Trojan Pig in Our Town

“I always listen to the speech of Obama in the commercial that he will help pay the rent of (our) house.”

Third-grade boy somewhere in Colorado.

Denver was once considered a "cowtown."

You know a cowtown when you see one. First, it's a "town," not a city. A "town," of course, is any urban area with a fixed boundary. No spilling out into an unending array of little towns, one after the other, connected by a north-south Interstate highway.

Yes, there was a time when one left the Denver city limits and didn't encounter anything but a few, scattered country dwellers until one reached the city limits of Colorado Springs.

The "cow" part is even better understood. If your town is located in one of the cattle-raising sections of North America, you might be a Cowtown.

Across the street from our neighborhood, the last remaining land available in Highlands Ranch for new home construction used to be an open field for cattle grazing. The cows -- black, brown, black-and-white -- would come right up to the barbed wire fence to graze. Wildcat Reserve Parkway was a two-lane avenue destined for four-lane greatness. We knew when we moved here that this bucolic view would disappear in part once the graders started preparing Back Country for its 16-section community development.

With time, the cow appearances were fewer. And, farther between. Once the roads went in and framing began on the community entrance, we didn't see the cows for a long time.

But, curiously, at the far east end of the enormous parcel, a small sliver of private land must still be operating. One day last week, coming over Wildcat Reserve at the summit, by Mountain Vista High School, I was unavoidably distracted by the appearance of cows. Right by the fragile-looking fence. Right by the road.

That this sight used to be commonplace and isn't anymore was as much the distracting thought as the sight of the cows.

Yesterday, a new animal made an appearance in our fair City. Yes, it's a City. It's a metropolitan area of no fewer than 2.5 million people. Not big by Big City standards. But, pretty dang big for a former Cowtown. And, the Capital of the Great State of Colorado.

Yesterday, a dude named Nathan the Pig was one of two guests of honor at the big "You Don't Know Stimulus" anti-pork rally on the Capital steps. He must have been relieved to learn that he wasn't serving as the other guest of honor. That would be, of course, a whole, completely slow-roasted pig that was asked to lunch. To BE lunch.

Meanwhile, the Porkulus Bill was being signed within the City limits. It took two 747s, a motorcade with about 150 police escorts, and a long string of speeches to get to that point. But, get to that point we ultimately did.

One of the pre-President speakers was the CEO of a Boulder-based solar company. He made it sound like his fledgling business had no chance of survival without the Porkulus Stimulus. But, his company website forgot to take down the long list of government subsidy already in place.

You might not be interested to read all of it. But, if you really want to get a tingle up your leg, read the very last section. The one about company benefits.

I've worked in business all my life, which is about 2,486 years in dog years. I've never had more than three weeks of paid vacation in a year. In my life.

Obviously, I've been in the wrong bizness. But, if this company represents that it could hardly stay afloat with all of this existing help, why would anyone shovel more money in its direction?

Why, indeed.

Hope it's not another ethanol boondoggle in the making.....

"Blake Jones, CEO of Boulder-based Namaste Solar, said his company’s future is already looking brighter with the signing of the bill. Jones, who led Obama and Vice President Joe Biden on a tour of solar panels his company installed on the museum’s roof, said he had been considering laying off some of his 55 employees. Now, he’s looking to expand his work force by 40 percent by 2010, he said.

“We’re just one small business, creating one to two dozen jobs,” Jones said. “The point that I want to stress is that there are thousands of businesses just like ours that will be doing the same thing.”

From the company website:

OVERVIEW:

On both National and State levels, there are programs in place to help “level the economic playing field” between green, renewable energy sources (like solar electricity) and polluting, finite energy sources (such as fossil fuels and nuclear energy). The latter already receive billions of dollars annually in subsidies and incentives, so we’re extremely pleased that renewable energy technologies are now receiving government assistance as well.

GEO solar rebates now available for customers in Fort Collins, Longmont, United Power, Poudre Valley, Estes Park and other territories! Click here for more information.

Residential Systems (smaller than 10.0kW):

* 40-50% utility rebate ($3.50 per DC watt) for Xcel customers
* 30-40% utility rebate ($3.00 per DC watt) for Fort Collins, Longmont, United Power, Poudre Valley and Estes Park customers
* 30% federal income tax credit
* 15% rebate of City sales and use tax for projects within Boulder City limits

SUMMARY OF INCENTIVES IN COLORADO:

Residential Systems (smaller than 10.0kW):

* 40-50% utility rebate ($3.50 per DC watt) for Xcel customers
* 30% federal income tax credit
* 15% rebate of City sales and use tax for projects within Boulder City limits

Small Commercial Systems (smaller than 10.0kW):

* 40-50% utility rebate ($3.50 per DC watt) for Xcel customers
* 30% federal income tax credit
* 5-year MACRS accelerated depreciation schedule
* 15% rebate of City sales and use tax for projects within Boulder City limits

Large Commercial Systems (larger than 10.0kW):

* 25-30% utility rebate ($2.00 per DC watt) for Xcel customers
* 20-year utility payments for system’s “REC” production for Xcel customers
* 30% federal income tax credit
* 5-year MACRS accelerated depreciation schedule
* 15% rebate of City sales and use tax for projects within Boulder City limits

The Bottom Line
In practical terms, state and federal incentive programs can reduce your total “out-of-pocket” costs for a solar electric (PV) system by as much as 60-70%!!!

…THE EMERGENCY ECONOMIC STABILIZATION ACT OF 2008:

On October 3, 2008, President Bush signed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 into law. The new energy bill extends extends the 30-percent federal investment tax credit for both residential and commercial solar installations for 8 years (2009-2016). The legislation improves upon the previous investment tax credits by removing the $2,000 cap for residential solar PV systems and allowing Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) filers to take the tax credits.

…COLORADO’S AMENDMENT 37 AND HOUSE BILL 1281:

In November of 2004, Colorado voters passed Amendment 37 (A37), mandating that a certain percentage of Colorado’s electricity come from renewable sources such as wind and solar power. The rules were finalized and Xcel began paying out rebates in the Spring of 2006. House Bill 1281 (HB1281) was signed into law by Governor Bill Ritter in early 2007 and effectively doubles the original goals of A37 to 20% by 2020. The incentive is divided into a $2.00 per watt rebate and a $1.50 per watt Renewable Energy Credit payment (REC). Because a typical flush-mount roof array costs about $8 to $9 a watt, the combination of rebate and REC from Xcel, along with the federal tax credit, means that your final out-of-pocket cost can be reduced by about 40% to 50%. This assumes that your system can be installed such that it produces at least 90% of what an optimally positioned array in a shade-free area would produce. If your installed system is predicted to produce less than 90% of optimum, then the REC portion of the Xcel incentive (which is production-based) is reduced accordingly.

…CITY OF BOULDER REBATES & INCENTIVES:

Solar energy systems installed within Boulder city limits are currently eligible for a tax rebate. Boulder City Council approved an ordinance in November 2006 to provide rebates for a portion of sales and use tax on both solar electric (photovoltaic) and solar thermal (hot water) systems. The ordinance was passed to encourage residents and businesses to install renewable energy systems in the city of Boulder. The end effect is a 15% rebate on the Boulder City sales and use taxes paid on a solar PV system.

"Environmental concerns would be a driving force in every aspect of the company.
• Six weeks of paid time off.
• Employees, no matter what their job description, have the same pay scale.
• One percent of yearly revenues goes to solar systems donated to community groups.
• All major decisions would be made by consensus of all company employees."