The 5 BiggestClean Energy Turkeys of 2014
Since BuzzFeed has already captured themarket for the dumbest things ever said on Facebook,Twitter and therest of the internet,we'll stick to what we know: energy.
We're a little bitmore highbrow here, so we're certainly not calling the people on our 2014turkey list dumb. Instead, this list recognizes the people,companies and institutions that made decisions or statements over the last yearthat were widely criticized.
1.60 Minutes
In January, thetelevision news magazine60 Minutesaired a segment called the cleantech crash, whichlooked at the numerous troubles venture capitalists faced in the sector.
The starting pointof the story was accurate: investors have been burned by large losses inbiofuels, solar manufacturing and batteries. However, reporter Lesley Stahl waslambasted forleaving out key facts about industry growth, citing inaccurate statistics aboutloan guarantees and quoting sources out of context. The story painted a verygrim picture for clean energy even as the industry is seeing record-breakinggrowth.
Vinod Khosla, whowas profiled in the story,did not hold backinhis criticism after it aired: The pontificators at60 Minutes, with their agenda-driven bastardization of news reporting,failed to do the most elementary fact-checking and source qualification, as wasthe case with your Benghazi reporting.
The Energy Gang alsotook a look at the factual inaccuracies and poor framing of the story, whichyou can listen to below:
2. Marsha Blackburn (and every other critic of loan guarantees)
Three years afterthe bankruptcy of Solyndra, the results of the Department of Energy's loanguarantee program are in. Only 2 percent of loans have gone sour, and theprogram isexpected to make a $5 billion profitfor taxpayers when all loans are paidoff.
But that didn'tinfluence U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who stuck to her factuallyincorrect talking points even after a progress report was released detailingthe strong track record of loan guarantees.
“When you look atwhat’s happened with solar, some of the battery companies, you see that most ofthese companies are bankrupt and are no longer in existence, and the taxpayeris left holding the bag, said Blackburn inan interviewwith Bloomberg Businessweek.
In an op-ed,Jonathan Silver, the former director of the DOE's loan programs office, responded to Blackburnandothers in Congress: Critics complain that the government is a badinvestor, but the track record of the DOE loan program is better than nearlyevery private sector debt or equity investor in clean energy over the same period.
3.Hawaii utilities
Hawaii is a livinglaboratory for distributed generation. With solar overloading circuits in thedaytime, Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) is trying to figure out how to muchPV the grid can handle.
State regulators arecurrently working with HECO to develop a plan for integrating more distributedgeneration, demand response and storage in order to make the grid moreresponsive. In the meantime, however, HECO has stalled applications for solarsystems, causing permits to drop sharply and the solar industry toshed 3,000 workers this year.
HECO has legitimateconcerns about the reliability of the grid. However, regulators and politicalleaders in Hawaii haveexpressed strong disapprovalof the utility's vision for the grid,saying it “failed to articulate a sustainable business model” for thefuture.
“There are manypilot projects, studies and plans…[but] no specific corporate strategy designedto ultimately achieve that vision, wrote the public utilitycommission.
4.FirstEnergy
Ohio-based utilityFirstEnergy isn't hiding its strategy: fight anything other than fossil fuelsor nuclear. In a speech this spring, FirstEnergy CEO TonyAlexander detailed the company's philosophy.
In theelectric utility industry, energy efficiency, renewable power, distributedgeneration, micro grids, rooftop solar and demand reduction are examples ofwhat 'sounds good,' said Alexander. They are not substitutes forwhat has worked to sustain a reliable, affordable and environmentallyresponsible electric system.
That philosophy hastranslated into political and legal action. In the last year, FirstEnergy has stepped upto challenge demand response,kill Ohio's renewable energy and efficiency target, and ask regulators tofreeze efficiency programs.
“They have theirheads in the sand,” said cleantech investor Jigar Shah, who believes utilitieslike FirstEnergy may end up with stranded assets as renewablesincreasingly challenge the economics of their portfolios.
5.Tony Abbott
Since taking office,Australia Prime Minister Tony Abbott has worked to dismantle every policydesigned to confront climate change in his country. Alarmed by the government'sactions to kill a carbon tax, water down renewable energy targets and boostsubsidies to coal, fellow conservativeshave called Abbott's actionsbaffling and labeled him aflat-earther.
“The future for coalis bright, and it is the responsibility [of] government to try to ensure thatwe are there making it easier for everyone wanting to have a go, saidAbbott recently, explaining his desire to subsidize coal export projects andboost the industry.
According to theInternational Energy Agency, two-thirds of fossil fuel reservesneed to stay in the groundin order to avoid catastrophic climatechange.
Abbott has blamedrenewable energy targets and the country's former carbon tax on high powerprices in the country. However, the government has admitted that renewablesonly make up 5 percent of consumers' bills and the repealed carbon tax onlymade up 9 percent -- while51 percent goes to network chargesdue to an overbuild of electricityinfrastructure.
Source：http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/the-5-biggest-clean-energy-turkeys-of-2014