Do the Colorado Toxic Spills Foretell Nightmares for the EPA?
Originally posted in Energy Central Posted on October 16, 2015 Posted By: Stephen Heins Topic: Environmental, Emissions & Carbon Management For decades the EPA, with its piercing scrutiny, complex regulations, and ruthless punishment of polluters, has ruled through fear and intimidation. But with a growing list of recent debacles, scandal, and regulatory snafus, the tables may be turning, and [...]
Do the Colorado Toxic Spills Foretell Nightmares for the EPA?
For decades the EPA, with its piercing scrutiny, complex regulations, and ruthless punishment of polluters, has ruled through fear and intimidation. But with a growing list of recent debacles, scandal, and regulatory snafus, the tables may be turning, and the EPA itself may have good reason to feel afraid, especially after triggering a second wastewater spill in Colorado in [...]
Did EPA pay Harvard to fix study supporting Clean Power Plan?
Originally posted in Fortnightly's SPARK 29 Sept 2015 | By Stephen Heins, The Word Merchant Let’s have full disclosure on Harvard’s new health study (And why it so closely defends the EPA that helped to fund it.) As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. That’s the lesson one might well draw from the remarkable but [...]
State Utility Commissioners at Ground Zero
13 Jun 2015 | by Stephen Heins State utility commissioners in all 50 states are under a lot of stress. First, they must formulate and plan for the future of their states’ electrical grids and at the same time, keep their eyes on the developments in Washington and on the EPA whose Clean Power Plan (CPP) is the elephant [...]
With The Clean Power Plan, EPA Has Given Up On Cooperative Federalism
Originally posted in Forbes/Opinion 4 Mar 2015 | By Stephen Heins The idea of “cooperative federalism” began with the New Deal in the 1930s when it came to include a division of responsibilities among the states and the federal government agencies of electric power and distribution. By the passage of the Clean Air Act of 1970, the EPA set the minimum standards [...]
Practical Environmentalism In The Noisy World Of Energy
Originally posted in Forbes/Opinion 23 Dec 2014 | By Stephen Heins The world of energy (oil, pipelines, OPEC, fracking, gasoline prices, peak oil, tar sands and natural gas, to mention the most overly discussed) has entered a new phase, while reasserting its place in the world headlines. In the meantime, another very important American energy story—electricity for the present and future of [...]
State Moves Into Top 10 in Energy Efficiency
Embed from Getty Images 14 Oct 2008 | by Stephen Heins In an October report by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, the state of Wisconsin moved into the top 10 on the "2008 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard." In addition, Wisconsin should further improve its ranking now that the Citizens Utility Board and Wisconsin Public Service Corp., [...]
Energy Efficiency and Emission Trading Schemes (2008 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency at Asilomar)
26 May 2008 | by Steve Heins, Orion Energy Systems ABSTRACT Properly designing a greenhouse gas commodity market to trade allowances or offsets presents a serious challenge to policy makers, commodity brokers and sectors that are affected by the cost and profit potential that a market brings. In order for any commodity market to be successful, the market must [...]
Decoupling: Divorcing Electricity Sales from Revenues Creates Win-Win for Utilities and Customers
Originally published © 2007 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Industry 27 May 2007 | by Stephen Heins and Joel Sandersen, Orion Energy Systems ABSTRACT Current regulatory mechanisms have created incentive structures that discourage utilities from implementing energy efficiency, demand side management and other load reducing programs for their customers. These disincentives are driven by the existing regulatory [...]
Sobering News Requires Immediate Action
13 May 2007 | by Stephen Heins A report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued earlier this month provides a sobering assessment of the impact global warming could have on the climate and has prompted government officials, environmentalists, and even some of the most skeptical conservatives to sit up and take notice. The question [...]
Let’s Shine a Light on Energy Efficiency While We Argue About Oil
Originally posted by Energy Central March 22, 2006 | By Stephen Heins We applaud the leadership of Senator Rob Cowles and Assemblyperson Phil Montgomery as they have marshaled the recommendations of Gov. Doyle's Task Force on Energy Efficiency and Renewables into a very robust energy bill, with a portfolio of short-term, mid-term and long-term solutions designed to slow the [...]
Energy efficiency and the spectre of free-ridership: is a kilowatt saved really a kilowatt saved?
1 Feb 2006 | by Stephen Heins Applying a "best practices" analysis to the sacred cow of "free-ridership" as it relates to public benefits and utility energy-efficiency programs yields some important results. This analysis is all the more important, because energy efficiency with a measurement, verification, and sustainability protocol is emerging as the single best investment option for economic [...]