And wouldn't surprise me a bit if the state does nothing because they probably have their corrupt paws in vectrens profit pockets.

We are having solar panels installed at our house this summer. We will watch Vectren like a hawk, as we always must, during this process. It will be just our bad luck but to Indiana's citizens' benefit if a new state credit for such installations is passed next year.

BTW we were "lucky" enough to be on the short route that the tree trimmers from hell serviced this summer. Before this crew was fired they managed to about kill one of our trees by hacking it up to the point where even the arborist from Vectren was confounded. Vectren's arrogance is beyond belief. I urge everyone to watch this public utility/monopoly as well as the IURC very carefully.

Also do everything you possibly can to conserve energy. Help your bottom line and cut theirs in the process.
Martha Crosley

Let me see if I have this right. This small turbine may power one class room on a windy day and Vectren needs to install a new transformer to handle the load. Sounds like they needed to put up a new transformer for a long time and saw a good chance to make a nice profit on a bunch of school kids. Class act Vectren!

The entire United States could generate 100% of its energy needs from renewable sources if we were serious about building the necessary infrastructure.

The best utility money can but, with the highest ethics and the highest rates. Got to admire these fine corporate citizens.

It's way past time for Indiana to have better options with wind and solar. For the paid Vectren spokesperson to make the not so veiled threat that Mr. Morton is risking his business by challenging Vectren, and that most people just "bite the bullet and pay" is a little shocking. If Mr. Morton has tried to work with them for that many years with little or no success, he's been a patient man. The Vectren presence here and the Vectren presence in their Ohio market is completely different. And absolutely telling that Vectren wants to charge the school $12,000 until the school complains to the state, and the regulators make Vectren back off and tell them the action was illegal. A utility of that size surely has a competent legal department. Now looks like they need to get that public relations department tuned up quickly.

Way to go Vectren.

this should show everyone how far Vectren and the fossil fuel industry will go to sabotage renewable energy.

This is totally outrageous. The Indiana Senators and House members are being bought and sold by these same people.

It's time for some real change. Every one should be running Fuel cells and solar panels on their homes and just cut VECTREN out about 50% of the year. I wonder how they would like that?

It's technically feasible to use solar power to convert pure water into hydrogen and oxygen. And it's equally possible to put the Oxygen and hydrogen back together in a fuel cell to generate electrical power.

NASA does this on their satellite and the Space Station and the Shuttle. And current Military Submarines are running on Fuel Cells right now as I'm typing this. Mark my words, if Germany had this current technology back in 1940 we would all be speaking German and Japanese and Germany would have succeeded in chocking off Britain's Supplies from the USA using those wolf packs. The German U Boat's were vulnerable when they had to surface and recharge their batteries. We won't the war using radar to locate their subs and destroyed them while they were at the surface at night recharging their batteries. But if they could have stayed submerged for three weeks like current fuel cell powered submarines they would have been much harder to find and destroy. They may have been free to roam the oceans and disrupting the sea lanes between the USA and England. Thankfully they didn't have fuel cells in their subs.

But, todays submarine of other countries are using fuel cells to power their batteries. And they can stay submerged for up to three weeks at a time. I just hope we don't have to go to war against these new fuel cell powered enemy submarines. They are so quiet that they can be hard to find. They have fewer and quieter moving parts than our current expensive nuclear submarines. But our nukes can stay submerged for months vs weeks. Still the quieter and smaller fuel cell powered subs may have a critical advantage in the littoral zone.

Back on topic. Shame on VECTREN for treating these little kids like that.

Simply put, he said, it's not sunny and windy all of the time.

Yea but it's windy and sunny enough of the time to help cut the profits that VECTREN makes and they don't like that.

On the Contrary. It's not dark and calm all the time either.

It's sunny enough to use the sunlight to split the water molecule and store hydrogen and oxygen for later used in a fuel cell to make electricity.

Does anyone really fully trust Vectren spokeswoman Chase Kelley? I sure don't trust the paid mouth piece to speak for any thing other than VECTREN's Point of view.

It's up to the Legislature to make VECTREN do what's best for everyone not just the few. So it's up to use to elect the right people to do that job for us not for just VECTREN.

It's up to Scripts Howard owner of the Evansville Courier and Press to tell us who these people are and who represents the little people vs the big corp.

I also question the sincerity of the Indiana utilities companies (including Vectren) "Energize Indiana" program. They hand out light bulbs and low-flow showerheads that have been pre-paid by your utility bill, but discourage further improvements energy efficiencies. https://docs.google.com/document/d/15...

Only T Boone Pickens, Hippies and Obama supporters like Wind and Solar power--of course Indiana based Vectrin see's this as a challenge to their hegemony.

Rap

I would be willing to bet the top management and board of directors are all conservative republicans. The republican party mantra is free market competition as the best, most efficient way to deliver products and services. However, when it comes to competition, we see that their real motive is profit, power, and greed. The management of a public utility takes no special skills when you are guaranteed a profit and no competition within your designated area. A little sunshine has been shown on their true values.

"...Vectren is motivated to stall or stop the spread of renewable energy because projects cut into the utility's profit margins".

Not likely. When the monopoly sees their profits slipping they simply trot up to Indy and whine a little to the utilities commission and Voilà!, an instant rate increase. Sweet deal if you can get it.

Why am I not surprised...another blog of bash Vectren. I am not a Vectren employee but I sure enjoy the energy powering my computer right now. Indiana is powered by coal! The U.S. is powered by coal! In Indiana only 3% of power is generated by something other than coal. That means select 9 days out of the year and those days are powered by something other than coal. So for all you bloggers who bash fossil fuels, shut down you computer and all your lights, air conditioning, heat in the winter and so on for all but 9 days a year.

The U.S. has 200 years of coal reserves. Indiana extracts so much coal we are the 7th most coal extracting state in the country. Now, I expect several to tell me how terrible it is that we use coal and I will tell you how wonderful it is that last week when it was 95 degrees outside it was 72 in my house. That plastics are produced by energy produced by coal. That plastics produced for the medical industry saved my childs life.

In the next three years it is predicted the U.S. will become the leading oil producing country in the world. The UlS. is now exporting oil. Yes, the U.S. has more oil than each of the middle eastern countries. Three military personnel are killed each day providing safe delivery of the middle eastern oil to the U.S.

If all you who believe wind and solar are the end all of electric generation, than show down your computer for all but 9 days a year and let's see how long you are on the complaint list. It is time we start embracing our good fortune to lead the world in coal, oil and natural gas reserves.

in response to Penguin:

Why am I not surprised...another blog of bash Vectren. I am not a Vectren employee but I sure enjoy the energy powering my computer right now. Indiana is powered by coal! The U.S. is powered by coal! In Indiana only 3% of power is generated by something other than coal. That means select 9 days out of the year and those days are powered by something other than coal. So for all you bloggers who bash fossil fuels, shut down you computer and all your lights, air conditioning, heat in the winter and so on for all but 9 days a year.

The U.S. has 200 years of coal reserves. Indiana extracts so much coal we are the 7th most coal extracting state in the country. Now, I expect several to tell me how terrible it is that we use coal and I will tell you how wonderful it is that last week when it was 95 degrees outside it was 72 in my house. That plastics are produced by energy produced by coal. That plastics produced for the medical industry saved my childs life.

In the next three years it is predicted the U.S. will become the leading oil producing country in the world. The UlS. is now exporting oil. Yes, the U.S. has more oil than each of the middle eastern countries. Three military personnel are killed each day providing safe delivery of the middle eastern oil to the U.S.

If all you who believe wind and solar are the end all of electric generation, than show down your computer for all but 9 days a year and let's see how long you are on the complaint list. It is time we start embracing our good fortune to lead the world in coal, oil and natural gas reserves.

I don't see anyone "bashing coal". I see people bashing Vectren.

in response to Penguin:

Why am I not surprised...another blog of bash Vectren. I am not a Vectren employee but I sure enjoy the energy powering my computer right now. Indiana is powered by coal! The U.S. is powered by coal! In Indiana only 3% of power is generated by something other than coal. That means select 9 days out of the year and those days are powered by something other than coal. So for all you bloggers who bash fossil fuels, shut down you computer and all your lights, air conditioning, heat in the winter and so on for all but 9 days a year.

The U.S. has 200 years of coal reserves. Indiana extracts so much coal we are the 7th most coal extracting state in the country. Now, I expect several to tell me how terrible it is that we use coal and I will tell you how wonderful it is that last week when it was 95 degrees outside it was 72 in my house. That plastics are produced by energy produced by coal. That plastics produced for the medical industry saved my childs life.

In the next three years it is predicted the U.S. will become the leading oil producing country in the world. The UlS. is now exporting oil. Yes, the U.S. has more oil than each of the middle eastern countries. Three military personnel are killed each day providing safe delivery of the middle eastern oil to the U.S.

If all you who believe wind and solar are the end all of electric generation, than show down your computer for all but 9 days a year and let's see how long you are on the complaint list. It is time we start embracing our good fortune to lead the world in coal, oil and natural gas reserves.

Here’s a stunning statistic: A government policy to promote coal use in Northern China may have cut the life expectancy of 500 million people by more than five years on average.

Is this what you want for Evansville?? http://69.195.124.113/~chinamik/wp-co...

That sounds like great public relations Vectren! Screw the kids! Now the kids of our state understand what their parent's issues with you are!

If the school will be the recipient of the generated electricity then I think the school corporation should go ahead and pay the fee, if VECTREN does not relent, and consider the amount saved on their billing as repayment.

Who will be maintaining the wind turbine, and will they be compensated? These are points that should have been considered in any costs versus savings study.

__

in response to 3322:

We are having solar panels installed at our house this summer. We will watch Vectren like a hawk, as we always must, during this process. It will be just our bad luck but to Indiana's citizens' benefit if a new state credit for such installations is passed next year.

BTW we were "lucky" enough to be on the short route that the tree trimmers from hell serviced this summer. Before this crew was fired they managed to about kill one of our trees by hacking it up to the point where even the arborist from Vectren was confounded. Vectren's arrogance is beyond belief. I urge everyone to watch this public utility/monopoly as well as the IURC very carefully.

Also do everything you possibly can to conserve energy. Help your bottom line and cut theirs in the process.
Martha Crosley

Conserving energy is exactly what Vectren wants. They would love nothing more than to have everyone use less energy. That way they can save money by not having to produce as much energy, then they can go before the Indiana Regulatory Commission and request a rate increase. More money, less costs. And if they can make up fees for the effort you undertake to save energy, they'll do that too.

in response to 3322:

Let me see if I have this right. This small turbine may power one class room on a windy day and Vectren needs to install a new transformer to handle the load. Sounds like they needed to put up a new transformer for a long time and saw a good chance to make a nice profit on a bunch of school kids. Class act Vectren!

How will the electricity generated from the turbine enter the grid? It can manufacture only enough electricity to power 1 classroom and even then it reqires a "windy" day. Do you tie such a low current line into a 7600 volt transmission line WITHOUT a transformer?

Plug your cellphone into a 115 outlet without a transformer for a quick lesson in electrical engineering.

Let me look at my Vectren bill. Oh yes there it is. Right after current electric charges. Includes a service charge of $11. Per Vectrens website "charges billed to recover costs to operation and maintenance of service delivery facilities." I would think that putting a transformer on the grid to allow customers to generate electricity for the grid would be a service delivery cost for Vectren.

We need Obama to come to Haubstadt and put all of these children in the background of one his demeaning lectures as victims of white collar crime, while he bashes the coal industry and explains to us where we will get economical fuel alternatives to replace the 88% of coal generated electricity that we currently need to " keep the lights on ".

With the simpering commercial of Vectren's with the woman talking about giving more than you take, and polished butt kissers like Ellsworth on their payroll, what else would you expect from these hypocrites?

in response to crski:

We need Obama to come to Haubstadt and put all of these children in the background of one his demeaning lectures as victims of white collar crime, while he bashes the coal industry and explains to us where we will get economical fuel alternatives to replace the 88% of coal generated electricity that we currently need to " keep the lights on ".

ROFLMAO! Now that's funny.

in response to disaffected:

How will the electricity generated from the turbine enter the grid? It can manufacture only enough electricity to power 1 classroom and even then it reqires a "windy" day. Do you tie such a low current line into a 7600 volt transmission line WITHOUT a transformer?

Plug your cellphone into a 115 outlet without a transformer for a quick lesson in electrical engineering.

Exactly. If I run 2 types of metal in a lemon and brag about the voltage to light a flash light bulb dimly for 2 minutes, why should I expect Vectren to front the money for a transformer?

Talk about green nut jobs!! The energy produced by this school will be far less then the energy it took to build the equipment and they want to brag about being green while they burn someone else's money and use more energy then if they did nothing?

Mob mentality and brainless Obama worshipers are running this country!