60 Minutes Wyoming Green Energy Segment

[BigHornRam]

Might want to check those prices. My rates are way lower in WA than what I paid in MT. And MT rates just got jacked up enough that @BigHornRam might need to rethink his opposition to Chinese solar panels.

My last bill, 460 kilowatts cost me $60.00 delivered. That's .13 cents per kilowatt, same as the rate the average Washington consumer pays. Hydro power supplies much of western Montana electricity, just like it does in Washington.

 

[BigHornRam]

Of course, if the Montana climate kids get their way, Eastern Montana electric rates will be going up.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/young-activists-won-montana-climate-case-stop-power-105257263

 

[SAJ-99]

My last bill, 460 kilowatts cost me $60.00 delivered. That's .13 cents per kilowatt, same as the rate the average Washington consumer pays. Hydro power supplies much of western Montana electricity, just like it does in Washington.

They don’t make you pay for Coal City cleanup? You are living large.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

My last bill, 460 kilowatts cost me $60.00 delivered. That's .13 cents per kilowatt, same as the rate the average Washington consumer pays. Hydro power supplies much of western Montana electricity, just like it does in Washington.

MA electric bills

 

[BigHornRam]

They don’t make you pay for Coal City cleanup? You are living large.

Don't worry.
I think we are going to get stuck with the dam removal bill.

The High Cost of Removing the Lower Snake River Dams

A Joint Analysis by the Washington Policy Center and Center of the American Experiment. Proposals to remove the four Lower Snake River (LSR) dams: Ice Harbor, Little Goose, Lower Lower Granite, and Lower Monumental, to aid in salmon recovery efforts would transform Washington from a state with...

www.americanexperiment.org

 

[Deleted member 28227]

My last bill, 460 kilowatts cost me $60.00 delivered. That's .13 cents per kilowatt, same as the rate the average Washington consumer pays. Hydro power supplies much of western Montana electricity, just like it does in Washington.

Interesting they are building a massive wind farm without a single contract to sell the energy produced? What company can afford to invest that time/money/resources without any guarantee? The entire thing is a disaster.... FYI this is the power transmission line. These photos were of a rare area in the desert west of Baggs. This area was one big canyon that did not have a road (actually has a couple stunted growth aspen) it has a riparian area in the bottom... It was one of a few spots where a person could hike a mile and not hit a road. Now unfortunately there is a new huge road right in the middle of it all...
View attachment 306343View attachment 306344View attachment 306345

When we go to get a federal permit in WY (APD), which is required if there federal minerals in a unit (fed owns a lot of minerals under private FYI), we have to submit our road plan and get it approved. It’s a PITA if we have to expand an existing road and a big process if we want to build a new road, even short segments.

Here’s the rub, we have to do this even if the pad is on private, even if the road is on private, even if the road and the pad are outside the unit, and even if the minerals directly below the pad are private.

So if we pool federal minerals into a unit with a private ranch, the BLM has “decided” that it now has jurisdiction to oversee road construction on private lands.

“Well what if the landowner just decides they want a road over there and it just happens to be near a good pad site ”

Folks tried this and the BLM “lost” their application for those wells for 3 years.

Now sage grouse et al don’t care about private - public boundaries and these habitats need to be considered as contiguous segments, so wearing my conservation hat I get why the BLM flexes control this way, and why it’s important.

But it chaps my ass that wind and solar just get slapped up everywhere.

 

[BigHornRam]

But it chaps my ass that wind and solar just get slapped up everywhere.

If you can't beat them, join them.

https://www.epa.gov/green-power-markets/summary-inflation-reduction-act-provisions-related-renewable-energy#:~:text=Most%20provisions%20of%20the%20Inflation,%2C%20local%2C%20and%20tribal%20organizations.

 

[Nick87]

MA electric bills

View attachment 306350

That's about average for us.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

That's about average for us.

I was coming from coalarado and paying 7 cents so the sticker shock was rough…

 

[SAJ-99]

MA electric bills

View attachment 306350

At least there isn't a line item (yet) that says "Tip Included".

 

[Deleted member 28227]

At least there isn't a line item (yet) that says "Tip Included".

That pops up after they filp the pad around… “its gonna ask you some questions”

 

[Treeshark]

I always like to ask “where is the 15% button on this thing?”

 

[Pagosa]

I worked on pipelines for about 15 years (permitting and construction) and got the opportunity to spend 3 years in NV on a 500. kV power line that was an absolute shit show, concerning water usage (waste) for dust control, very poor engineering design (towers falling over), desert tortoise mitigation, and the visual impacts. I would prefer any day to work on a pipeline that can be reclaimed to about 97% except for the pump/compressor stations and mainline block valves. The only reason these companies propose to build wind farms is the tax credits to offset something else they building/developing. I hate it for WY, and I thought the gas fields in Jonah Field were bad.

 

[shb]

Here's one for you.

The last people you'd think of to be critical of "Green Energy "

 

[shb]

The amount of fossil fuels used to create, and deal with the waste from " green energy" is greater than just using the fossil fuel for your task.


"Green Energy is so dependent on fossil fuels to create, and maintain it, that the elimination of fossil fuels, also eliminates "Green Energy".

 

[Keep on]

Might want to check those prices. My rates are way lower in WA than what I paid in MT. And MT rates just got jacked up enough that @BigHornRam might need to rethink his opposition to Chinese solar panels.

I stand corrected on power prices, but I don't think WA has a bright future ahead with all the push to tear down the dams that provide your state with an abundance of clean hydro power. WA has also recently passed legislation that requires all generation in the future will be by renewable sources. We'll have to see where that lands in 10-15 years, my guess is not in the favor of WA state residents.
NIMBY has not proven to lower power prices in any of the states it's been used in around the country.

 

[Gus Chiggins]

I believe that after burying the old blades it was determined that it was going to cause a problem. Dig them all up and they are sitting above ground now until they can figure out how to dispose of them. I can’t find the source on that though right now.

A few months ago there was a WSJ article on green energy, and wind turbine parts being buried in Wyoming -- the ugly underbelly of what to do with that stuff when it's no longer needed.

 

[Gus Chiggins]

There's also a WSJ article today on the extraordinary amount of food energy the AI gods will require. Microsoft is using AI to help speed up approval of nuclear power plants, in order to power its AI.

I assume any other energy companies building new wind or solar farms also have an eye on the AI energy demand.

One estimate is that due to AI, by 2027 the electricity to power data centers will increase 50% over current use.

And as the AI chips become more autonomous powerful, even more energy will be needed to "cool" them to keep at acceptable tems which could cause an up to 100% increase in electricity consumption.

Sounds like we'll all be living inside the Matrix pretty soon.

 

[Nick87]

There's also a WSJ article today on the extraordinary amount of food energy the AI gods will require. Microsoft is using AI to help speed up approval of nuclear power plants, in order to power its AI.

I assume any other energy companies building new wind or solar farms also have an eye on the AI energy demand.

One estimate is that due to AI, by 2027 the electricity to power data centers will increase 50% over current use.

And as the AI chips become more autonomous powerful, even more energy will be needed to "cool" them to keep at acceptable tems which could cause an up to 100% increase in electricity consumption.

Sounds like we'll all be living inside the Matrix pretty soon.

So charging your ev should be no concern then?

 

[Gus Chiggins]

So charging your ev should be no concern then?

Maybe it’ll be like in S California in the summer. There were news reports that the state asked EV owners to not plug in during certain times of the day.

So, mandatory blackouts from EV charging?