Energy Consortium Needs Certain Powers
New legislation to create the quasi-public East Bay Energy Consortium needs some clarification, including an explanation of proposed eminent domain power and issuing of bonds.
The East Bay Energy Consortium (EBEC), made up of the nine East Bay communities, has submitted a bill to the Legislature to enable the creation of a quasi-public agency. New legislation creates a need to clarify issues and to inform the public. Background: EBEC was formed in late 2009 to use renewable energy and energy efficiencies to save taxpayer money by reducing the amount of energy our municipalities pay for. (Schools, streetlights, water treatment, and municipal buildings require a lot of energy.) Each city and town joined through council resolution and a cash contribution or in-kind payment, and each city and town council appointed one representative and alternates to attend meetings and report back to the municipality. Entity: …
Gary Morse
9:39 am on Monday, May 14, 2012
The eminent domain powers described above are similar to those in another quasi, BCWA. The public record shows that similar "checks and balances" didn't work with BCWA, why should we believe they would work any better here? And the pro forma (minimum requirements) business case analysis used to date is insufficient to determine if any project will work in the absence of taxpayer subsidies. There … more ›