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It has been known for years that energy is one of the key elements to the Unites States economy and one if the main reasons that America has continued to maintain its global dominance. Due to its constant innovations and perseverance in trying times, Americans are proud of their success and will remain pride full for generation to come. Even in the most trying times, Americans continue to strive on and plow through obstacles even when the odds are stacked against them. History shows that it is through this dedication and hard work that that America has in fact became one nation, under god, with liberty and justice for ALL. Let me repeat that. Justice for ALL.

What does it mean to be an American?

From our early beginnings, America has shown leadership in virtually every facet of our modern world. The struggles we go through shape our character and our resolve in this place in time. America is one nation and it is time we acknowledged that. As the media constantly reminds us about the dismal state of the economy, let me remind you, we have the most abundant resources available in history. We have greater access to everything when compared to our grandparents. The complaining and bickering MUST STOP! We are one nation. We are a nation of leaders, entrepreneurs, hard working individuals who don’t mind sacrificing for the greater good of the world in which we all are a apart of. We are the greatest nation the world has ever known and will be for quite some time.

This is where it gets interesting.

When our founding fathers built the framework for this country, they had a vision of a new world and a new environment where anything was possible and there was no limit on what one could achieve. Success was, and still is there for the taking. Somewhere along the lines, some in our society determined that innovation and success, hard work and prosperity was a bad thing, that success was evil. This kind of mentality is just plain wrong.

2012 Presidential candidate Mitt Romney recently revealed his net worth to be between $190 Million to $250 Million. In the announcement, it continues that Mr. Romney’s investments include consumer staples, energy, finance, health, industrial, communications as well as information technology. Absent these types of investments, America could not have the needed means to continue to prosper. Our entire world may not continue to progress and the culture of innovation on which America was founded upon would cease to exist. This could result in a complete devastation of our entire society.

The fact that Mitt Romney has achieved a level of success and wealth unimaginable to some should not be seen as a negative trait, but should be looked upon as a beaming light as to what can be achieved in America. I appreciate any individual’s investments in our society and welcome any attempt from any person to better our society. From a financial investment, emotional investment to educational investments, I encourage you to take a look at your situation and consider how you are helping shape the world to be a better place and consider how you are contributing to the greatest society you and I have ever known.

With the announcement of his investment holdings in Energy, presidential candidate Mitt Romney may have indicated that if a successful Oil Company is able to produce jobs in America, Oil Drilling Companies should be looked at as beneficial to the economic recovery.

Though the Fukushima nuclear disaster and the following media coverage in the United States likely has some questioning nuclear power as an energy option, the pros of nuclear energy are still overwhelming, especially when compared to “clean energy” options and traditional plants that burn fossil fuels like coal.

In Germany, seven nuclear power plants have already been shut down pending an examination simply because of the scare in Japan. The slack left from these plants being taken offline will undoubtedly be taken up by coal burning plants that pollute far more. If we shut down plants in America for the same reason, we could expect similar results.

It would be a shame for the United States to be scared away from nuclear power due to what has happened in Japan. If we were to shut down some of our own nuclear power plants or eliminate nuclear power as an option, that electricity would have to come from plants that burn fossil fuels and thus emit tons of pollution compared to nuclear power. Clean energy options simply aren’t developed or efficient enough to take up the slack and, especially with wind power, take up much more land than other types of power plants.

It is also important to remember that the nuclear power plants in Japan survived the 9.0 earthquake and were only hampered by the tsunami waters and the resulting lack of electrical power for the pumps that cool the reactors. The Fukushima reactors are also more than forty years old. Since the 1960s, reactor design has improved drastically, especially when it comes to safety.

Of course, nuclear energy is definitely not entirely safe, but every energy source has its drawbacks and coal and other fossil fuels are definitely far worse from an environmental standpoint. Further, alternative and clean energies like wind power simply aren’t reliable enough to depend on.

Want to read more on nuclear power? Click here for another article.

One of the biggest challenges Japan is facing right now is the risk of a complete nuclear meltdown. Radiation has already reached historic proportions at 1000 times normal limits and people have been evacuated. The leak has occurred at the Number 1 facility known as the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant No. 1. Without proper electric power and monitoring to keep the facility cool after a meltdown there could be risks of more leaks.

Now that radiation levels are at 1000 times normal level Japan is faced with what to do next. Once the carnage is fixed and people go back to their normal lives will nuclear power still be a good resource for creating cheap power? There is the potential that imports from the US for natural gas and other fuels may take the place of dangerous power generation such as nuclear. Also you must consider that China is a large exporter of Liquid Petroleum and Japan may decide to rely on this fuel source more to create electricity as well.

The radius for people to leave the infected area is a 3 mile radius span and requires for people to completely leave the area and leave everything behind. We hope that this is not another Chernobyl but it very well could be. If the Japan radiation leak results in another Chernobyl people need to rethink nuclear because this is the result of a very massive earth quake attributed as an act of God and not necessarily something man could prevent. Man can only make something resistant to a certain level and after that there is no way to insure against catastrophes of this magnitude.

I believe the popularity of climate change caused by man and not the normal four seasons we experience every year will take a back seat to nuclear safety. I have to admit that 8.9 on the Richter scale is a big earthquake and can in no way be tied to man mad global warming. This event can be blamed on the natural event known as an earthquake as well as mans inability to create something strong enough to resist the attack of an act of God.

To finalize we hope that the radiation leak in Japan is plugged up and Japan finds another way to produce low cost electricity power such as liquid petroleum, natural gas, or hydro power. There is also the new development of distributed generation fuel cell technology where each commercial facility creates their own power which is also worth looking into for energy efficient power creation.

Alexa writes about the Japan Nuclear Meltdown to give her heart felt desire that people are not harmed and that new energy efficient power plants may be used instead of nuclear power to prevent future radiation pollution the country of Japan.

Driving through a worsening drizzle, your room mate concentrates on the road ahead while you call out instructions from your trusty gps system. Better for a driver and navigator combination team, especially in the rapidly deteriorating weather conditions.

You observe the interior lights are off within many organizations as you pass them by. Setting off post-apocalyptic scenes in your thoughts.

Being the prepared citizens both of you are, you’re glad you’ve prepared for blackout conditions. Especially after warnings from the local weather forecaster in Canton, Texas.

Needless to say there is the obvious. Gotta have available some flashlights, extra batteries, and such. Ideally adequate for each and every household member.

Moreover, try to not go gabbing on your cellular telephone. Preserve your conversations about homemade donut recipes to a minimal. You by no means understand how badly you are going to require that telephone battery until the time you will need it. Typically this indicates you may need to have it Poor.

Make sure you’ve got some coolers with ice. They’ll are available in real handy when your refrigerator and freezer stops refridging and freezing. Besides the fact that many people like to eat, with our without electricity, permitting the foods to go poor wastes a boatload of funds.

Who wants to ever waste cash? We undoubtedly do not. So attempt using our comparison rate chart to determine just how much you will save in your month to month power expenditures.

If some food does go bad, immediately throw it out. You already have enough to deal with, what with no electricity and all. No sense adding to your woes by dealing with cases of familial food poisoning. It’s dark and you don’t feel good? That is a nasty combination. You’d better be lucky your toilets don’t need an electrical source to operate.

Throughout a energy outage in Canton, Texas, unplug all outlets to safeguard your appliances from spikes in energy once the electricity comes back again on. Leave a easy evening light plugged in to visibly indicate when your power has indeed returned you to comfort.

Preserve your emergency generator in tip-top shape. It’ll be vital if an individual calls for life-sustaining equipment. Prior to acquiring purchased an emergency generator, you did research how huge of a generator to get, didn’t you?

Professional power consultants can give you great advice regarding how big of a generator to buy. They’re able to calculate your power needs and recommend specific ratings. Thus ensuring when the time comes, you’ve got enough electrical power to fulfill your needs.

Billy has done a number of different articles about Texas Electric Rates. Bill maintains a good resource for energy consumers on his blog. Check it out.

Met Ed was the monopoly electric provider fo decades in Pennsylvania as well as companies like Penelec. There are however choices now because rate caps expired in 2011 and electric suppliers came in to PA to compete. The monopoly electric companies like Met Ed are the default providers so for instance, if you move into a new place and don’t choose to compare electric providers you will by default be provided electric service through Met Ed. Met Ed still owns the poles and wires so regardless of which PA electric company is chosen you will still receive energy through Met Ed.

Met-Ed is no longer your only choice but as a Pennsylvania citizen you have the right to participate in what has been called electric choice. The easiest way to begin the process of electricity choice is to find a comparison chart for Pennsylvania that compares multiple residential and commercial energy suppliers. The comparison chart section that compares PA fixed electric rate plans is a good place to start.

Variable electric rate comparisons should be avoided at all costs by Met Ed electric choice participants. Although not all energy consumers fall for scams there are some electric providers out there scamming the public by saying that their rate is competitive but when the customer switches they pay more per kilowatt hour than they did when they were with Met-Ed. Met Ed isn’t a bad choice and many times can save a customer money by staying with them if they were to fall for a scam like this. The way to properly compare PA electricity companies is to choose a comparison that shows multiple fixed electric rate offers.

Met Ed was the monopoly electric company in parts of PA but they now are one of several actively marketing electric service to homes and businesses in territories in PA they once did not work within. Met Ed offers more customer choices as deregulation allows new plans, programs and efficiencies to develop. Other electricity suppliers competing against Met Ed also offer their own electric rate plans different from Met Ed to set themselves a part and target a certain type of customer. Whether the customer is trying to avoid a large deposit, credit check, and other issues there are now electricity suppliers in PA able to meet those challenges and offer a corresponding rate plan.

In conclusion don’t fall for the electricity scams out there that attempt to make a fortune off of easily deceived electric service customers who are new to the energy deregulation game. Electric choice is a great benefit but too good to be true offers exist. These too good to be true offers usually take the form of a variable rate. The price looks dirt cheap to begin with but goes up on you over the next several months. Another scam involves door to door sales people claiming to represent PPL, Penelec, or Met-Ed. Do not choose a variable rate simply because of teh initial teaser price and never take someones word for it when they knock on your day and try to represent a well known brand.

When participating in Pennsylvania electric deregulation you may find the information on Met Ed offered in this article to wet the appetite just enough to want to know more. You can find out more about electric choice in PA by visiting some of these other articles here: http://www.newsgrape.com/u/donnye/articles/

An artificial rate cap imposed on electric suppliers in PA has allowed electric rates to remain low even when fuel commodity costs have gone up. As in 2008 when natural gas and oil spiked in price PA electricity customers felt no ill effect as did deregulated states like Texas. The argument could be made that the price protection PA received during the energy commodity spike of 2008 is a reason to keep PA regulated. The problem with this argument is that because prices were artificially low they had to be subsidized by tax dollars. So in reality tax payers sill paid for these price spikes as the PA budget was depleted and now like others states is facing a deficit. Free market electric competition allows the private sector to take care of the lowering of electricity prices while the state government can deal with things they were created for such as roadways, police, and fire departments.

Take for instance in 2008, prices spiked in the energy commodities world. Both oil and natural gas prices when way up in price but in Pennsylvania energy consumers kept paying low prices for their electricity. This low price was great but in reality it was because of rate caps and not long term planning that gave everyone a cheap electric rate. In a competitive electric utility market long term hedging and power purchases gives electricity suppliers a competitive edge. Electricity can be sold cheaper than other electric suppliers when power is purchased at a low in the market and hedged to offer fixed rate choices.

As rate caps were taken off of the natural monopoly electric utilities in PA we saw energy prices go up as the rates were no longer subsidized by the government. In reality the government does not have a magic sauce that somehow keeps prices low even when prices are actually high in the energy commodity market. The secret sauce is none other than your own tax dollars at work. Instead of your taxes being used o build new infrastructure like parks and roadways you were basically paying for other peoples electric service. A competitive electric market without caps means it is up to the energy provider and the customer to take on this risk. If the customer chooses a fixed electric rate they are relying on the PA electricity supplier to handle the risk.

Fortunately in PA energy consumers have not yet been told when and how they have to use electricity and what days they can take showers. Dictators tell people these types of things and in a regulated environment that makes sense but PA is now a deregulated electric choice market and people have jumped at the opportunity to use their choice to find options that best fits their situation. There are now over 15 PA electric suppliers offering fixed and variable rate plans at all different terms like the 12 month fixed all the way out to 48 months fixed rate offers. People feel free to choose and have seen their prices come down without the need for government intervention.

A fixed rate offer will always save someone more money in the long run than a variable price simply because most people cannot stick with a variable price when prices take a swing up. Just like when in the stock market people buy high and sell low so is the case with electricity prices. A fixed price is for the risk averse and gives price assurance and an overall lower PA electric rate than those who choose a variable electric rate. Before saying PA deregulation doesn’t work consider that fixed rates offer a better deal to customers than what is offered in a regulated market.

The main reason people want to pay more for electricity in a deregulated market is for other choices not related to price. Some people like the idea of no deposit if that means they must agree to a higher electric rate. In a regulated market deposits are required a lot of time and there are no exceptions. In a deregulated electricity market as in PA choices such as prepaid and no deposit allow for more options although customers do get hit with a higher electric rate.

Not all electricity suppliers in PA are trying to build a good reputation for honesty, and ethically run business practices. A new buzz word is used right along with a variable electric rate offer and it is called “competitive”. In truth the rate looks competitive only because it is a teaser first month rate. These electric companies usually do not hedge their energy and put all the risk of price fluctuations on their customers. Beyond the price risk additional profit margin is added to the electric rate over time causing economic harm to a customer who believed in that attractive term, “competitive”.

When choosing a PA electric supplier be sure to compare fixed rate offers and have knowledge and awareness that variable offers are like teaser prices. Deregulation works in the PA electricity market provided that you go into the electric choice decision making process looking to save on your fixed electric rate and not because you want to avoid a commitment, want no deposit, or are easily persuaded by teaser rate glossy advertisements.

This article goes into detail about Pennsylvania Electric Deregulation and if more information is needed about US deregulated electric markets more energy news can be found here: Electricity Articles

By now, almost everyone in the United States has heard about wind power, whether in a high school textbook or in recent news. The truth is, reducing greenhouse gases and reliance on fossil fuels is sweeping the nation. However, most are ignorant to the high costs and unreliability associated with wind power. In Europe, where they got a head start on us using wind power, wind power interests and production is declining due to the fact that it has simply proven to be an inefficient energy source. One look to the U.K.’s experiences with wind power show it is not our answer to renewable energy.

Europe’s wind infrastructure started with the U.K. Government’s Renewables Obligations Certificate, which offered financial incentives to power companies that built wind farms. However, this has turned into a huge price for consumers. In 2007 alone, electricity customers paid over one billion dollars to owners of wind farms.

The big problem with wind farms looming overhead is the fact that they are simply ont very efficient. Most would think just the opposite. After all, wind is free, right? Sure, but there is not always wind. And when there is not wind (and in some cases when there is an excess of wind) the turbines do not produce power and thus back-up, natural gas powered systems are used.

In fact, statistics published by the U.K. Government suggest that on average, a wind turbine operates at about 25% efficiency, and sometimes as low as 7%! There is no denying that this is a poor return on an investment. Using the 25% figure, a turbine that is advertised as producing 1 megawatt would only put out 0.25 megawatts on average.

With all of the natural advantages the U.K. has for generating wind power, it is easy to conclude that if it is not working there, it will not work in the United States. What is most important to keep in mind is that wind power can never fully replace electricity generated by “dirty fuels” like coal and natural gas. Not only is it inefficient and expensive, but wind farms use natural gas powered units as back-up when the wind is blowing too hard or not at all.

If you enjoyed this article, read more on wind power here.

In Illinois energy consumers are getting a little angry about a soon to be passed bill that would allow electricity poles and wires companies to add a $5 surcharge to each and every electric bill in the Ameren and Com-Ed electricity service territories. The surcharge would basically be a loan from their energy customers to allow them to improve their old outdated electric grid.

A government surcharge can’t be avoided but energy consumers can complain and vote those out of office that allow little taxes like these to take place. The argument is that the improvement of the electric grid will lower the cost of electricity so the surcharge should be replenished through adding savings in other ways. This however reminds me of the low flow toilet phenomenon where you buy the toilet to save on water only to have to flush 6 times. Will the surcharge make consumer friendly improvements to the electric grid or cause additional problems?

Retail electricity companies sometimes like to look for ways to deceive the public by whatever means necessary. The surcharge name is commonly misunderstood by a basic energy consumer as something coming from the state as a pass-through charge. A disreputable electric company will add fictitious fees to their customer’s bill and call them things like surcharges to make more money. This type of scam is something to be avoided and a close look at the contract terms of service can help you see if this has been tried on you.

Fuel surcharges are sometimes past through by the state but occasionally will come from an electric provider. You never want to get on a retail electricity plan that has a fuel surcharge because their is upside for the electric company but only downside to their customer. What the electricity company is doing is pushing all risk onto the customer while featuring the fuel surcharge as something good because of the initial low cost to the rate.

In conclusion before choosing an electricity company in Illinois or Texas with a surcharge you might want to find out what kind of surcharge it is. You may discover that the surcharge is not official and may be a sales gimmick. Another option is to speak with a qualified energy consultant that can help decipher all of this for you.

Alexa Wright offers more information related to Illinois Electricity Suppliers on her electricity company site which you can find here: Electricity Suppliers

Though many are seeking out electric cars due to the popularity of being “green,” most who are shopping for electric cars are more concerned about saving green. After all, the biggest benefit of an electric car is not having to pay for gas, right? While this is so, it also means that drivers of electric vehicles don’t pay the gasoline tax and thus, don’t pull their share when it comes to paying for road maintenance and construction.

In Oregon, the ball is already rolling. The Road User Fee Task Force of Oregon has proposed a new bill that will require owners of electric cars to pay taxes toward road construction and upkeep. House Bill 2328 suggests that, starting with the 2014 model years, all electric and hybrid vehicles will be required to pay a vehicle usage charge according to how many miles they drive.

While there are many who will hear this idea and immediately frown on it, it turns out that the taxes suggested in House Bill 2328 are pretty reasonable and, thankfully, still equate to a huge savings in tax over driving a gasoline powered car and simply paying the tax at the pump. In fact, the bill suggests just a 0.6 cent per mile fee. At that rate, 10,000 miles of driving would only cost you $60 worth of “vehicle usage charges.”

One of the most questioned factors of taxing electric vehicles by the mile is how exactly to track the mileage. It is very possible to develop a system that tracks your mileage and location using GPS technology, but unsurprisingly, most citizens are not very comfortable with the government tracking where they go. The next thought that comes to mind is tracking mileage manually, perhaps once a year. However, this method would leave it to the driver to simply record their out of state mileage, and it would be very hard to regulate.

The future of House Bill 2328 is definitely uncertain at this time. In fact, it may not pass through Oregon legislation at all. However, it does show that there is a growing amount of electric and hybrid vehicles on the road and measures need to be taken to adapt. One thing is for sure: electric car owners better enjoy the tax free miles while they can!

If you found this article informative, read more on alternative energy here.

Any good American wants to keep liter and pollution from invading the earth and the US but environmental climate change EPA regulations have ended up in the Land of Oz People will get behind such things as led and mercury poisoning drinking water from the pollution that comes from a coal fired power plant but CO2 emissions causing climate change has caused an amazing amount of regulations when man made climate change is still a big theory.

We all drive cars and drink from glass and plastic cups. We walk through our houses that either have wood, cement, or carpet floors. Even for those hippies that have purchased cork or bamboo flooring you still have to realize that these products could not have been created and sold to you at such cheap prices had it not been for petroleum based products. Our society runs from petroleum such as crude oil and natural gas and everyone in our eco-system participate in this circle of our economy.

These same Texas citizen’s that get made fun of for their beef eating ways and their lack of concern for the environment never throw a can on the road and may even be a sponsor of a litter campaign on a popular road way.

In Tyler Texas a program was invented to clean up road ways and it is done through a volunteer program where individuals and businesses will sponsor a road way. This litter cleanup program has since been popularized all over the world and the blame goes to none other than Texas.

Texas is truly a unique state as we do make a lot of money from the petroleum industry but we are open minded enough to retrofit our outdated technology and create new technology to keep our state clean. There was even a clean up the road program started in Tyler Texas that eventually spread throughout the US and it is totally voluntary and does not need to use tax payer dollars. Texas is one of the biggest producers of energy related fuels and we use a lot of that energy in the form of electricity power as well. We sell our energy to other states and reap the profits but those other states receive very cheap electricity rates and other benefits as a result of innovation Texas does. Texas may have a few hillbilly’s but we also know a thing or two about keeping things clean and protecting the environment even in the face of hypocrisy from other states.

Alexa Wright has also written information on the EPA Agenda and you can check it out here: EPA Climate Science Agenda