Please unrecommend this diary and recommend zenbowl's excellent diary on government suppression of global warming science instead!
The original diary to which this diary refers has been amended, and in the comments, the original diarist does the right thing and admits she misunderstood what she was told. It's not easy to admit a mistake -- I admire her for doing it. Time to move on, folks. Please unrecommend this diary, it's still hanging around on the rec list.
Currently, Last night's #1 recommended diary, entitled Al Gore's Electricity Really $432 a Month [UPDATED: Title now "Green Power Switch Thanks Gore For Growth"] appears to be flat wrong. Well-intentioned, but flat wrong. Many commenters have explained that when the diarist contacted Green Power Switch, she misunderstood the representative.
Al Gore pays $432 per month in a program to purchase green power credits. This is basically a voluntary subsidy for green power production. It is a surcharge on top of his electric bill. Gore's power distributor is Nashville Electrical Service, not Green Power Switch (GPS). GPS is just a program of the Tennessee Valley Authority, and is not an actual power provider.
UPDATE: The diarist has made a brief update to their diary acknowledging that the facts are in doubt. UPDATE 2: As requested, I will not delete this diary, since the diarist's update is somewhat hard to find. TITLE CHANGED to reflect new title of original diary.
The diarist is waiting until tomorrow to get further information (reasonable). This is NOT a call-out diary, but a call for fact-checking. Please recommend so that people can see that we are a community that can debate in the service of truth.
This comment by kossack Tod was especially compelling.
Uh Oh. (4+ / 0-)
Recommended by:DaveV, BruinKid, Stampy51, dotcommodity
I was delighted to see your work, and went to the background sources to make the argument on another board.
Unfortunately, I found a problem.
The Nashville Electric Services Website says that the rate for ordinary power is 7.380 cents per killowat hour. That works out to $11.07 for a 150 killowat hour block.
The Green Power Switch webpage says:
You can buy green power in 150-kilowatt hour blocks (about 12% of a typical household´s monthly use). Each block you sign up to purchase will add $4.00 to your monthy power bill, and you can buy just one block or as many as you like.
So, green power can't be just $4 for 150KWh if ordinary dirty power is $11.07 for 150KWh. The $4 per block quoted in the article has to be the extra cost on top of the regular rate, not the total. 108 blocks per month times $4 is the $432 per month quoted in the article. That has to be the extra cost, not the total. By the way, the Green Power Switch website says that each 150 KWh block is about 12% of an average home's monthly usage. That's an average of 8 blocks per month. Gore using 108 blocks per month is 13.5 times the average home's monthly usage. Not as bad as 20 times the average home which is what the original smear said, but still a lot.
I'd love to be wrong on this, but I don't think I am.
I now have to go back to another board and pull my foot out of my mouth.
This post by kossack illinifan17 is also very helpful, and has a good thread following it.
The assertions in this diary are incorrect! (7+ / 0-)
Recommended by:pb, bubbles, DaveV, BruinKid, indefinitelee, Stampy51, 0wn
Green Power Switch Units in Tennessee cost $4 per 15 kwh. That's the $432 per month for 108 units. He still has to pay for the electricity, at about 9 cents per kwh. If he uses all of the 108 units, then that is about 16,000 kwh per month. At 9 cents each that's about another $1500.
So I see only tatters of clearness through a pervading obscurity - Annie Dillard 6.88, 5.33
by illinifan17 on Wed Mar 07, 2007 at 10:37:28 PM CST
Kossack Neuvo Liberal makes an excellent point about the above estimates, which I reproduce below:
I would like you to update your diary, in turn (0 / 0)
because "13.5 times the average home's monthly usage." doesn't take into account the square footage. Gore's home is 10K square foot large (other big names have even larger homes), whereas an average home is about 2000 sqft. Hence your diary is misleading as well.
Please also post the following: The region (east south central) have the highest energy/electricity consumption in the country. The factor is about 45% higher than national.
Proof: from the pdf file:
US National (USN) elec. consumption/household 10,656 KWh
East South Central (ESC) consumption/household 15,447 KWh
Ratio (ESC/USN) 1.4496
which is about 45% more.
Also, illinifan and Tod's figures use what seems to be a groos approximation. I have been researching this, and was not going to post until I had complete analysis at hand, but the Gore's total electricity bill to the penny in 2006 (including the green power extra charge), I have it at:
$14323.69 for 12 months
About $1200 per month (coinciding with AP's figure) (which includes the green power for how many ever months and block they paid for in 2006).
Their current payments about $430 towards green power switch.
Beat back the rightwing smearing of Gore! Find Rebuttal Arguments here
by NeuvoLiberal on Thu Mar 08, 2007 at 12:09:11 AM CST
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