bill.
Summarizing greatly here (and the Complete Colorado op-ed linked third below has got more detail and context), a rider lets Xcel skip the usual process involved in getting extra money: it allows Xcel to take more money from you without the approval of the PUC (something they'd normally have to do and I suspect Fenberg et. al. put it in the bill because of the PUC's late reluctance on letting Xcel raise prices).
Taking a quote from the op-ed:
"Fenberg’s bill labels the new charge the Grid Modernization Adjustment Clause (GMAC). A more appropriate name for Xcel’s new cash cow is the Fenberg Rider (FR), which will be added to all the other riders including the Colorado Energy Plan Adjustment (CEPA), Demand Side Management (DSM), Electric Commodity Adjustment (ECA), General Rate Schedule Adjustment (GRSA), Purchase Capacity Cost Adjustment (PCCA), Renewable Energy Standard Adjustment (RESA), Transmission Cost Adjustment (TCA), and Transportation Electrification Plan (TEP) that funds much of Xcel’s service without having to file a rate case. They’re all listed on your latest energy bill. A review of my own most recent Xcel statement shows that legislatively approved riders account for 86 percent of my total bill. Comparing my March 2024 bill to my March 2011 bill shows the cost per kilowatt hour, including all riders, has increased 45 percent."
Clearly this rider will be in good company.
As I wrote this, I couldn't help but wonder whether this charge will be site-specific. Meaning, will I pay a cost proportionate to improvements where I live or do I get to subsidize improvements in the whole state.
As of this writing, I've not heard, but you can likely guess what I think the answer is ...
https://coloradosun.com/2024/05/01/xcel-energy-power-grid-senate-bill-218/
https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb24-218
https://pagetwo.completecolorado.com/2024/05/06/cooke-xcel-energy-cash-cow-steve-fenberg-rider/
Pay careful attention to how the state fixes their budget mistake. It is your money.
You may have seen some news articles of late about a great big "oops" in the state's budget and how the state owes you TABOR refunds from the past couple years (as well as this year) because of it.
The below is my take on it: some context and what I hope those running the state WON'T do to fix the problem.
Its your money, make sure you are paying attention to what happens with it.
https://pagetwo.completecolorado.com/2024/05/08/gaines-getting-back-from-the-state-what-were-owed-under-tabor/
Well, this explains why sometimes the seeds I collect flopped.
Well, it's that time of the week again. Last post on Friday and thus something for fun, a curiosity. It will also be the last post til Sunday.
When I grow things I often try to collect some seeds. Why pay for new seed when I can just let one of plants, pods, what have you, go to seed and plant those next year.
I have had terrible luck with this sometimes and I think I may now have part of the reason why: some of the things I was trying to collect seeds for and grow the next year were F1 hybrids.**
So what is an F1 hybrid? They are seeds that come by crossing two other varieties which are themselves already often inbred. They can be vigorous growers with good properties--lots of flowers or lots of fruit, or perhaps a good producer with some disease resistance--but nature doesn't give anything for free. There can be some problems.
Among them are the possibility that the hybrid is sterile. If not sterile, at the last a lower germination rate and "drift" away from the desirable properties of the parents of the original seed.
I linked to a little explainer below.
I'll know to check the package in the future and be more careful. By this point it may be moot though. I have a literal suitcase full of seeds. It's already, just among the purchased seeds, more than I can use in any given year. I keep adding too as I try other varieties.
Well, that's it til Sunday. Hope you have a good afternoon and back at it soon enough!
**Some of the reason is also undoubtedly my own incompetence. I am still learning and have only recently learned about ways to prep seeds and differentiate between those that have been fertilized and those that haven't.
https://pcmg.ucanr.org/files/171548.pdf