[careinke]

My electric utility is a small co-op that gets 100% of it's power from renewable sources. One major fraction(68%) comes from the landfill gas at Vermont's only remaining landfill. The gas power a couple of locomotive sized caterpillar engines.
As an armchair general I hate to see gas flared to no purpose. Don't drill the hole until you can recover and sell the gas. Not feasible economically, I know, but it chafes my frugal Vermonter's cheeks.

What does your small utility do with the electricity when they produce more power than demand? Probably dump it into the ground, what a waste. As more and more renewable energy like Solar and Wind come on board this problem will increase making a stable grid harder and harder to maintain.

BTW bitcoin mining is being favorably endorsed by Vermont. Here is an article on it.

https://dailybayonet.com/progress-of-bitcoin-mining-in-vermont/

Peace

[mousepad]

BTW bitcoin mining is being favorably endorsed by Vermont. Here is an article on it.
https://dailybayonet.com/progress-of-bitcoin-mining-in-vermont/

From the article:

This is good news for the state, as it means that more jobs will be created and more revenue will be generated.

Look at that. Growth, growth and then some more growth. Even in a supposed "green" state like VT.
When will humans learn that growth ain't cool anymore?

[Doly]

What does your small utility do with the electricity when they produce more power than demand? Probably dump it into the ground, what a waste. As more and more renewable energy like Solar and Wind come on board this problem will increase making a stable grid harder and harder to maintain.

Small utilities sell their electricity to the grid, same as big utilities. If the national/local grid has more electricity than required, they can sell it to a neighboring country/area. For overall balance, usually gas powered stations are used nowadays, that can be switched on and off rather quickly. Hydro is also used for balance in areas that have lots of hydro (pumping water into the reservoir with the extra electricity). There are other methods available for a partial storage of electricity, that range from the not-very efficient (molten salts) to the efficient-but-expensive (batteries). In short, the technical solutions exist, and it's just a matter of figuring out what is the best solution in a given area.

[JuanP]

I am very happy to inform you that I have decided to leave this forum. I have found another forum that has a much better crowd. I know that this will make most of the handful of you still here very happy. I think it would be a complete waste of my time to keep coming here since there are only a couple of members here that post anything worth reading, mostly Tanada. This forum has become a circle jerk for a handful of stupid, ignorant, arrogant, and/or deluded Western exceptionalist old fools engaged in mental masturbation.

You truly deserve each other!

Hasta la vista, babies!

[vtsnowedin]

My electric utility is a small co-op that gets 100% of it's power from renewable sources. One major fraction(68%) comes from the landfill gas at Vermont's only remaining landfill. The gas power a couple of locomotive sized caterpillar engines.
As an armchair general I hate to see gas flared to no purpose. Don't drill the hole until you can recover and sell the gas. Not feasible economically, I know, but it chafes my frugal Vermonter's cheeks.

What does your small utility do with the electricity when they produce more power than demand? Probably dump it into the ground, what a waste. As more and more renewable energy like Solar and Wind come on board this problem will increase making a stable grid harder and harder to maintain.

BTW bitcoin mining is being favorably endorsed by Vermont. Here is an article on it.

https://dailybayonet.com/progress-of-bitcoin-mining-in-vermont/

Peace

I don't know the correct answer to your question. I suspect that as they draw from several sources including hydro power from dams they own they can just just shut the flow gates and save the water until it is needed. Also they are such a small producer they could dump any excess into the main grid without any of the big dogs noticing the activity of the flees.

[Newfie]

VT,

Not sure about that hydro bit. If the lake is not full then yes. If the lake is full then it will be just more water over the dam.

[vtsnowedin]

I am very happy to inform you that I have decided to leave this forum. I have found another forum that has a much better crowd. I know that this will make most of the handful of you still here very happy. I think it would be a complete waste of my time to keep coming here since there are only a couple of members here that post anything worth reading, mostly Tanada. This forum has become a circle jerk for a handful of stupid, ignorant, arrogant, and/or deluded Western exceptionalist old fools engaged in mental masturbation.

You truly deserve each other!

Hasta la vista, babies!

I have to wonder if your new forum members will find you an asset to their discussions?
Good luck regardless.

[vtsnowedin]

I received a letter from the SS administration.
They said they had recalculated my benefits and are sending me a one time deposit of a few hundred dollars and will be increasing my monthly deposits a shimgion going forward.
It is about years where I was drawing SS and made too much money on side jobs that paid in more SS taxes in months where my SS benefits were halted. So in effect they moved my retirement date ahead a few months.
That is all well and good but as I have not worked a day in two years, why has it taken them this long to get around to it?
All my post retirement employers pay all their SS and Medicare taxes by wire and by-weekly. So at the end of any calendar year the mother computer at SS should have been able to recalculate my bennies to the penny.
Not a big deal to me but I wonder how many other retirees are waiting months or years for them to get their act together?

[Newfie]

Wild blueberry pie.
Picked and baked myself.

URL=https://imgbox.com/5FTW9ZmI][/URL]

[vtsnowedin]

An excellent way to spend a summer day. Looks delicious!

[Newfie]

We sold our house in Philly early this year. So while we have plenty of places to live (our boat and 2 cabins) they are all in pretty remote areas. And our investments had no direct real estate. In the meantime my kids been going through a rough spot and needed some help. So we decided to buy a house and have him be our care taker. It works out all around; he has a place to live, we diversify our investments, and we have a place to crash when moving through the states and a place to be should we need some medical crap. Problem is it needs to be in New Jersey, yuck!!!

It all came together, My Son and Wife (his Step-Mom) found a real decent place they both love and I have to admit it is far better than I had expected. For once in my life I did not need to be the one pushing something forward and making it happen, it just did, a very weird feeling. So, we bought a house. Sight unseen since we are in Canada. My kid did all the work turning it up. We will be closing in 2 weeks, remotely. How weird is that?

It is a 1956 bungalow, 1,050 sq ft, 3 BR, 1 bath but on a fully wooded one acre lot. You can not see the house on Google Earth, the trees completely cover it. All adjoining lots are of similar size. Quiet street.

Not a bad little place from the pictures.
Newer kitchen.
1/2 finished basement, not counted in square footage.
Roof, windows, AC, and sone other stuff new since 2018.
Working fireplace first floor and basement.
Just now getting a new septic system as it could not be sold with the old system.

No garage, but tons of space to park my contractors trailer which will serve as my work shop.

We are still not resolved that this will be our “retirement” home. It can be a family compound, a good interim, but too suburban for our liking. We can not find any place that is “perfect.” Here in Newfoundland is pretty good, but March is 6 months long, winters are dark, and its pretty isolated being an hour to a small town with modest services. For now we will continue to split time between Newfoundland and the boat and deal with a “retirement” home when that need arises. In the meantime we have a “good enough” family base we can count on. No more couch surfing for a couple of weeks when we visit.

[vtsnowedin]

I love that government help of making you redo the septic when you buy. Did the flush go down before" Did it just need a maintenance pumping.?No you need a $15,000 redo. Welcome to New Jersey.

[Newfie]

It seems that the law has some requirement’s for sale and the Sellers only discovered that when they engaged a Realtor to list the property. So even though it is entirely the Sellers expense they did not even have an estimate when we fixed the deal. Obviously they are doing full disclosure, I today received the engineering work submitted for permits. The work starts next week and will take a week. We close on September 14.

I am somewhat surprised at the complexity of the system with 2 each 1,000 gallon tanks and a 15x45 drainage field with 3’ of drainage fill. The tanks are inline and the 2nd tank has a big pump to belch waste into the drainage field. It is designed for a 3 bedroom house with 500 gallon per day usage. The perk test was a bit vague. They apparently went down 12’ in sand and sandy loam. I suspect the percolation was too fast to bring to saturation. The house has city water. But there is no city sewage available.

The contract the Seller signed for the work was $15,000 for the minimum with various various add-ons quoted “as needed”. Tree removal was T&M. I hope there is none of that, I like trees.

Bottom line, this looks to be an approximate $25,000 hit on the Seller. I have no skin in this game as the closing is contingent on a fully compliant system with all inspections being successfully completed.

Good grief, we could use it for 10 years minimum, with no pump. It is huge.

[vtsnowedin]

The contractors do make regular contributions to the local politicians campaign funds. That has more to do with the size and price then any real engineering need.

[Newfie]

Yes, same with lawyers and judges.

Thankfully, nine of this work is in my nickel.

[C8]

Those trees are uncomfortably close Newf

[Tanada]

Those trees are uncomfortably close Newf

Are you joking? You get a great deal less demand for summer cooling with trees like those and in winter when they are leafless they let you get some solar gain. On top of that eliminating most of the grass gets rid of the wasteful fuel use tending a patch of grass that is far larger than practical for a retired couple to have to tend weekly during the growing season.

[Newfie]

Trees were the big attraction. We HATE naked lots.
You might be a redneck; and we are

[vtsnowedin]

I would caution that the trees that overhang or could fall on the house need to be looked at regularly. Weak or dying ones need to be carefully removed before they can fall into the bedroom.

[Plantagenet]

Beautiful house, Newfie.

The trees provide privacy and beauty and shade.

I'm very impressed that you could make a decision and buy something so quickly.

Ever since I sold my cabin on Vashon Island off Seattle years ago, I've been looking for another nice little cabin in the lower 48. Thats years and years of looking, while prices went through the glass ceiling. ..........I was looking in Arizona...but then the water issues got serious.....I was looking in Oregon.....but then the forest fire and heat dome issues got serious..... so I'm still endlessly looking. But the perfect is the energy of the good. Sometimes you've just got to make a decision and go for it.



Congrats to you on "manning up" and getting things done.

Cheers!