Alaskans Enjoying The Runaway Success Of Wind Energy -- EIA -- September 1, 2015; European Refugee Centers In Europe -- An Opportunity For A Global Entrepreneur

The EIA is reporting, Alaskans have made great strides in wind energy:

Although wind power provided less than 3% of Alaska's electric power generation in 2014, Alaska's wind power capacity has increased 20-fold between 2007 and 2014, growing from 3 megawatts (MW) to 60 MW.

This increase is notable in light of the challenges of installing and connecting large wind generators, specifically the high costs of expanding electricity transmission infrastructure in the least densely populated state. Alaska's nascent wind industry has sited utility-scale turbines along the Railbelt, the only large-scale transmission system in the state, and at distributed scale to supply electricity in remote or rural areas without grid access. 

This 20-fold increase between 2007 and 2014, took a gazillion dollars, and innumerable unsightly turbines and transmission lines across Alaska.

Hopefully President Obama's ASS will do better.

Small modular reactors, already used in Alaska by the military (or used at one time -- environmentalists may have gotten rid of them), would make a whole lot more sense. A century from now historians will look back on US energy policy and wonder, what in the world were they thinking? And Congress will be asking how much will it cost to take down the Barack Obama face on Mt Denali?

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Just Do It, Already

I have no idea why this story is being tweeted? It's been in the news for the past ... 12 months or so ... but PennEnergy headlines that Exelon may shut down one nuclear generating station next month. At least one more is at risk.

The owner of Illinois' 11 nuclear reactors must decide next month whether to close its Quad Cities plant, one of three generating stations Exelon Corp. has said are in danger of closing if lawmakers don't approve a surcharge on electric bills to boost profits.

Exelon says it should be rewarded for producing reliable, carbon-free electricity that will help Illinois meet an Obama administration mandate to reduce greenhouse gases. But opponents say ratepayers should not have to bail out an unprofitable plant for a private company that's still making money.

The company learned that one of the at-risk plants — in Byron in northern Illinois — is going to make millions after a recent electricity reliability auction, while the future of the third plant, Clinton in the central part of the state, is still in doubt.

My hunch: the decision will be kicked down the road for at least another couple of months. But that part about "feeling entitled" -- "should be rewarded" -- bothers me. But yes, it appears that legislators value wind and solar differently than nuclear, but that's politics is all about. 

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For The Global Entrepreneur

I think there's a huge opportunity for a global entrepreneur to take lessons learned from man-camps in the Bakken to refugee locations across Europe.

Greece, Czech Republic, Italy, France, and Germany seem prime candidates for inexpensive, state-of-the-art housing solutions for the influx of migrants. Unlike American roughnecks earning $100,000+ annually and expecting maid service, 3,000-calorie meals, hot showers two or three times daily, the migrants coming to Europe expect a whole lot less and will accept a whole lot less.

The best candidate to do something like this would be a global entrepreneur who has experience in milking federal governments for tax subsidies and grants. I'm thinking of Elon Musk, but I could imagine the MOB taking this on if Hillary does not become president: Musk, Obama, and Billary. The MOB could run the European Refugee Centers (ERCs) through the Clinton Foundation with Chelsea at the lead. She gained a lot of experience running the Clinton Foundation efforts in Haiti.  

This would be an opportunity to buy excess Chinese container ships during the coming recession for pennies on the dollar, and flipping them to European governments for thousands. Shipping container homes have come a long, long way.

It would be wise, it would seem, for Europe to jump on this sooner than later. 

And, if Hillary is in prison, this is an operation that could easily be run out of her prison cell on a private internet hook-up.