IBEW local, CAC director demonstrate cleaner, cheaper power

Imagine producing pollution-free electricity on your roof or in your own backyard. How about powering your neighborhood or office building with clean new technologies? There are alternatives to our addiction to coal and its pollution. And these options are not pie-in-the-sky dreams from Popular Science magazine. They are available right now and some, in fact, are being used right here in Indiana.

Ninety-eight percent of Indiana’s electricity comes from dirty coal. Isn’t it about time we diversified our energy supply? Here’s what we can do:

Ray Simpson sees both the environmental and economic benefits of renewable energy technologies like solar power. Simpson is the business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Union Local 668 in Lafayette. He and his fellow laborers installed a solar electric system on their union hall in June, integrating the system into the building’s design.

IBEW's Ray Simpson stands outside the union hall where union electricians installed solar panels last June.

"There are millions of roofs out there waiting for solar to be installed," says Simpson. He adds that his local was the first union east of the Mississippi to host a two-day course to train laborers to install solar systems. The union hall is also the first solar project in Indiana under the U.S. Department of Energy’s "Million Roofs" program, which aims to have solar systems on one million rooftops by 2010. The IBEW project was funded in part by a grant from the Indiana Department of Commerce’s Office of Energy Policy. This grant was made under a program available to businesses and nonprofit organizations.

Chris Williams is executive director of the state’s largest utility watchdog group, Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana. He often goes head-to-head with electric company executives over electric prices and power plant pollution. He also practices what he preaches.

Chris Williams sits next to the rooftop solar panel which allows him to sell electricity back to his local power company, Indianapolis Power and Light.

Williams recently installed a solar system on his Indianapolis home. He received the system as part of a nationwide test by the manufacturer, Trace Engineering.

Williams’ solar panel is tied into his home’s electric panel and excess electricity is sold back to the power company using "net metering," which causes his electric meter to turn backwards. Indianapolis Power and Light worked with Chris to approve the system’s hookup.

This summer, several power companies in Indiana threatened blackouts during hot spells due to air conditioning demand. Such hot summer days are exactly when solar power works best. Investing in solar power would reduce the risk of blackouts.

Like solar, wind generated power is endless and pollution-free. Major new wind power installations are spreading across the Midwest, especially in Minnesota and Iowa. Is it windy enough in Indiana for wind power? Yes, according to a 1993 study by the Union of Concerned Scientists. That report found that at least 10 percent of Indiana’s electricity demand could be supplied by wind power. Recent advances in wind technologies have resulted in more efficient and cheaper wind turbines, so this potential could now be much higher. The price of wind energy in many areas is now competitive with coal.

It’s pretty simple: Saving fuel costs less than burning it. Energy efficiency saves money and the environment by reducing power plant pollution.

How much does it save? According to energy policy think tank and research organization the Rocky Mountain Institute, energy savings since 1973 have cut the nation’s energy bill by $150 to $200 billion per year. They have also cut carbon dioxide emissions by one-fourth over what they would have been otherwise.

Vast natural areas and energy resources can be saved simply by increasing efficiency in the home and industry. Efficient lighting can save 70 to 90 percent in energy use. Old factory motors running conveyor belts and industrial machinery consume three-fifths of all electricity used by society. Switching to more efficient motors can pay for itself in as little as 16 months.

Fuel cells combine hydrogen, from natural gas, methanol or gasoline, with oxygen in an electrochemical reaction that produces electricity. Heat and pure water vapor are the only by-products. Fuel cells can be used to power cars, trucks and buses.

When it comes to green power, the future is now. The technologies are available. Will we use them? This question will be answered in large part by the Indiana legislature early next year as it debates electricity deregulation. Green power should be encouraged by our elected officials and electric companies, not squelched.

If you want these clean alternatives, use the contact information on page two to contact your state legislator, Governor O’Bannon, as well as your power company, to let them know.

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