Penny Pinncher loved to shop.  And when she shopped, as you might have guessed, Penny loved bargains.  Penny perused places like the Bargain Nook for her clothes; she clipped coupons and scoured sales.

       One day, Penny went shopping for energy; imagine that!  She wanted to find the best buy for the energy used to generate her electricity.  Her first stop was at the nuclear power plant.  Newt Tron, the manager, said to cover his operating costs he could let her have electricity for somewhere between 11 – 18 cents /kilowatt hour (kWh).  Penny thanked him kindly and set out to find a better bargain.

       Next stop was at the coal gasification (synthetic gas) plant.  Oh my!  The notice on the door indicated that syngas ran as high as 22 cents/kWh.  She never even bothered to knock.  “Where next?” Penny pondered. 

       She knew that in Wisconsin most electrical generation, about 80%, comes from coal and natural gas.  With that much volume, surely one of these would be the low-cost leader.  So she stopped in on Blackie Roccs, manager of the nearby power plant.  “We gotta charge from 6 – 11cents /kWh to run the coal generator,” Blackie blurted. 

       Penny was unimpressed so she called the natural gas plant and learned their cost is 4 – 8 cents /kWh.  “Not bad,” Penny admitted.  “But what about renewable energy sources?” she wondered.  Penny discovered that utility scale solar costs about 5 cents/kWh and wind turbine energy runs from 3 – 6 cents/kWh. 

       Impressed with the low cost of those clean energy sources, Penny was about to place her electricity order when who should come in but her cousin Karen Forearth.  Penny bragged about the bargains she’s found in renewable energy. 

       “Let me show you something,” Karen winked.  And off they went to the Energy Efficiency Emporium. On display for consumers were LED light bulbs, Energy Star appliances, “smart” gizmos like thermostats, power stirps, and charging stations, and much more.   Most impressive was the display for utilities.  It showed that a mere 3 cents /kWh spent on energy efficiency and waste reduction is actually the least expensive energy bargain.

        “You see,” Karen pointed out, “the lowest cost electricity is that which is never generated in the first place.  And when utilities generate less and customers use less, we get the added bonus of cleaner air, right here, where we’re forever… Earthbound.”  

       Last time, we left the Reddys and the Bluefellas of Merrica bickering about the ogre they called “Clymdra.” *  This pesky fiend was accused of making mischief by creating floods, starting fires in the woods, and enticing warm-weather-loving weeds and insects to invade the village.

       Wanda and Will, problem-solvers from opposing families, hated all the squabbling.  So, along with the village sage, Ima Wizewomann, they hatched a plan to end the quarrel and deal with Clymdra once and for all.  The savvy trio knew that any successful plan had to:

1. Be sponsored by both Reddy and Bluefella leaders
2. Not raise village taxes
3. Require minimal management and oversight by the village council
4. Lessen Clymdra’s ability to create mischief, and finally
5. Wouldn’t it be nice if it also stimulated economic growth in the village!

        Amazingly, their proposal did ALL these things!  

       When the council learned of the plan they quickly put it into action. The first change most villagers noticed was that they had a few extra coins in their purses.  The economy grew as many found work in “anti-Clymdra” industries.  The formidable ogre continued to do her nasty deeds for a number of years.  But over time Clymdra’s strength faded, and the Merricans lived happily…until the Reddys and Bluefellas found something else to argue about.

       Meanwhile, back in the Real World – we in the U.S.A. have the opportunity to enjoy similar success concerning the real-world challenge of climate disruption.  The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, recently introduced in the House of Representatives with a companion bill in the Senate, gives us the chance to enjoy those same benefits. 

        Co-sponsored by both Republicans and Democrats, these bills don’t rely on government regulation.  Instead, by using incentives to lower the use of greenhouse gas-emitting fuels, a market-driven clean energy transformation is nurtured.  There’s no tax increase.  Dividend payments go to every household each month.  Economic activity is stimulated while thousands of clean energy jobs are created.  Noxious emissions decline, and the effects of climate disruption are gradually reduced.

       We CAN create our own “happily ever after.”  The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act can lead us down that yellow brick road.  Let’s follow it because after all, this small, pale blue planet is the only home we’ll ever know.  It’s where we’re forever… Earthbound.
 
       *Clymdra – mythical name for Climate Disruption