A Califórnia já começou! Estão laçando o programa 20/20. Se os californianos economizarem 20% da energia de Junho a Setembro, ganharão um desconto de 20% nas suas contas. Foi o jeito que o Governador Davis arranjou para enfrentar a escassez. Aqui, ao invés do governo ficar dissimulando o fracasso da privatização, deveria admitir os erros e partir para uma solução.
Usinas térmicas construidas às pressas não vão resolver nada a tempo e vão aumentar ainda mais o já caro preço da energia elétrica brasileira pós privatização.
Importação da Argentina também não pela impossibilidade de transferência de energia do Sul para o Sudeste, fruto da estúpida decisão de não deixar as estatais investirem e da completa destruição do planejamento.
O que se tem que discutir aqui , caso um esquema parecido seja adotado, é quem paga essa conta. Se for o governo, seremos todos nós pois o que economizarmos de energia pagaremos em impostos. A nosso ver, quem deveria pagar são as distribuidoras que estão com uma margem sobre o preço do suprimento recorde no mundo.
De qualquer modo estamos atrasados!
Save energy, get rebate Governor’s plan for summer will reward the frugal
By Ed Mendel STAFF WRITER, San Diego Union-Tribune March 14, 2001
SACRAMENTO — An emergency order issued by Gov. Gray Davis yesterday will give a 20 percent rebate to Californians who cut their electricity use by 20 percent this summer, a combination that would save the average San Diego County ratepayer about $124.
The "20/20" program will give the rebate to those who average a 20 percent reduction from June through September this year, compared with the same four months last year. The rebate program is part of the governor’s drive to avoid blackouts this summer, when power use will shoot up with the temperature. He is encouraging conservation and attempting to bring 5,000 megawatts of new power generation on line.
"Every Californian should see it as their patriotic duty to at least conserve 10 percent," Davis said. "And if they can conserve 20 percent we are going to reward them with a 20 percent rebate." The governor said that using less electricity can save the state money in two ways — by reducing the total amount of electricity that must be purchased and by reducing the price, which drops with demand. The state would spend an estimated $90 million on rebates if only one out of 10 ratepayers meets the conservation target. But the state could save as much as $1.3 billion, because it would have to buy less power during peak periods. "This program puts money in the hands of California consumers as opposed to out-of-state generators," Davis said. "And believe me, the cheapest megawatt you can buy this summer is the one you don’t have to purchase." The rebate program covers the customers of the three investor-owned utilities: San Diego Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison, and Pacific Gas and Electric. The state began buying power for the utilities in mid-January, spending about $3 billion so far, after a failed deregulation plan nearly bankrupted Edison and PG&E.
The state is buying power on the expensive spot market until cheaper long-term contracts can be obtained. Under the governor’s plan, the state will be repaid by a $10 billion bond that will be paid off by ratepayers. The governor said that a rebate plan for the state’s municipal utilities, such as the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, would have to be designed differently because the state does not purchase power for them. "We are going to undertake discussions with them to see if we can do it in a financially responsible way," he said.
Davis said rebates for customers of the three investor-owned utilities probably would be a credit on their October or November bills. All residential, commercial and industrial ratepayers are eligible. The rebate will be given to residential customers who average a 20 percent reduction in total consumption during the four-month period. Business customers will receive the rebate for a 20 percent reduction during peak periods, when demand is greatest.
Davis said the rebate, plus the lower bill for meeting the 20 percent conservation target, is expected to trim the total bill for ratepayers during the four-month period by about a third. The governor’s office said the Public Utilities Commission calculates that the average SDG&E residential bill is $93 a month. A savings of one third during the four-month period would total about $124. The rebate program was welcomed by Michael Shames of the Utility Consumers’ Action Network in San Diego. He said new reports show that California will not receive hydroelectric power from the Northwest this summer because of a drought.
"The conservation program is more needed now than I think anybody fully appreciated only a month ago," Shames said. However, he said, ratepayers may need to replace inefficient refrigerators and make other investments to meet the conservation target under the rebate program. "You can do it," he said, "but it’s going to be very difficult to save 20 percent by turning off lights or changing your consumption patterns." Shames said that when SDG&E bills doubled and tripled last summer before being capped by legislation, ratepayers only reduced their power use by about 10 percent as they struggled to lower their monthly bills. Nevertheless, the Davis administration has high hopes for the rebate program as it prepares for the summer, when air-conditioning and other factors may push California’s power use 50 percent above winter levels. "I think it’s singularly the most important thing we are doing to try to meet this summer," said Environmental Protection Secretary Winston Hickox, who was named "permitting czar" by Davis to speed power-plant construction.
The governor said the state has about 3,000 megawatts of the additional 5,000 megawatts he hopes to bring on line by this summer. A megawatt can provide electricity for about 1,000 homes. California has not built a major power plant in a dozen years and has been importing about 20 percent of its power. But three new power plants producing 1,300 megawatts are expected to begin operating this summer. Hickox said restarting some power plants will produce 700 megawatts, increasing production from other plants will produce 500 megawatts, and small plants that operate only during peak periods will generate 500 megawatts. The state is still scrambling to find the additional 2,000 megawatts that the Davis administration says will be needed this summer. The California Independent System Operator, which manages most of the state’s power grid, and some power companies say the state will need quite a bit more electricity this summer than Davis has predicted.
Copyright 2001 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Rebates Offered To Save Power
Ratepayers benefit if summer use drops 20% Lynda Gledhill, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau Wednesday, March 14, 2001 ©2001 San Francisco Chronicle
Sacramento — Saying he would rather pay Californians to conserve power than pay out-of- state generators to supply it, Gov. Gray Davis announced yesterday a rebate of 20 percent on the power bills of those who cut usage by one fifth. The incentive will apply for all residential and business users over the summer months. The reduction will be measured against last year’s usage.
The program starts on June 1. To receive a rebate, customers must conserve at least 20 percent in each of the four months through Sept. 30. The rebate will be credited to a customer’s future bill. "Those who go the extra mile deserve an extra something," said Davis, speaking to reporters in front of a Sacramento area cogeneration plant. "Believe me, the cheapest megawatts this summer are the ones we don’t have to buy." Spending $43 million a day on power this winter, Davis is clearly looking to conservation to save money and avert rolling blackouts. The threat of summer blackouts was emphasized yesterday in a legislative analyst’s report that the state may face a shortfall of up to 7,100 megawatts during peak demand. The state already has spent $3.7 billion on electricity purchases and may run out of the authorized $10 billion by July, before the height of the summer heat. Davis said the estimated savings to the state if just 10 percent of utilities’ customers participate in the plan is anywhere from $400 million to $1.3 billion.
The governor’s office said yesterday that of 40 agreements announced last week, 19 long-term contracts have been signed. Nettie Hoge, executive director of The Utility Reform Network, said the state will find itself trying to buy the most expensive power this summer. "The state coffers are going to be bleeding," she said. "Every drop we save will help — there are ramifications for health and safety, libraries and schools." Hoge said she supports the governor’s conservation proposal because people need goals to strive for.
PROGRAM COMPARES USAGE
The program, which comes in the form of an executive order, will measure usage from June 1 to Sept. 30 this year compared with the same time last year. It will be up to the utilities to track the usage and the rebate will appear on either the October or November bill, Davis said. The governor has previously said that every consumer should conserve by 10 percent in order to avoid blackouts. It will cost the state about $90 million to provide rebates, Davis said, money that will come from the authorization to buy power. Although Pacific Gas and Electric Co. reads meters only every other month, Davis said, he expected people would have enough time and information during the four-month period to implement the savings. Both Hoge and Michael Shames, head of Utility Consumers Action, said they believe the 20 percent reduction is within the reach of most ratepayers. "Consumers need to be given the tools to know how to do it," Shames said. "It’s not just a reduction in use, it’s things like replacing refrigerators and air conditioners."
DIFFICULT TO USE
But Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, said he thought the governor’s plan would be too difficult for residential customers to take advantage of. "They don’t have the ability or time to track their usage every day like big businesses," he said. Davis said yesterday that he may authorize state money to allow real-time metering for residents. This would allow residents to track their energy usage hour to hour. Only customers and businesses in the service area of California’s three investor-owned utilities — San Diego Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and PG&E — are eligible for the conservation program. Large businesses that are part of the interruptible program will have to reduce use by 20 percent during peak demand to receive the refund.
