By Mike Bogle
As we swelter our way through the hottest month in recorded history and fret over what our next Dominion Energy bill will look like, it might be an opportune time to step back from the immediate and take a wider view of what is happening to our climate, how that is impacting us, and what we can do about it.
I’m sure quite a few of us have seen headlines and stories like these …
Phoenix, Ariz.
Set a record for the longest span of days (as of July 25) with highs above 110 degrees Fahrenheit – 26 days. Had its highest low temperature ever of 97 F.
Miami, Fla.
Hit a record of 44 days with a heat index above 100 F.
El Paso, Texas
Crushed their record of consecutive days with triple-digit heat. As of July 25, the city is currently at 40 days straight and counting.
Death Valley, Calif.
At 1 a.m., Tuesday, July 25, the recorded temperature was 120 F. It cooled off all the way down to 105 at 7 a.m.
Now, some may dismiss this as just a U.S. heatwave. OK. Fair enough. But there were other headlines.
Rome, Italy
Experienced its highest temperature in recorded history on July 18. The mercury hit109 F.
Sicily, Italy
On the same day Rome hit its highest temperature, Sicily topped out at 115 F.
Figueres, Spain
Again on July 18, this city hit a new high record of 113 F, a record for the Catalonia region of Spain.
By now there is too much evidence pointing to the fact that the Earth’s climate is changing – not for the better – and that humans are responsible. And one of the overwhelming contributing factors to humans’ responsibility for climate change is the burning of fossil fuels.
Why then, with all of this evidence staring us in the face, would the management of major (some may say monopoly) utilities continue to generate energy for the electrical grid from fossil fuels? And why would they continue to include fossil fuel generation in their upcoming Integrated Resource Plans (IRP) – which cover the next 30 years – to be submitted to the Public Service Commission (PSC)?
Not only is reliance on fossil fuels irresponsible from a climate standpoint, but fossil fuels are also more expensive – much more – than other types of energy, chief among these solar.
But you see, the utility companies are really not bothered by price volatility, because they pass 100% of the cost to generate and provide energy to their customers. They literally have no skin in the game. No “cost of doing business” that they absorb. It’s all on us.
If that arrangement does not sit well with you, you have a chance right now – this month – to do something about it. Email the Public Service Commission at contact@psc.sc.gov and tell them to reject Dominion’s IRP.
There have been several consumer advocacy groups that have already pointed out the deep flaws in Dominion’s IRP – starting with the fact that it does not use any funds from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), of which billions have been earmarked for just such a purpose. This kind of business negligence leaves ratepayers’ costs unnecessarily inflated.
Let’s add our voices to theirs, and let Dominion know we’re tired of its rate hikes; we’re tired of bearing the burden of its mismanagement and shortsightedness. We demand that it begin running its business with their customers in mind, and working to offer the least expensive, most reliable, cleanest energy that is available. Regardless of your politics, that’s just good business.
Mike Bogle, a proud Beaufortonian since 2018, is a member of the Beaufort chapter of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby and can be reached at topicallyyoursllc@gmail.com.
