Ushering in a New Wave of Hydropower Growth

GREAT NEWS!
Hydroelectrical generation renewal is great news for an American economy trying to still grow choked up by high oil prices
together with WIND ,SOLAR ,NUCLEAR and BIOGENERATION we can rid America of OIL DEPENDENCY and create millions of jobs in the pocess

Perhaps, the U.S. may finally be adding hydropower to a renewable energy mix that has been 97% windpower since 1994. But I am still concerned whether small independents are allowed to enter the market or whether the power industry continues to be monopolized by regulated utilities and their deregulated spinoffs (largely owned by the wealthy). The consumer also benefits from competition. Regulated states currently allow utilities to select their own even higher-cost bids and even circumvent bidding altogether. Deregulated states have even more closed markets because crony deregulation produced no competition. The US needs feed-in tariffs so all producers are awarded the same fair price.

As for the presentation on hydropower in developing countries with International Rivers, this environmental organization seems to be doing more harm than good. They seemed to be saying that less sustainable large hydro had more political support from bribed politicians than small hydro, which could bring wealth to decentralized communities. But then he seemed to be saying that all hydropower will not increase market share in favor of more sustainable windpower. The problem is windpower cannot provide base-load power, like small hydro could, and thus the people will remain poor. Windpower has only been added in significant quantities in nations with a large power base (like North America, Europe, China, India and Australia) and even then it has been added at great expense, caused by the variability of the wind resource.

I am working with about a half dozen communities that once had active hydro facilities to restore 'leaky' dams, include fish ways and penstocks, and to generate enough electricity to pay off debt service and provide low cost power to tenants of converted mill works---retail shops, professional offices, and top floor river/pond view residences.

Usually there is a private owner stymied by their inability to develop the complex; so several solutions emerge:

o ceding hydro power rights to a non-profit for development;

o outright sale to a local government unit, i.e. redevelopment commission, that has access to the new funds and more leverage with regulatory agencies;

o creation of a local energy coop, to own the facility.

I've found small groups tired of looking at a decaying mill complex; and equally tired owners who have been stymied in their plans; as well as environmentalists who want to restore fish-ways, water districts that require the dam to function, and shoreline owners/local taxing authorities highly protective of valuable waterfront.

Using emerging and ancient hydro power technologies, I am able to come up with a win-win-win solution to breakthrough the current logjam. Facilitated community meetings surface additional concerns that result in a shared waterway...some for power, some for fish, some for shore line owners.

How many more decades of not building nukes will it take to convince some people that nukes are dead? So, maybe a few will be built but look at the numbers: In 2008 8700 MW of wind capacity went on line. At 30% capacity factor this is the equivalent energy to 2-3 1000 MW nukes running 100% of the time.
And nobody's backyard in the whole US is suitable to store the spent fuel rods, except for maybe your backyard??? Nevada does not want nor will be the garbage dump for SFRs for the US.