Archive Dog Blog
Fat Spaniel and the Stimulus Bill
Many people have asked, “How will Fat Spaniel and the rest of the renewable energy industry benefit from the Obama administration stimulus bill?” While there are 18 discrete elements of the bill that our industry can take advantage of, three programs stand out.
Solar For Schools
The “Solar for Schools” program appropriates $53.6 billion to a state fiscal stabilization fund. Program language specifies that states shall use 18.2% of this money for public safety and other government services, including the renovation of facilities and schools to meet green building standards. Solar energy projects qualify. (Div. A, Sec. 14001-14002, pp. 425-429)
Given Fat Spaniel’s partnerships with the Bonneville Environmental Foundation http://www.b-e-f.org/renewables/ and the Sun Skool organization http://www.sunskool.com/Default.aspx to promote solar in schools, Fat Spaniel is particularly excited about the opportunity to enlighten the world’s young people about renewable energy.
Government Building Energy Efficiency and Solar
This provision appropriates $5.5. billion for expenditures to construct, repair and alter federal buildings to increase energy efficiency, including installing solar energy equipment. $4.5 billion is available for converting GSA facilities to high-performance green buildings and $1 billion is available for non-recurring maintenance on Veterans Affairs facilities, including energy projects. The GSA estimates that 75% of the anticipated projects will include a solar component. (Div. A, p. 213)
Because of the ongoing need to maintain trust with the public, Fat Spaniel believes that it can make a key contribution to the greater good by providing renewable energy monitoring services that ensure data accuracy, transparency, auditability, and open access to the public. Fat Spaniel services are used for assessing both electricity demand and production
Renewable Energy Grants
The Renewable Energy Grant provision creates a new program through the Department of Treasury that provides grants equal to 30 percent of the cost of solar property placed in service during 2009 and 2010, in lieu of the section 48 investment tax credit. (Div. B, Sec. 1104, p. 38)
This provision represents a foundation for the U.S. solar industry, and will ensure that growth remains steady. Fat Spaniel’s revenue-grade reporting service plays a critical role in verifying that these systems were placed into service, thus enabling our customers to tap into an important source of funds
As the year progresses, we will be providing more commentary on the stimulus bill.
Write back to us at “dogblog at fatspaniel dot com” to share your views.
Posted by Tom Tansy.
Tags: Energy Education, Energy Efficiency, stimulus plan
Welcome to Fat Spaniel
Welcome to our very first Fat Spaniel Technologies blog. This post is being written as I travel by train through Southern Germany. As nice as that sounds, I’m not on vacation; I’ll explain in a moment.
Six years ago, on January 30, 2003, I founded Fat Spaniel. The original idea was to help increase awareness of Renewable Energy and enable customers of solar electric systems to track and improve their performance. It was about showing a skeptical world that Renewable Energy is a viable source of energy and providing tools to help ensure these systems worked as promised. Our very first tagline was: “Visualize Renewable Energy”. This was both to describe the function of our product as well as indicate our desire to actively participate in helping the industry grow and succeed.
Today, through technological improvements, cost savings, public investment and innovative business models, the Renewable Energy industry has been transformed into a global, multi-billion dollar powerhouse. As one of the few bright spots in difficult economic times, our industry has landed at the intersection of some of the key issues of our time: climate change, energy independence and economic recovery.
In September of last year, I relocated to Munich, Germany, to personally launch the European Business Unit of Fat Spaniel. As I write this, travelling from our new European office, solar energy systems are visible everywhere. Farms, factories, and homes are sporting large arrays almost everywhere you look. Some estimated 14% of Germany’s grid power now comes from Renewable Energy which inspires my optimism about the future of our industry in the USA and beyond. It’s a great start, but we’ve barely scratched the surface of a massive potential market.
In early 2009, the Fat Spaniel team decided to formalize the passion and purpose that has been driving us since the beginning; to create a mission that would motivate and challenge us for many years into the future. Our vision is to enable and promote *Responsible Energy*, by making energy information easily available and ubiquitous.
An important way to move our mission forward is to share it and discuss it widely; hence the creation of this blog. Several members of the Fat Spaniel team will be posting here to share their perspective and expertise. We invite you to participate in the conversation and join our quest to accelerate the adoption of Responsible Energy.
I hope to talk with you again soon.
Sincerely,
Christiaan Beekhuis, President & Chief Technical Officer
Fat Spaniel Technologies, Inc.
Tags: Energy Education, green jobs, Responsible Energy, stimulus plan