FEBRUARY 2016

“Our Mission: Gallup Solar is collaborating with communities, elected representatives, utilities and industry to bring solar power
to all peoples in our area”

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We meet every Wednesday Evening from 6-8 p.m.
at 113 East Logan Ave., Gallup, NM
Refreshments are served
The public is welcome and all input is valued.
PLEASE COME!

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We will be following the progress of the Request for Proposals for a 10MW plant  published on the
City of Gallup Website
SEE THE WHOLE RFP HERE

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ALL MEETINGS ARE OPEN,
WE LOVE TO HELP YOU,
IF WE CAN,
WITH YOUR SOLAR UNCERTAINTIES

February 3, 6-8pm
 

 
THE CLEAN

POWER PLAN

PART II
 
The Gallup Solar Sun reported on the EPA’s Clean Power Plan in December.

At that time we were not really aware of its very specific focus. This federal mandate will reduce CO2 in the atmosphere of the US 32% by 2030.

The focus is primarily on Electric Generating Units that produce 25 megawatts or more.  
There are 10 of these in New Mexico.
 
There are different requirements for each state, geared to make the goals achievable.  In NM we will almost reach our goal if San Juan goes ahead with shutting down two of its generating units as it is planning to do.
 
It is almost too easy.
 
The multicolor bar shows the output of the ten different plants, of which San Juan’s output is orange.
The violet bar is the goal to reach.
photo credit Adron Gardner
 
Proposals to limit emissions from EGUs are called Emissions Standards Plans
 
San Juan Generating Plant  photo courtesy Gallup Independent
 
Alternatively, States can propose
State Measures Plans. These can include replacing fossil fuel generation with Renewable Energy,
 
Which of course is the mission of Gallup Solar.
 
Activists are criticizing the CPP for it’s limited goals.
 
The EPA is taking flack for not being more in control on the one hand and being too controlling on the other.
But right now they are all we’ve got.
We should be glad that there is at least one federal rule to fight Climate Change.

Gallup Solar’s Ma and Pa, Be Sargent and Bill Bright, (don’t read more into it), wondering how
we can make use of the CPP.
photo credit Adron Gardner
 
After the meeting, which had a good turnout,
we came away not too clear about Gallup Solar’s potential role in the CPP but we did come away with renewed vigor.

The CPP is a breath of fresh air, a step in the right direction. But just making EGU’s cleaner is not our main goal. We want a replacement plan.
 
One thing we New Mexicans can still count on
is one and a half or twice as many hours of sun
as most other states.

A PV panel in NM produces lots more power
than one in Massachusetts.

We even have more solar hours than Old Mexico.
 
Do we have an obligation to make the most of this natural endowment?
 
There must be an economic argument for
implementing solar given that we get so much
more for our buck.
But that alone is not enough.
 
We don’t want to sound judgmental
saying there is a moral imperative here,
but isn’t that what Pope Francis is saying
in the very beginning of his encyclical?
ON CARE FOR OUR COMMON HOME
 
Authentic human development has a moral character.
It presumes full respect for the human person,
but it must also be concerned for the world around us and
“take into account the nature of each being and of its mutual connection in an ordered system”.

Accordingly, our human ability to transform reality must proceed in line with God’s original gift of all that is.

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And here you have Ma and Pa again, receiving a check for $1000 from Washington Federal Charitable Foundation presented by Gwyn Hoskins, Manager, Washington Federal Bank, to help with Gallup Solar’s off-grid on-Navajo solar seeker program.
Photo courtesy Washington Federal Savings