Veto The Dominion Bill

We were going to put something together on the multiple problems with the bill hastily passed by the General Assembly to "re-regulate" electric utilities in the state, but someone else has already done an excellent job, so we'll just point you in the right direction.

To recap, Dominion Virginia Power, pretty much the only private electric utility in the state, drafted up its own bill to "re-regulate" itself. After minimal study and virtually no public input, Dominion managed to ram the bill through the General Assembly, which was consumed with the transportation issue.

It's a bad bill. We can, and should, do much better, and we have time, as deregulation doesn't kick in until 2010. We urge Governor Kaine to veto the bill and set up a task force, study group--whatever you want to call it--to work with Dominion reps on a more balanced comprehensive bill that can be introduced next year.

Here are links to a three-part series on why the Dominion bill is bad for the environment, bad for consumers and bad for the state's political system.

1. Bad for the environment.

2. Bad for consumers.

3. Bad for political system.

Webb Iran Bill; Surge Kills U.S. Soldiers; What Does NRLC Have To Hide; Cold Coulter Shoulder; Obesity Surgery For Kids; Callahan Retirement

Today we cover a potpourri of Curmudgeonly short subjects:

Webb Bill Would Limit Authority To Start A War With Iran

Jim Webb has introduced a bill in the Senate that would prevent Bush from using funds to start a war with Iran without Congressional authorization. See here for details.

Bombs Kill U.S. Soldiers In Baghdad

The risks of a troop surge in Iraq were obvious: sending in more U.S. soldiers and placing them in the streets of Baghdad makes them more vulnerable to attack. Today, those risks hit home as bombs killed at least nine U.S. soldiers in Baghdad and maimed many more. Why are we fighting in this civil war?

What Does The National Right To Life Committee Have To Hide?

The National Right To Life Committee has "vowed" to kill legislation that would require executive branch officials to disclose who has been lobbying them. (See story here.) This is pretty reasonable legislation in the wake of the Abramoff scandals and other related examples of insidious political lobbying of the Bush administration. The legislation would obviously apply to future administrations as well, whether Democratic or Republican.

We wonder what the NRLC has to hide.

Let Coulter Run Her Mouth

We really hate to even mention the lady's name in any way because it only gives her the attention she obviously craves. However, we're happy to have AC make public appearances in front of conservative audiences to call people she disagrees with "faggots" and "traitors" because it lets the independent middle of the road citizens see what Brown Shirts these "conservatives" really are.

Obesity Surgery For Children

We haven't said much about obesity for some time--evidently the issue has dropped off the media screen. We did see a report today that the number of children having radical surgery to treat obesity tripled between 2000-2003, and presumably has increased more since then.

That's pretty sad news. While many food marketers have become more responsible in their advertising, we still see plenty of promotions that do little more than encourage overeating. Burger King is a particularly big offender in this category, evidently because it is desperate for business. Wendy's may be worse, because unlike Burger King it pretends to be concerned about obesity and children's diets, yet continues to promote massive triple sized bacon cheese whatever burgers, while also retaining its misleading 20 ounce "small" drinks.

Worse is Quiznos Subs, which has been going after Subway by comparing its meat-filled overstuffed sandwiches with Subway's leaner offering. Maybe the Quiznos person in the ads should weigh 300 pounds, compared to Subway's Jared. (In any event, a regular Subway sandwich costs about half that of a regular Quiznos; for some extra $ you can make your Subway just as fattening.)

At bottom, public health officials have made little headway against obesity in recent years, with most initiatives, such as banning sodas in schools, being minor band-aids.

It's truly sad to see children so large they need life-threatening radical surgery to save themselves.

Fairfax GOP Delegate Vincent Callahan To Retire

The Washington Post reports that Fairfax Republican Delegate Vincent Callahan, who has served a remarkable 40 years in the Virginia House, is retiring at age 75. This presents an excellent opportunity for a Democratic pick-up in the fall election--Callahan was the sole remaining Republican inside the beltway.

Still, it comes at a high cost to Northern Virginia. Callahan was chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, a perch from which he could steer money to NoVa (from whence the money came, we might add).

It's too bad Democratic gains often come at the cost of more moderate Republicans, but that's the way it will be, both at the state and national levels, in our current political environment.

Surge Charade In Iraq

We're now entering the public relations phase of the troop "surge" in Iraq, the part where the Bush administration and its apologistas from the Wall Street Journal and other war-mongering media try to convince us the surge is working.

So, today we read that U.S. and Iraqi security forces conducted their first post-surge sweep of Sadr City, the sprawling Shi'ite slum that is home to the the militant Mahdi Army.

The operation occurred only after extensive negotiations with the Shi'ite dominated Maliki government, including representatives of Moqtada Al Sadr, who nominally controls the Mahdi Army. What a shocking surprise, then, that according to official U.S. military sources they "met no resistance" during the sweep, and also found no weapons caches and detained no suspected militants.

Maybe Bush could expand this strategy. Let's negotiate with the leading smugglers of illegal aliens from Mexico for a one day sweep of a set expanse of the border. We're willing to bet we'll have great success, finding not a single illegal alien attempting to make the crossing that day. We can then declare mission accomplished and take down all our border posts.

What's obviously going on in Baghdad is an elaborate charade. We announce a troop surge in conjunction with Iraqi security forces. Maliki says he supports the security initiative. Al Sadr realizes that if the surge fails, Maliki's government will fall. More importantly, if it "succeeds," then the Americans will declare "victory" and go home, paving the way for a direct conflict between the Mahdi Army and various Sunni groups. So Sadr, who has time on his side, simply decides to wait it out.

Just about every media report we've seen quotes local Shi'ite militants saying they've been "ordered" by Sadr's lieutenants to lay low, not interfere with the new security initiative, and above all else, not engage in clashes with American forces. That makes pretty good sense from Sadr's point of view. It means Americans are left figting Sunni insurgents for the Shi'ites. Meanwhile, Sadr no doubt is mapping out his plans for an aggressive push by Shia militias once the Americans declare Baghdad "secure" and begin the inevitable troop drawdown.

Laura Bush is certainly onboard for the charade. "Many parts of Iraq are stable now," she told Larry King last week. "But, of course, what we see on television is the one bombing a day that discourages everybody." (Just think if Laura was Mary Todd Lincoln, discussing the War Between The States. "Why Larry, I don't know why people call this a Civil War. Much of the country is stable--indeed there hasn't been a battle of any kind north of Gettysburg, and even much of the South, although burned to a crisp and occupied by federal troops, hasn't seen much fighting. Why does the media have to focus on the occasional one bad day of an Antietam?")

If it's so stable, then maybe George and Laura would like to take a nice spring drive through Basra in an open-air car.

Gore's Energy Consumption Is An Issue

While we like former Vice President Al Gore and his Inconvenient Truth campaign to educate the public of the global warming peril, we are disappointed to learn of the massive electric bill at his Nashville home.

The fact that the initial report came from a right-wing Tennessee political organization (not a "think-tank" as some media reported it) doesn't change its significance.

It appears undisputed that Gore's home used approximately 221,000 kwh's of electricity last year. That is a LOT. Comparing Gore's use to the average American home--which uses roughly 10,500 kwh's per annum--is probably unfair. Certainly Gore's home is larger than average.

It appears to us, however, that Gore's energy use far exceeds what even a larger home, even a mansion, should be using. There may be some extenuating circumstances: for example, the Gore household has some security features that no ordinary home would have. There could be other factors as well. For example, we learned that an old electric greenhouse heater we inherited from the previous owners of our home was gobbling up 12,000 kwh's of electricity a year--nearly half our total--before we replaced it. Since we can't imagine how Gore could use such a vast amount of electricity absent some extraordinary circumstance, we'd be curious to hear the full story.

What we can't accept, however, is the argument of some Gore supporters sho say that whatever his electric consumption, it's ok, because Gore is enrolled in the GreenPower program of his local utility. Under such programs, consumers opt to pay a premium to their utility in exchange for a promise that the utility will obtain that electricity from renewable sources (usually wind).

The problem we have with this argument--i.e., that enrolling in GreenPower exempts Gore from scrutiny--is that it kind of assumes unlimited renewable resources. Gore is using up a lot of wind and solar, which means less to offset the carbon emissions of others. Wind and solar are better than oil and coal, but they still consume other resources, such as steel. There's no such thing as a free lunch when it comes to energy.

That's why we harp on conservation here. We're in favor of reasonable energy conservation--that is measures that don't significantly reduce our standard of living--combined with heavy investment in and development of renewable energy sources.

As we've reported here before, the Curmudgeon household has significantly reduced it's electricity consumption through a combination of conservation measures and installation of solar panels. In February, we reached a new monthly low of 625 kwh's, which is darn good for a house as large as ours. (That's almost half our usage in February '06, which was 1115 kwh's--most of the savings is from fluorescent lighting and simply turning our electronics off each night.) While that's a good start, we're still concerned that our carbon footprint (from our natural gas usage, cars, beef consumption, etc.) is still quite massive.

Gore says that he, too, is renovating his house to make it more energy efficient, and that he plans to add some solar panels to his home. By our calculation, he'd have to install more than 1000 of the Curmudgeon's 190 watt Evergreen panels--at a cost of more than a million dollars--to offset his current use of electricity. We doubt if his roof is big enough for that.

Gore can't just talk the talk. He needs to walk the walk. Home is a great place to start.

Northern Virginia Barbie

If you're easily offended by stereotypes, don't read further. If you can stand poking a little fun at NoVa, read on.

A friend sent us a preview of Mattel's new limited edition collection of Northern Virginia Barbie's. We've posted the top five:

1. " Loudoun County Barbie "
This princess Barbie is sold only at the Dulles Town Center or Tysons Corner II. She comes with an assortment of Louis Vuitton Handbags, a brand new Lexus SUV, a long-haired foreign dog named Honey and a way overpriced house. Available with or without tummy tuck and face lift. Workaholic Ken in High Tech/Attorney/CPA/M.D. Attire sold only in conjunction with the augmented Barbie version.




2. " Fairfax County Barbie "
The modern day homemaker Barbie is available with Ford Windstar Minivan and matching gym outfit. She gets lost easily and has no full-time occupation. She's currently taking Spanish lessons to get along with her neighbors. Traffic jamming cell phone sold separately.



3. " McLean Barbie"
This yuppie Barbie comes with your choice of BMW convertible or Hummer H2. Included are her own Starbucks cup, credit card and country club membership. Also available for this set are Shallow Ken and Private School Skipper. You won't be able to afford any of them.



4. " Ashburn Barbie "
This Botox Barbie comes dressed to impress in leopard print pants and bleached blonde hair . She comes ready to party with a cosmopolitan in her right hand and a bottle of Valium in her left. Overpriced condo sold separately.



5. And finally (this one is pretty mean): " Woodbridge Barbie "
This pale model comes dressed in her own Wrangler jeans two sizes too small, a NASCAR t-shirt and tweety bird tattoo on her shoulder. She has a six-pack of Bud light and a Hank Williams Jr. CD set. She can spit over 5 feet and kick mullet-haired Ken's butt when she is drunk. Purchase her pickup truck separately and get a confederate flag bumper sticker absolutely free.



But no Arlington Barbie--too sensible, we guess!

NBC's "Lucky Case" Rip-off Scheme Spreads Like A Cancer Through Television

Suppose Howie Mandel, on NBC's popular "Deal or No Deal" game show, took time out from each broadcast to urge viewers to send in $1 apiece for the chance to "win" a $10,000 prize. And suppose far more than 10,000 viewers sent in their $1 in the hope of winning, leaving NBC with a tidy little profit?

That would be an illegal lottery, and pretty soon some folks--maybe even Howie--would be in jail.

About a year ago, we wrote about NBC's shameful "Lucky Case" promotion on "Deal", characterizing it as not much different than an illegal lottery because it requires entrants to pay a $.99 "premium text messaging charge" to enter.

Unfortunately, this scam is now spreading to other NBC shows, and even to mighty American Idol on Fox. NBC has a similar promotion on its "1 Vs. 100" game show and on Donald Trump's "The Apprentice". These "contests" are heavily promoted during the shows, during just about every commercial break.

The similar promotion on American Idol is not quite so pervasive--we've only seen one quick promo for it during each show, probably because Idol commercial time is just too valuable to squander.

So why are these rip-offs spreading? Easy: its all about the money. Just take a look at this June 2006 press release from the company that manages the Lucky Case game for NBC. According to the press release, there have been 57 million entries to the game, with just $1 million paid out! That means someone--presumably the cellular carriers and NBC--is pocketing nearly $56 million. No wonder this phenomenon is spreading like a cancer throughout television.

(To be sure, you can also enter these games on the internet, for free--if you can parse through the extremely small print on your television screen to figure that out. Presumably, only a very small fraction of entries are over the internet or NBC wouldn't devote so much time to the promotion.)

Furthermore, there is some small print in NBC's rules that suggests entrants may end up paying more than $1 per entry. The rules contain this little notation:

"In addition, a premium text message charge of $.99 will apply to all text messages sent and received in connection with the Promotion. You will receive a "thank you" text message the following day including a DEAL OR NO DEAL Insider message."

In other words, it appears that you will get charged another $.99 for the "thank you" message--isn't that sweet, paying for a thank you! (If you don't want to get the thank you's, you can pay another $.99 to text a message asking not to receive them.)

So it may be that NBC and its cell-phone carrier cronies have earned not $56 million, but over $100 million on this scam, and that's just from Deal or No Deal.

These slimy promotions should be OUTLAWED, plain and simple. They're actually more devious than a lottery. At least if you enter a straight lottery, each ticket you purchase has an even chance of winning the prize. In these TV contests, roughly 80 percent of the entries don't even have a shot at the drawing--but if you buy multiple tickets, i.e., pay a lot more, then you have shot!

Back when Eliott Spitzer was Attorney General of New York, we could've counted on him to do something about such an egregious scam. We hope a few legislators will get up the gumption to put a stop to this nonsense.

It Shouldn't Be So Difficult!

Yesterday we decided it would be nice to have a place on XCurmudgeon where a reader can sign up for alerts when we've added a new post.

We figured it wouldn't be too difficult. Sure enough, we quickly found a website called Blog Alert that let's you do this.

The sign up was a simple two-step process. The only complication was that it asked us to "type in your feed URL." A note added: "This should NOT be the URL of the blog, it should be the URL of the blog's RSS feed."

Okay, so how hard could it be to figure out the "feed URL," we thought?

Turns out it's not easy. Numerous searches of Blogger Help and broader searches on Google revealed a lot of technical jargon about RSS feeds, etc., but nothing on the seemingly simple task of figuring out the feed URL for your own blog. Eventually, we found a website where you could type in your blog URL and it would supposedly reveal the feed URL, but the program didn't work.

In the end, we took an educated guess. If you sign up for the alert and nothing happens, then our guess was wrong. We hope to get everything straightened out shortly.

But really, why can't Blogger have a simple solution to this?

Al Gore Should Wait

Following the long and boring Academy Awards, many folks are renewing their efforts to get Al Gore to run for President again.

We have no idea whether Al is inclined to do so--we'd think he's having a lot more fun, and arguably doing more good, with his current gig.

But, if Gore is motivated to give it another try, he should wait. As they say in the movies (now that he's a sort of movie star) "wait 'til you see the whites of their eyes."

Conventional wisdom is that the '08 presidential race will be so expensive that a candidate has to get in now to be able to raise enough money. Indeed, the money race has already claimed Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack as a victim, and deterred others from entering.

That conventional wisdom doesn't apply to Al Gore (or to Newt Gingrich on the GOP side, either). If Gore decides to run, he'll be able to raise a boatload of money in short order.

Better off to wait as long as possible, which we think is probably until about September. During that period Hillary, Obama and Edwards will be clawing each other to death, to the point that none of them will be all that attractive come the end of summer. In fact, we're already getting pretty sick of them. Moreover, it looks like both the Democratic and Republican nominating races are going to devolve into three-way contests where no candidate has a decisive advantage.

Thus, the longer Gore can wait, the cleaner he'll look. In the meantime, he can take the high road, possibly even earning a Nobel Peace Prize along the way. He doesn't have to criticize any of the other Democratic candidates--indeed, he can praise them all. Then, when he does enter, it can be "for the good of the party."

In contrast, if Gore enters now, he'll soon get bogged down in sniping, especially with Hillary's crowd, about all kinds of issues besides global warming. His initial momentum will soon fade--just look what's happened to Obama. Come September, he'll be just another muddy Democrat in what could be a four-way race with no decisive leader (or, he could knock out Edwards--Gore is even cleaner than Edwards on Iraq, and we're not sure what else Edwards really has to offer besides a pretty face).

It's an interesting scenario historically. In 1960, Richard Nixon lost a squeaker to JFK--many Republicans claimed the race was stolen from Nixon in Chicago. Eight years later, he came back to win (during a very unpopular war) with a much more "checkered" past (couldn't resist) than Gore's is now. After LBJ bowed out in '68, the race was almost as wide open as this time around. Could history repeat itself 40 years later (without the subsequent downfall of Nixon, of course)?

Only time will tell. Gore can afford to wait.

Yes Virginia, You Can Recycle Plastic Bottles And Bags!

Salon reports that the rate of recycling plastic bottles in the U.S. has declined from 40% in 1995 to only 23% in 2005. (See Plastic Fantastic Bottle Recycling.)
The total amount of plastic bottles recycled has stayed the same--about 775 million pounds--but the number of plastic bottles has nearly doubled during the same period of time, so the percent recycled has gone down (and the amount ending up in landfills has increased massively).

One reason for the decline is that many Americans apparently don't realize plastic bottles are just as recyclable as glass. So, readers, you're now on notice: recycle those plastic bottles.

(Most plastic bottles are made out of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The bottles can be ground up and turned into pseudo-polyester and other materials. Demand for ground PET is particularly high in China, which, according to Salon, can't get enough of the stuff at present.)

Also, you can recycle plastic bags (and keep them from decorating trees as in the photo above)! That includes not only the plastic bags you get at most grocery stores and other retailers, but the bags that your newspapers come in. DON'T put plastic bags in your recycling container--instead, you need to return them to your local grocery store, most of which have a bin for such returns. (You don't need to remember to return them too often: just set aside one plastic bag to hold the rest of them--you can cram an amazing volume of plastic bags into that one holding container.)

As Salon points out, we could easily boost the return rate for plastic bottles by imposing a five cents return deposit on them, something California has done with great success.

Mark Sanford: SC's Faux Green Governor

Perusing today's Washington Post, the Curmudgeon was surprised to see an op-ed piece on global climate change from none other than South Carolina's very red Republican governor Mark Sanford.

The headline, "Why the Right Needs to Get Invested in the Search for Climate Change Solutions" was certainly provocative. Could it be, we wondered, that even someone as far right as Mark Sanford was finally seeing the light on global warming?

Nope, not really. Sanford makes the logical point that conservatives need to join the debate on global climate change or simply be left out. He describes himself as a "conservationist," which means that, like many Republicans, he supports state tax subsidies to wealthy landowners to create "conservation easements" that restrict future development.

(We're not against conservation easements so long as the tax subsidies are not unreasonably generous and the restrictions on future development are real, which they often aren't. We are against conservatives like Sanford who "oppose" regulation and "raising" taxes, but don't think that subsidies in the form of tax breaks are also a form of regulation and state expenditure. If Sanford really meant what he says, he'd simply "encourage" wealthy landowners to set aside their land from development out of the goodness of their conservative Christian hearts.)

Apart, however, from saying that if conservatives don't act, they'll cede ground to "far-left interest groups", Sanford offers no prescription for action.

(When Sanford speaks of "far-left interest groups," he means anyone to the left of his far right agenda. And when he speaks of people "losing their rights and freedoms" he excludes Taliban-like Christian activists in his party who would love to tell the rest of us how to live our lives, especially in the bedroom.)

The plain fact is that South Carolina is far behind the curve when it comes to policies that will combat global warming. For example, South Carolina has no net metering law, which would require local utilities to allow businesses and homeowners to tie distributed renewable electricity sources, such as wind and solar, into the local power grid. SC is one of less than 10 states that don't have a net metering provision; its neighbors in Georgia and NC both have such laws.

The absence of a net metering law is a real hindrance to those who want to fight global warming. We recently suggested to a very good friend, who tries to lead a green lifestyle in South Carolina, that he put up a wind microturbine and a few solar panels on his Sullivans Island home. (Sanford also has a home on Sullivans Island, a thin barrier island, rising just a few feet above rising sea levels, to the north of Charleston harbor. The wealthy enclave is pictured above.) Our friend said it was not practical since SC has no interconnection option.

Nor can our friend opt, as he could in many other states (including NC, but alas, not Virginia), to purchase "green power" from his local utility, at a premium charge, to encourage the utility to finance development of alternative sources of energy.

South Carolina is blessed with abundant sunshine, and along it's coast and some parts of the state's mountains it also has ample wind resources. SC also has the finest coastline on the Eastern Seaboard, with beautiful wide beaches and the most tidal marshlands of any state. All of which is greatly imperilled by rising sea levels and the threat of more frequent and more intense hurricanes.

If Sanford was serious, he'd try to put together a package of "incentives" (not regulations) and "tax breaks" (not state spending) that would enhance the "rights and freedoms" of South Carolinians by encouraging them to develop the state's largely untapped renewable energy resources. He'd try to make the state a leader--not a laggard--in that arena, which, by the way, holds the promise of new jobs and technologies.

He'd also promote conservation--not land conservation, but energy conservation. To do so, however, he'll need to embrace at least some moderate levels of "regulation," such as requiring that new homes be built to certain green standards. Is that such a big deal? Not really--the state already has numerous regulations and building code provisions applying to construction. Adjusting them to promote conservation is not really "new" regulation unless Sanford simply wants to do away with all the existing requirements.

Sanford is probably correct that if conservatives don't act, the rest of the country and the world will. And he might not like what comes of that.

So, Mark Sanford, if you're serious, try leading by example and action, instead of empty words. You can start by putting a wind turbine and some solar panels on your beachfront farm, and making sure that other South Carolinians can do likewise without interference from the local utility.

D.C. Ski: Wisp Versus Wintergreen

For Washington, D.C. area families that ski, or want to give it a try, we here review two nearby ski resorts that you should consider.

This ski season (and last year, too) we took our family skiing at both Wintergreen and Wisp, two comparable ski resorts both about a three hour drive from the Washington area.

We give the clear edge to Wisp for families interested in beginning/intermediate skiing. Since we're not expert skiers, we can't say which of the two resorts would be better if that's your gig.

Wintergreen
Wintergreen is located southwest of Charlottesville. To get there, you drive to Charlottesville on Route 29, which is a four lane divided highway most of the way, but has many traffic lights. You then drive west on I-64 for a few miles, before taking a couple of very scenic two-lane country roads the remaining 20 miles to Wintergreen.

Wintergreen has 25 trails in three distinct ski areas: the Highlands, which is for expert skiers only; Dobie/Diamond hill, which is for beginners; and Eagles' Swoop, which is mostly for intermediates.

Wisp

Wisp is located adjacent to Deep Creek Lake in Garrett County Maryland, which borders West Virginia and Pennsylvania and is as far west as you can get in Maryland. It is easy to reach. Take I-270 west to Frederick and pick up I-70 west. I-70 turns into I-68 west near Cumberland. Continue on I-68 to Route 219, a well-maintained road that takes you right up to Wisp. The distance from Arlington is 180 miles.

Wisp has 32 trails, roughly evenly divided between expert, intermediate and beginner.

Why We Like Wisp Better

Both resorts are fine for families trying to get away locally for a weekend of skiing. They are much more comprehensive than some closer ski areas, such as Massanutten, Bryce, Liberty and Whitetail. Some resorts in Pennsylvania, such as Seven Springs, are also about the same distance and comparable in quality, but we haven't been there in some time.

One big advantage of Wisp is that it is more reasonably priced than Wintergreen. We were surprised to find that lift tickets and rentals at Wisp were about 20% less than Wintergreen. For a family of four and a weekend of skiing, that's about $100 (or more) difference, so it does matter. (Frankly, we think Wintergreen's rates are out of line.)

We also like the training/teaching facilities at Wisp much better than those at Wintergreen. Wisp has a large section at the base of its mountain set aside for learning to ski. There is an area for little tykes, with its own "magic carpet" lift; there is a larger area for true beginners, which is right next to the ski shop; and then there is an even larger area, just up the hill, for beginning skiers to practice a few runs before they hit the lifts (this area is slso serviced by a magic carpet).

At Wintergreen, there is a virtually flat area, removed from the ski shop, that has a magic carpet lift, for beginners. It is too flat, and it's difficult to get to. For the littlest tykes, there is a separate area on the other side of the ski shop, also hard to get to. And beginners who are just getting started are consigned to the "Potato Patch" lift, which frankly is not very easy and intersects with a large crowd of other skiers. (There is a small tubing hill in the middle of all this--we wonder whether Wintergreen didn't cannibalize it's teaching area a few years ago to create the tubing hill.)

Both Wisp and Wintergreen have tube sliding parks. We've been on "The Plunge" at Wintergreen and it certainly was fun. We haven't tried the "Bear Claw" at Wisp, but looking at it, we'd guess it is comparable to the tube run at Wintergreen. Wintergreen also has a smaller tubing hill, called "The Slide," for little kids. Wisp does not have a comparable smaller tubing run, so Wintergreen wins if you need to take small kids tubing.

We give the nod to Wisp for snow, however. Wisp gets over 100 inches of natural snow each season. On top of that, it has amazing snow-making capability--they can make twelve inches of snow across the entire mountain in one day. When the recent warm spell finally broke a few weeks ago, we noted that Wisp quickly covered its slopes and opened up trails. Wintergreen gets a lot less natural snow than Wisp. It depends heavily on snow-making and while its snow-making system is good, it doesn't compare to the one at Wisp. While Wisp was rapidly opening trails a few weeks ago, Wintergreen was more slowly covering its mountain. The combination of snow-making and natural snowfall at Wisp also means you have a decent chance of skiing in powder, as we did this past weekend.

Wisp also has a better overall layout. The main lodge is at the base of the hill, serviced by three lifts. Large windows give you a nice view of several of the main slopes. The primary food service area and the ski shop/rental area are all conveniently located in the same building. Several lifts converge at the top of the mountain, making it easy to transfer between different areas of the resort, and making most trails accessible from multiple lifts. This helps distribute the crowds across the mountain. Eventually, Wisp plans to build a mountaintop village at the peak, which will make it even nicer.

At Wintergreen, the cramped ski rental area is separate from the food service area and nowhere near any ski shop. One nice feature is that you can practically ski out of the rental area, although you have to go down a narrow, treacherous slope that is usually lined with fallen skiers. (At Wisp, since you're at the base of the hill, you have to schlep to the nearest lift.) Wintergreen's main lodge is pretty divorced from the ski trails, and there's no place to sit and watch skiers as you sip on a hot toddy.

We also give the edge to Wisp on food service. The main dining hall at Wisp has the traditional high ceiling, large windows and blazing fireplace of a lodge. It is about four times the size of the main eating area at Wintergreen, which is dark, low ceiling'ed and practically windowless. Wisp has a slightly greater variety of food, at very reasonable prices, and can handle a large crowd. Wintergreen has limited options with slow service and higher prices. Wisp also has two bars off the main dining floor, whereas you'll have to go to another building for libations at Wintergreen.

For the young and adventurous, Wisp also offers more options for jumps and tricks. Wintergreen has one "terrain park" (the Curmudgeon avoids these, but the kids are pulled in like moths to a light) with a few rails and ramps for jumps; Wintergreen this year also added a separate terrain area on the side of one of the beginner slopes. In contrast, Wisp has two larger terrain parks, two half-pipes, a couple smaller jump areas and a separate intermediate trail with some pretty big ramps for jumps.

If you want a traditional hotel room at Wintergreen, you're out of luck. Wintergreen does offer a variety of condos, ranging from studios to larger units suitable for families. There are also many options at Wintergreen for renting homes. However, Wintergreen is really isolated--no town nearby--so eating options are quite limited and the local "trading post" falls far short of a full scale grocery store. Wintergreen does have a pool/spa/fitness center that is first class. But then, that's not why you're going up there, is it?

Wisp does have a hotel. Not a particularly nice one, but it'll do fine for a ski weekend. Wisp also offers an array of condo and home options, many along Deep Creek Lake. Wisp has a decent pool and an okay fitness center. Unlike Wintergreen, however, Wisp is surrounded by other civilization, including many restaurant options. (Make sure to try an enormous 20 inch pizza at Brenda's, just down the road a bit.)

We found the staff at both resorts competent and friendly.

Bottom line: if you're a skiing family in the Washington area, you'll probably have a better experience, with greater value, at Wisp than at Wintergreen.

(FYI: we still go to Wintergreen, mainly to rendezvous with family members from Raleigh, NC. Wisp is too far from Raleigh for a weekend outing.)

Supreme Mess: High Court's Philip Morris Decision

Yesterday the Supreme Court reversed a $90 million award of punitive damages against Philip Morris made by an Oregon jury and sent it back for further consideration.

The 5-4 decision is a mess. It really has nothing to do with tobacco or Philip Morris. Instead, it reveals a non-ideological split among the justices on how to deal with punitive damages in general. Or perhaps it just shows what happens when the Court rules in a case it probably shouldn't have taken to begin with.

In the underlying case, the widow of a smoker sued Philip Morris in Oregon state court. The jury found PM liable for a bit under $1 million in compensatory damages, ruling sensibly, as juries usually do, that the smoker certainly played a considerable role in causing his injuries and ultimately his premature death. (In fact, juries most often rule for the cigarette manufacturers because smokers have long been well aware of the dangers.)

The jury also awarded punitive damages of nearly $90 million against PM for what the trial court labelled "reprehensible" behavior in the marketing of cigarettes and in connection with various public relations activities.

In recent cases, the Supreme Court has been limiting large punitive damage awards from juries, generally ruling that the size of the punitive levy must bear a relationship to the compensatory damages. Most courts have interpreted the Supreme Court's rulings to mean that punitive awards must be no greater than a single digit multiplier of the compensatory award (although the Supremes have never said as much). In the Oregon case, the punitive levy was nearly 100 times the compensatory damages, so PM argued it was unconstitutionally disproportionate.

The Oregon courts, well aware of the Supreme Court's recent jurisprudence on punitives, held that the award against PM satisfied constitutional concerns because PM's behavior was allegedly so bad, i.e., "reprehensible", that the added amount was justified.

In the end, the Supreme Court focused on whether the trial court had allowed the jury to award punitive damages based on bad conduct that affected other smokers, not just the plaintiff in this particular case. And that's where the problem with taking the case in the first place comes in. It turns out there really isn't a good record in the case as to just what the jury relied upon in making its punitive award.

That's no surprise here. Courts often save the punitive damages part of a case to a separate phase at the end of the proceedings. The exhausted lawyers, tired juries and harried judges spend little time on this part of the case, usually introducing little additional evidence. Instead, the lawyers engage in emotional pleas that often are successful in whipping a jury into a frenzy. Then the court issues a very vague instruction to the jury as to what it can consider, and the jury often goes haywire. The result is a crummy record for review purposes, not just in the Oregon case, but in most tort cases with a punitive award.

In the Oregon case, the majority said that it would be acceptable for the jury to consider evidence of PM's behavior toward other smokers in considering WHETHER PM's conduct justified an award of punitive damages, but that it would not be constitutional for the jurors to base the AMOUNT of their punitive award on the injuries to other smokers, who, after all, are not parties to the case.

While that may sound like a good distinction, we agree with the dissenters who say the standard is too fuzzy to apply. However, most courts will probably get around the problem by issuing jury instructions that make the distinction, but don't really tell juries how they're supposed to proceed. Absent some clear indication of jury misconduct, the instruction will likely immunize most verdicts on review.

The business community would like to see the Supreme Court adopt an easier to apply formula, under which punitive damages cannot exceed compensatory damages by more than a set ratio.

While that would certainly be easier for everyone, don't look for such concrete guidance from the Supreme Court. The Court is not a rule-making body. It would not be appropriate for the Court to adopt a strict multiplier. Instead, the Supreme Court set principles of law, which then guide the lower courts. Given the wide variety of situations in which punitive damages may arise, the justices are loathe to tie the constitutional noose too tightly around the jurors' discretion. So look for more case-by-case adjudication of the punitive damages awards to divine the principles that will limit juries. We hope that the next case will have a better record, making for a better decision.

In the meantime, Philip Morris gets another shot at the Oregon courts, and another argument in its arsenal to protect itself from ruinous liability in future single smoker cases. And that's pretty much all it needs: since smokers actually lose most cases that go to trial, and since PM has ample resources to defend multiple lawsuits, it can defend these cases indefinitely so long as one or two punitive awards can't break the bank.

Fluorescent Aussies, Green Californians, Red Virginians

In a rather stunning development, Australia has announced that it will ban traditional incandescent light bulbs in just three years, requiring the entire country to conserve electricity by adopting energy-saving compact flourescent lights.

Imagine the United States having the willpower to do something that dramatic! (If we did, we could reduce electric consumption by several percentage points.)

We hope that by the time the Aussies' long-lasting fluorescents burn out (7-8 years) the next generation of even more energy stingy lights--LED's like those blinking on your modem--will be ready for prime time.

We were at the Wisp ski resort in western Maryland this weekend and are happy to report that the lodge there has converted most of its lights, including basic lamps in guest rooms, to flourescents. (Soon, we'll review Wisp from the skiing standpoint and compare it to Wintergreen, another nearby ski resort we visited this season.)

On our way home, we also noted with interest a large wind farm perched along a ridge near the continental divide, which much be as good a place as any to "mine" the wind. No doubt some see the huge turbines as ugly, but we think they're beautiful--a lot nicer than a tanker full of Arab oil.

While it's good to see individuals and businesses in our neck of the woods adopting conservation measures and investing in renewable energy, it was rather shocking to learn this weekend (courtesy of the Washington Post) that Californians, on average, have just half the per capita electricity use of Virginians. (Californians: 6732 kwh's/per capita; Virginians: 13,748 kwh's per capita.)

That proves the point of some of our regular commenters, who note that Dominion Power would not need to string ugly new high voltage cables (or build a costly new nuclear power plant) if Virginians simply adopted a number of fairly simple conservation measures.

(By the way, those California figures are BEFORE factoring in California's aggressive program to invest in renewable sources of electricity, particularly solar.)

How does California do it? Partly it is the high cost of electricity in the Golden State, but a lot of it has to do with how the utilities are regulated. California has adopted de-coupling, which allows a utility to profit even as its sales decline. This encourages the utilities to invest in conservation instead of simply promoting increased demand. (Also, we note that if you pay double the rate for electricity, but use half as much, the cost really isn't any higher.)

It's pretty clear that decoupling, along with some aggressive state programs such as strict building codes that require conseration measures, really works. If the entire U.S. consumed electricity at the same rate as California, we could retire dozens and dozens of dirty coal-fired electric plants and reduce our dependence on mid-east oil.

Virginia legislators are still considering a bill to re-regulate the electric utilities here--essentially Dominion Power. Previously, we urged the General Assmbly to table the bill that they've been rushing through (it was drafted by Dominion) so that a broader group can study it and make recommendations. Seeing that Virginians are using double the electricity of Californians (who aren't exactly living a deprived lifestyle) only reinforces the point. Something is wrong here in the Old Dominion. With thoughtful regulation, we, too, can live the good life without destroying the environment and contributing to flooding of our coastal communities.

Virginia GOP Hates The Chinese Year of the Pig

What is it with Virginia Republicans and Americans with ancestry in Asia and India?

Evidently, it wasn't enough that former Republican Senator George Allen insulted a native Virginian, whose parents immigrated from India, by calling him "macacca" and "welcoming" him to "the real Virginia and real America."

Now macacca Republicans in the Virginia House of Delegates, once again showing their true colors (or lack of color as the case may be) have shown that Allen's retort was not an isolated incident.

Recently, Del. Adam Ebbin, from Arlington, introduced what one would've thought was a non-controversial joint resolution to recognize the importance of the Lunar New Year and the contributions of the roughly 350,000 Asian/Indian/Pacific Americans living in the Commonwealth.

Fluffy resolutions like this fill the General Assembly's calendar. Rarely do they make any waves.

But Ebbin's resolution attracted an unusual amount of opposition from macacca Republicans in the House. The Rules Committee (like all committees, controlled by the GOP) removed references to the Lunar Year 4075 and the Chinese Year of the Pig, and also deleted a reference to the importance of the Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans of Virginia.

Then, after those changes, four Republicans on the committee still voted against the resolution. In the full house, 14 Republicans and an independent also voted against the resolution.

(We thank the Arlington Sun Gazette for the info on this one).

While Mrs. Curmudgeon, who is Chinese-American, barely pays attention to the Lunar New Year, she can't understand what's so offensive to these Republican legislators that they'd vote against Ebbin's resolution.

It wasn't all that long ago--1969 to be precise--that it would have been illegal for the Curmudgeon to marry Mrs. Curmudgeon under Virginia's anti-miscegenation law (struck down in the aptly named Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia). We suspect that in their hearts of hearts, some of those same legislators that voted against the Lunar New Year resolution also miss those "good ol' days."

Sadly, macacca lives on in Virginia. Let's hope the coming election at least thins the herd.

Kaine, Obama, Davis and Tunnel Politics

Tim Kaine is going to endorse Barack Obama. Good for him. Given Virginia's rather lowly status in the presidential nominating process, Kaine could easily have afforded to just sit back and wait and see what happens, i.e., play it safe.

We just love the way this got reported in the Post today: "The sources [who leaked Kaine's decision ahead of a formal announcement] spoke on condition of anonymity because they do not want to preempt the formal announcement." If that were so, they would've simply kept their mouths shut.

[Ever since the Post (and its sister publication Newsweek) adopted a policy of stating a reason why a source wishes to stay anonymous, it has been filled with these silly--and obviously phony--rationalizations. Our favorite are the sources who spill the beans on national security matters and then say they didn't want to be quoted about sensitive national security matters. Hey, if they're that sensitive, you shouldn't be talking to reporters about them!]

We digress. Speaking of Tim Kaine, Representative Tom Davis has pulled the rug out from under Kaine on the issue of whether Metrorail's Orange Line extension through Tyson's Corner to Dulles Airport should be underground.

Davis, who wrote to Kaine last year, along with Rep. Frank Wolf, urging Kaine to support an above-ground rail line through Tysons lest the whole project be delayed, has now flip-flopped (despite saying "I don't think that's a flip-flop") and advocates the tunnel approach.

Normally, we kind of like Davis, a pretty moderate Republican, but on this one we have to wonder what's up. Is it, as the Post suggests today, that Davis's wife, Jeannemarie Devolites Davis, a Republican State Senator from Fairfax County, is feeling the heat on the project? Could be.

Putting in a tunnel will raise the cost of the project significantly--by as much as a billion bucks. (Ignore the tunnel proponents who tell you otherwise--their numbers are way-cooked.) And it will take longer to complete.

We're not necessarily saying a tunnel is a bad idea--it is certainly true that putting the new line underneath Tyson's would give the region a chance at making itself over in an attractive way that may be greatly appreciated in 20 years.

However, it is important for members of Congress to be straight with Virginia officials--especially Kaine--about the significance of changing to a tunnel plan. We're sure that, all things being equal, Kaine would be delighted to support a tunnel. But we doubt that all things are equal on this one, and having Davis play politics only muddies an already murky picture.

Meanwhile, we wonder when someone's going to face the other big issue/problem with the Orange Line extension: the Rosslyn tunnel chokepoint. Extending the Orange Line to Dulles is a wonderful idea and will be great for everyone in the region. The only problem is that the vast expansion of ridership on the already crowded Orange Line will never work unless planners figure out a way--sooner or later--to add a Potomac River crossing to the Metro network. Right now, Orange and Blue Line trains go through the single tunnel between the Rosslyn (Virginia) and Foggy Bottom (D.C.) stations about as often as they can during rush hours. Switching Blue Line trains to the above water crossing parallel to the 14th Street Bridge--part of Metro's plan--will help for awhile, but in the long term there is going to be a need for another tunnel (or bridge) to service the number of Orange Line trains that will be needed to handle traffic all the way out to Dulles.

Davis probably expects he'll be retired before his constituents figure that one out.

Legislature Stiffs NoVa on Transport Bill Conference

It's getting down to the wire in the Virginia legislature, with the House and Senate passing significantly different versions of a bill to fund desperately needed transportation improvements in the state.

The two competing bills, which are of greatest interest to the large and ever-growing population of Northern Virginia, have gone to a conference, where representatives of the House and Senate will meet in private to see if they can somehow make a sausage out of this hash.

So, what did the leaders of the two GOP-controlled houses of the Virginia Assembly do to make sure NoVa's voice is heard on this critical issue? Basically, they gave NoVa the finger.

Eleven conferees have been appointed. Only ONE is from NoVa, Tim Hugo from Fairfax County. Meanwhile, the Norfolk/Hampton Roads/Virginia Beach region--which also has a big stake in the legislation--has FOUR representatives.

What a snub to NoVa, which under both bills is expected to tax itself to pay for improvements. The big difference is whether--under the House version--NoVa will also suffer cuts in other important programs as money is diverted from the general fund.

For all you Northern Virginians, especially in Fairfax, Loudon, Prince William and Stafford Counties, who have Republican reps in the General Assembly: take note. If you're tired of sitting in traffic day-in and day-out, you need to replace your rep with a Democrat. Otherwise, you're just sending your state tax dollars down a drain in Richmond to help out the rest of the state.

Dominion's New Route

Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that Dominion Power has decided to re-route it's new high voltage line so that it runs along an existing line, and today the Post reports that no one is happy with the new proposal.

We have to say, the Post's reporting on the issue is a bit too negative, giving way too much play to opponents of the line. The new proposal is more expensive--$60 million more--because instead of running in a straight line between two substations, the line will curve in a giant arc that is much longer.

Still, we think it's a reasonable compromise, although we are sympathetic to the notion that Dominion gave in to Middleburg millionaires only to stick it to residents of more modest means in other parts of the state. But since the new route follows that of an existing high voltage line, we think it makes the most sense by reaching the best balance between providing for the future while minimizing the disruption to NoVa's landscape.

To be sure, we're with those who think there are alternatives. Fairly simple conservation measures alone could forestall this new line (check out how we reduced out power bill by 30 percent here), whereas aggressive investment in distributed renewable energy (wind and solar) could eliminate the need.

BUT, we don't see any sign of the willpower in the legislature that would be needed. Indeed, quite a few GOP lawmakers have complained about the line when it impacts THEIR constituents, but other than proposals that simply dump the problem on someone else, we haven't seen any of them pushing for a REALISTIC alternative, such as REQUIRING Dominion to INVEST significant sums in conservation and distributed energy. (It would take tens of thousands of businesses and residences to adopt conservation measures for it to work. That ain't gonna happen without serious legislation). All these legislators are really doing is sounding off--a lot of bark, but no bite. And you can bet that those same legislators will give Dominion what it wants when it comes to the bill Dominion is pushing to "regulate" itself.

Super Duper Garbage Zapper

This is really quite amazing.

A company called Startech Environmental has developed a fully functioning machine that zaps garbage with a plasma ray, breaking down all molecular bonds into their elemental components. The Plasma Converter (pictured here) burns at roughly three times the heat of the sun's surface, so it's a little like tossing your trash into the sun to vaporize it. The only byproducts are a molten glass, which can be used in household tiles or asphalt, and a hydrogen/carbon monoxide gas that can be burned to fuel the machine and produce excess electricity.

The machines aren't cheap--$250 million a pop--but just one can take care of all the garbage and trash generated by a city of 1 million, while also producing several megawatts of electricity (or, it can be configured to produce hydrogen for fuel cells and other uses). Landfill be-gone!

What's amazing about the Plasma Converter is that it works on anything except nuclear waste. Any organic material, metal, concrete, plastic, even toxic substances such as dioxin, can be fed into the Converter and quickly be broken down into simple elemental gases. Literally, garbage can be fed directly from a trash truck into the converter, which can handle 2000 tons a day. (St. Lucie County Florida is building an even larger one that will handle 2000 tons of new trash each day while also eating up 1000 tons of trash in an existing landfill and generating electricity for local residents.

Talk about a clean technology!

Preventing Identity Theft With Biometrics

It's estimated that millions of Americans now suffer the crime of identity theft every year. There's a fairly good way to stem the epidemic. Unfortunately, it requires banks and other credit issuers to take responsibility for a problem THEY have created.

Think of it this way. You're a good citizen, minding your own business. Then you apply for a loan, or try to rent an apartment, and you're turned down because you have a bad credit record. It turns out someone stole your identity, got a bunch of credit cards, racked up debt and, of course, never paid. Now, whose fault is that? It is the fault of whoever issued the thief credit in the first place, because they were negligent in verifying the identity of the thief.

The identity theft problem has gotten so out of hand because banks and other issuers of credit (mainly retailers) have made it too easy to grant instant credit with the most minimal of effort by both the credit applicant and the credit issuer. Most credit issuers require only a social security number, a matching name and a birthdate in order to issue credit, often on the spot.

[Worse yet, the Washington Post reports today that banks are now seeking to extend credit to illegal aliens without social security numbers. The rest of us will end up paying for this fiasco.]

Any moron with half a brain can find names and birthdates on the web. All they need to go with that data is a social security number, and those are relatively easy to come by because they are stored in thousands of databases and exchanged all the time. One of the greatest sources of such information is theft by insiders, who can make easy money with little likelihood of being caught.

The government never intended social security numbers to be used as some kind of secure device for identifying someone, and social security numbers clearly fail miserably for that purpose. So why do banks use them so widely? Because its cheap and the banks can fob their losses off on the rest of us.

Here's what we need to do to greatly reduce identity theft: (1)make banks and other issuers of credit liable for costs incurred by consumers in connection with identity theft; (2) prohibit banks from issuing credit based soley on a social security number/DOB/name; (3) require issuers of credit to collect biometric information unique to individuals.

At its simplest, it works like this. Someone goes into a department store and applies for instant credit. The store clerk takes a digital photo of the person applying for credit, and collects a fingerprint on an electronic portable fingerprint pad (these exist and are economical). (Or it could be an iris scan, or something else.) That alone would discourage most imposters from applying since it would give police a ready trail to follow.

For more remote applications, there are still ways to collect similar information. For example, phone applicants could be required to consent to a voice print that could be matched with a database. Applicants by mail could be required to make a follow-up appearance in person at a local bank for a digital photo and fingerprint/iris scan/whatever. Since almost everyone lives near a bank branch, this wouldn't be too inconvenient.

Credit issuers would have to initiate a period for existing cardholders to submit their identifying information so that they could have databases against which to compare imposters, but that shouldn't be all that inconvenient either. (And anyone refusing to sign up within a reasonable period could be denied protection if their identity is stolen in the future.)

Biometrics are not foolproof. Since any biometric ultimately has to reside in computers in digital form, they can be stolen. That's one reason it is important to require a credit applicant to show up somewhere in person to be photographed and submit their biometric identifier. If there is a problem, they can more easily be tracked down. And, of course, thieves don't want their photos taken, their fingers printed or their irises scanned.

Frankly, this isn't all that difficult a problem to fix--all it takes is a little bit of will.

Green Developments

Today, the Curmudgeon will cover a series of Green developments that have been accumulating on our desk.

ACE Challenge

In case you didn’t see the comment from Miles on a recent Curmudgeon post, Arlington County, in conjunction with Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment (ACE) is sponsoring a “Green Living Challenge.” The challenge awards points for various actions and challenges you to earn 100 points to obtain a Green Living Certificate. For example, you get 10 points for composting lawn clippings.

[If you’re an apartment or condo dweller, you’ll get a nice head start with 35 points just for living in a denser residential cluster. That seems a bit unfair to us detached home dwellers—at a minimum there should be a sliding scale of density, awarding some points to those in townhouse clusters and those with smaller lots.]

All in all, a good way to check up on your green living efforts and stretch for more.

DC Net Metering Woes

We’re sorry to learn, from a letter to the editor of the Washington Post, that the D.C. Public Service Commission evidently is dragging its feet on net metering, stalling homeowners who want to add solar panels to their abodes. According to the letter, in the Sunday February 11 Outlook section, the PSC hasn’t yet approved a standard contract by which homeowners with service from Pepco can interconnect with the utility. Absent such a contract, Pepco's holding up homeowners who are all ready to go.

We’re not sure whether it’s deliberate foot-dragging, or simple incompetence, but this isn’t something that should be all that difficult. Dozens of states have well-established net metering programs that include simple standard form contracts between a utility and a homeowner seeking to interconnect a solar photovoltaic system to the grid. (Heavens, even Dominion Virginia makes it pretty easy.) We agree with the letter writers—if the PSC can’t get it done quickly, new Mayor Fenty should get a new PSC.

How To Use Compact Fluorescents With Dimmers

One problem with energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs is that they don’t work well with lights on a dimmer switch. The Curmudgeon has experimented around and figured out a partial fix. (You can now purchase fluorescents that work on a dimmer, but they are very expensive.)

If you have several lights on one switch with a dimmer (like the Curmudgeon’s office, which has four recessed floodlights on one switch) try replacing all but one of the standard incandescent bulbs with fluorescents. We found that if we replaced all the bulbs with fluorescents, we got constant flickering (and burned out one specially ordered, expensive, fluorescent after one week). But if we left an incandescent bulb in the circuit, the problems went away. You won’t be able to dim the lights, but you can simply turn them on and off like other lights, while reducing your power bill considerably.

Exciting Personal Wind Generators

As we’ve pointed out on the Curmudgeon more than once, solar power is still not very economical, but wind energy is quite competitive. However, most homeowners aren’t in a position to install wind turbines. Until now, that is! According to the Wall Street Journal, which today had a special section devoted to the “New Math of Alternative Energy,” a company known as Southwest Windpower, Inc. has developed wind microturbines for use by individual homeowners.

This is pretty exciting stuff: “The latest model Southwest Windpower is bringing to market costs $10,000 to install and is designed for homes with at least half an acre of land. The turbine sits on a tower nearly 35 feet tall and can generate approximately 425 kilowatt hours per month of electricity, according to the company’s chief executive, Frank Greco.”

That’s a pretty good deal, folks. For perspective, the Curmudgeon’s 2.5 kw solar array cost about twice that to install, and should generate about half the amount of electricity. In other words, the microturbine will have a payback about four times as fast as a solar array. Furthermore, for an average homeowner using 10,000-15,000 kwh of electricity each year, the nearly 5000 kwh put out by such a microturbine would put a big dent in their bills.

While it won’t work on the Curmudgeon’s miserly one-eighth of an acre, we’d think a lot of the folks out in Loudon and Prince William Counties whining about a new Dominion high voltage line could easily afford to put these babies up on their estate properties. For more info, go to the company's website.

Solar Power Cost Calculator

BP Energy now has a calculator on its website that will help you estimate the cost of installing a solar photovoltaic system on your roof, including the savings you'll get on your electric bill. You can find it HERE. Simply plug in your zip code and the size of the installation you’re thinking about and the calculator will give you a good estimate of the cost. (We tried it out to see if it would come up with an estimate close to what we actually paid. It worked.)

Defer Dominion Regulation Bill To Next Term

The Virginia General Assembly, which adjourns February 24, has reportedly been racing to adopt a complicated bill that would re-regulate electric utilities in the state—i.e., Dominion Power. The bill was largely drafted by Dominion, with environmental and consumer groups given a very brief (and inadequate) opportunity to provide comments before the bill was introduced.

This is a really important issue that shouldn’t be rushed. The General Assembly should defer this legislation until next year, but should also direct appointment of some kind of committee that includes representatives of Dominion, the PSC, consumer groups, environmental groups, the Governor's office and others to take a hard look at the issue and come back with a more definitive proposal.

At a minimum, if the legislature is going to adopt a bill highly favorable to Dominion—as no doubt it will—it should extract some key concessions and use the opportunity to improve the state’s policies on climate change. At a minimum, the legislation should remove the ridiculously low cap on the number of consumers who can interconnect with Dominion under the state’s net metering law; it should require Dominion to offer the same “Green Power” program if offers NC customers; and it should set targets for investment by Dominion in renewable energy and energy conservation. We’re sure there’s more—that’s why a deferral is needed.