Miami-Dade looks into tax financing of solar for homeowners

Miami-Dade Commissioner Katy Sorenson pushed a piece of legislation through the Commission calling on the Mayor to develop the "Berkeley model" for renewable energy financing.  Basically a person who lives in an area offering this type of service (currently the City of Berkeley and Palm Springs County, California, Boulder Colorado and a couple other places in the country) can "op-in" to a taxing district like you have for street lights or landscape maintenance.  But instead of mowing the commons of a development, the property owner can use funds to install solar or do major efficiency enhancements like super-efficient windows or an A/C or cool roof and pay back the loan through an assessment on their tax bill.

The resolution calls for a plan to come back for the legislative body's review in three months.

You can read the resolution here

and if you really want a glimpse of what nonsense the Board of County Commissioners can be, watch how long the "debate" dragged out because perennial opponent to Sorenson - Natash Sejas tried to kill the idea and ended up voting against the item along with allies Diaz and Martinez: Video  and click on item 11A9 on the left.

County developing sustainability plan - comments wanted on first report

Miami-Dade County is developing a comprehensive sustainability plan. Hopefully it will go from plan to action instead of a shelf collecting organic dust.

I won't let the pessimist in me rule the day, so I'll be one to dig into the report and send some comments.  The County released an "assessment report" a couple weeks ago and is looking for comments ASAP.  Please take a look at the site and see what you think, let them know if you like the measures they're using to determine "where we are" and send ideas on what you want to see in the report if it isn't there.

Climate change and energy are two major subject areas in the report.

miamidade.gov/greenprint/milestone_one.asp

Here's some additional info from the County's Sustainability office:

Please note that the purpose of the Assessment Report is to identify how County residents / businesses / governments / organizations are doing with regard to sustainability (environmental/economic/social equity) issues and to identify existing challenges.   In addition to trying to get a snapshot of where things stand with regard to sustainability, the function of the Assessment Report is also to identify metrics that can be used in the future to  assess how much (or how little) progress we make each year with regard to identified challenges.

The purpose of the Assessment Report is not to set goals or decide which initiatives should be a priority  – these will be different steps of the sustainability plan process, and we will be requesting public input for these steps in the future.

Miami-Dade College PV installation and design workshops - January 15, 16, 22, 23

Workshops for basic and now advanced photovoltaic installation and design are available again at Miami-Dade College through the Earth Ethics Institute.  Classes from January 15 through the 23rd.  Visit their site for details and how to register: www.earthethicsinstitute.org/pvworkshops.asp

Miami-Dade Gets first Solar PV manufacturer soon according to Beacon Council

At a recent "key ceremony" hosted by the Beacon Council, Miami-Dade County's economic development corporation, one of the companies honored is a solar photovoltaic manufacturer.

The firm, Cuantum, is a transplant from Spain and this would be their first facility in North America.  It would also be the first PV manufacturer to set up shop in Florida.

The company projected a $5 million investment in the production facility just west of Miami International Airport and is expecting to hire over 100 new employees as they start production in early 2010.

Additional details when I get them, but this is big news - green solar jobs right here in Miami.

Cuantum Solar America's website

Nuke Regulators Reject FPL's choice of Plant Maker over structural flaw

I'm a bit off topic here, but since FPL seems to think nuclear should be given the same due as solar in the RPS legislation, I figured I'd cover a bit of rather alarming news about the company slated to build the new Turkey Point nuclear units:

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recently rejected the Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactor design over flaws in the shield building design. The shield building is the outermost structure around the reactor.

It appears that the NRC deemed the building insufficiently tough enough to withstand natural disasters - a rather important performance measure in hurricane prone South Florida. The design flaw also seems to stem partially from the manufacturer's attempt to make the construction "modular" - making the structure in sections elsewhere and shipping them to the final destination to be connected together like Lego blocks. While that aspect of the design is probably overcome by slowing down construction and pouring concrete on site, a bigger issue might be the passive cooling design. The Westinghouse unit stores millions of gallons of water above the reactor so an emergency shut-down would not require energy to pump water into the containment area. Structural concerns there would be harder to work around.

Even though this will likely impact the construction timeline for FPL, the PSC just gave the go-ahead to pre-charge us for these new reactors just this past week. I wonder if the utility informed the PSC about the problems with the design when they were asking for early cost recovery.

The New York Times: Agency Rejects Westinghouse Plant Design

The Wall Street Journal: NRC Rejects Nuclear Plant Design

The Miami Herald: Nuclear Reactor Design Has Safety Flaw

The Charlotte Business Journal: NRC rejects Westinghouse Reactor's Shield Building Design