Making Renewable Energy Affordable -Michigan

Twenty five states have requirements that more electricity is to come from renewable sources. Michigan is not one of them, but Governor Granholm would like Michigan to be come the 26th state. Unfortunately she has faced a very partisan legislature, which has stymied her every move. According to an article in the Sunday March 9, 2008 Free Press

Some Republican lawmakers are reluctant to mandate green power.

The majority of Michigan's power is coal generated (60%)and new electricity sources are needed. According to the article:

No matter which fuel is used to generate electricity, costs are going to go up because state regulators say Michigan needs at least one new multibillion-dollar power plant by 2015, and another nine could be needed by 2025 if demand grows as expected.

Granholm believes that Michigan has the potential to become a regional manufacturer of renewable energy sources - something that would bring in much needed capital ($6 Billion) and create 17,000 jobs.

The problem is that it will cost consumers more to move toward renewable energy. The House is considering capping resident's additional costs at $3 monthly over 20 years.

Granholm wants to require power companies to produce 10% of electric power by 2015, and 25% by 2025. Currently, about 3% of Michigan's electricity is renewable.

So should Michigan become a "green power" state? Is this important for our economy? Is there a future is a renewable economy? And....do we need to continue to grow our use of electricity, or should we learn to conserve power, rather than continue to grow in its use? The US consumes almost a third of world power, but is only 4% of the total population.

Good News for America! Wind Energy is Up

Those wind towers in Fremont CA.

In a new study of wind power in the world, the United States was leading the world in new wind power installations in 2007! It's about time. Wind power has been growing across the world for three years running now and 5,244 megawatts of new electrical capacity was added last year. (One thousand small houses with their lights on, or one grocery store open for one hour uses one megawatt-hour of energy.)

As usual California leads the way. Los Angeles broke ground on the largest city owned wind plant in the US. The new plant will be on the edge of the Mojave Desert about 100 miles north of LA. Eighty wind turbines will produce enough electricity to power 56,000 homes.



Thirty eight states now produce 1 % of electricity. It is expected that 2008 will match last year's growth.