The trouble with some of their math is that current prices for coal or natural gas have a long history of subsidized expenses.  Think of how many subsidies that the railroad had to receive in order to bring Wyoming coal to the midwest or how many land easements were granted for power lines and tranmissions towers.  Then think of the local and governmental costs associated with the cleanup of mines, tailings from coal ash and air pollution that doesn’t get cleaned but absorbed by the rest of us.  Are these costs truly included in the rates the consumers must absorb?

I see renewable energy has its upfront costs and minimal backend costs to surprise us in the future.  At least you know what you are paying for.  Ecogee is working on solutions that take the consumer’s costs out of the equation.  We work to make renewable energy a viable solution for organizations.  If they are willing to lock in a rate at today’s prices or lower, then we can work to get them on green power.  The article today reinforced why we are doing this.  This situation is what drove us to find a better way.  Consider joining us to make this a reality.

I remember a time that I rode my bicycle across the open ranges of Wyoming and I cursed the wind every day because it was a bitter headwind that would cut right through you and sap all your energy. It was made worse as I had to camp in the wind and putting up a tent in the wind is not fun. Listening to the wind blow all night didn’t make for a refreshing night’s sleep. After that trip I came to think that the name Wyoming stood for ‘Wind that Always Blows’.

What really blew my mind (yes, pun intended) was that on my roadtrip to Taos I was suprised that I passed at least 3 large coal burning power plants and long coal trains bringing car after car of coal to fuel those power plants. Then south of Pueblo I saw Vestas‘ wind turbine spinning at their tower factory. Watching the wind push those blades around instantly changes my thoughts about the power of the wind. It just doesn’t make sense why there aren’t more of these sails on the plains.  I understand that it isn’t always windy, but when it is shouldn’t we grab that free energy out of the sky?

It all started several years ago when I put together a proposal for the company I worked for and it recommended we make the switch to go solar.  I had made some contacts with a solar developer that introduced me to the process on how renewable energy can be an effective solution for large scale consumers.  I will say that my proposal was not accepted because it was too expensive.  I put in all the rebates, tax credits, depreciation schedules and the customer perception of being a green company and it was still not enough to make it seem worth the upfront cost. 

As discouraging as it seemed, it taught me a valuable lesson.  The lesson was that businesses have a very difficult time to making the decision to go green if the numbers don’t work.  The numbers must work.  I began trying to solve that problem.  How can we make the numbers work.  What if there was an organization that will sponsor the renewable energy (solar/wind) and make the numbers work?  What if the company didn’t have to pay any more for energy than they already paid? They could even lock in their energy costs at today’s rates.  That would make the numbers work. 

Ecogee was born out of that concept - to solve that problem.  Some of the groups that have the hardest time making the numbers work are other not for profit organizations.  These groups can’t easily take on large upfront costs or take advantage of federal tax credit programs. So we are looking to help these organizations first.  We think that our members will rally around trying to get the local animal shelter to use 100% renewable energy and reducing their energy cost too.  So that is where are starting. 

We look forward to sharing our story with you as it unfolds.  This journey may seem like we are just beginning, but it has been years in the making.