California doubles down on solar power, as critics question cost, job results
Solar power facilities like this one in Riverside County, Calif. , have raises concerns among some, who question whether the public is really benefiting from the investment. Fox News The promise of clean and cheap solar energy is getting a second look in California, where utilities are required to get a third of their power from renewable power by 2020. But after millions in tax breaks and handouts, the industry's honeymoon is over with some counties and ratepayers, as the expected jobs, savings and revenue have not materialized. California's Riverside County is producing more solar energy than anywhere in the U.S., with close to a dozen solar plants either online or proposed. "On the face of it, it looks like a good deal. They talk about all these huge jobs and long-term benefits to the county.
People:
Supervisor John Benoit
Overall Sentiment: 0
Relevance: 0.511831
| Sentiment | Quote |
|---|---|
| -0.0135947 | "On the face of it, it looks like a good deal. They talk about all these huge jobs and long-term benefits to the county. The truth is, it's a very short term," Riverside County Supervisor John Benoit said. ... |
| -0.0948926 | "On the face of it, it looks like a good deal. They talk about all these huge jobs and long-term benefits to the county. The truth is, it's a very short term," Riverside County Supervisor John Benoit said. "We're going to be carrying the burden of having these types of facilities for decades to come, and because of the incentives that have been provided by federal and state government, there's virtually nothing left for the county government or the local people to get benefit back after the small number of construction jobs are gone." |
| 0.0284905 | "From the perspective of the company, it may be a billion-dollar investment. But for the most part, that's not money that's coming back to the county that's going to be the host," Benoit said. ... |
| 0 | "From the perspective of the company, it may be a billion-dollar investment. But for the most part, that's not money that's coming back to the county that's going to be the host," Benoit said. "So yeah, I appreciate the investment. But I think they kind of overstate the number of jobs and how long they'll be here for their own PR reasons. "But the long-term effect is clear: We're going to have a desert that's dramatically changed and forever off the tax roll and out of use for any other recreational or other purpose." |
| 0.311902 | "It's probably 50 percent more (than coal or natural gas) today," Benoit said. ... |
| 0.199206 | "It's probably 50 percent more (than coal or natural gas) today," Benoit said. "Five years ago, it was probably a 100 or 150 percent more costly to generate a kilowatt with solar. The cost of these panels has come down dramatically. But still, getting back to the old equation, do you want to spend a little bit more to be green? And the legislature and the governor in California have said clearly, we're going to do that." |
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Disambiguation: Politician | OfficeHolderReferences:
Gov. Jerry Brown
Overall Sentiment: 0.0457481
Relevance: 0.419222
| Sentiment | Quote |
|---|---|
| 0.136781 | Gov. Jerry Brown laid down the gauntlet, affirming his commitment to solar energy and saying he would "crush" ... |
| -0.0102921 | "There are going to be screw-ups. There are going to be bankruptcies. There'll be indictments and there'll be deaths. But we're going to keep going - and nothing's going to stop me," Brown said. ... |
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Disambiguation: Politician | GovernorReferences:
Shannon Eddy
Overall Sentiment: 0.122127
Relevance: 0.408673
| Sentiment | Quote |
|---|---|
| 0.143032 | "The Riverside County tax is so high that it makes the county anti-competitive for solar," Shannon Eddy of the Large Scale Solar Association said. ... |
| 0.100441 | "The Riverside County tax is so high that it makes the county anti-competitive for solar," Shannon Eddy of the Large Scale Solar Association said. "The reason that we decided to litigate the Riverside County tax is because it was an illegal tax and it was in direct violation of Proposition 26." |
| -0.238868 | Eddy says, "The reality is that we're bringing jobs, again, to some of the most economically depressed counties in the state. These are much-needed jobs. We've got thousands and thousands of construction jobs that are going to be attributed directly to the construction of these solar projects." |
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April Sall
Overall Sentiment: 0
Relevance: 0.337149
| Sentiment | Quote |
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| 0 | "There's been a policy to fast-track and install these utility-scale renewable energy installations that are on the scale of five to 10,000 acres each," said April Sall ... |
| 0.120708 | "There's been a policy to fast-track and install these utility-scale renewable energy installations that are on the scale of five to 10,000 acres each," said April Sall of the Wildlands Conservancy. "We've seen thousands of acres of the desert bladed and now undergoing utility-style construction to basically convert that from pristine habitat that included those sensitive plants and animals, to becoming potentially a dust bowl." |
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Frank Wolak
Overall Sentiment: 0.154637
Relevance: 0.282686
Key:
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- The Mean is meant to be an indicator of an individual's average comment sentiment.
- The Standard Deviation, when there are enough quotes, will indicate an individual's consistency of sentiment (i.e. a Standard Deviation of 0 would mean they were very consistent in their sentiment and 1 would mean they were very inconsistent).
Note that quote stats are likely to be meaningless beyond the aggregate score due to the tiny sample size. However, they are always provided just in case you find something useful there.
Additional Info:
FieldTerminology: natural gas
Overall Sentiment: -0.0340807
Relevance: 0.448583
FieldTerminology: energy source
Overall Sentiment: -0.593319
Relevance: 0.352159
StateOrCounty: Riverside County
Overall Sentiment: -0.0288149
Relevance: 0.90886
StateOrCounty: California
Overall Sentiment: -0.0286686
Relevance: 0.465493
Disambiguation: Location | PoliticalDistrict | AdministrativeDivision | Appellation | GovernmentalJurisdiction | USState | WineRegionReferences:
Country: U.S.
Overall Sentiment: 0.0539408
Relevance: 0.395071
Disambiguation: Location | Region | AdministrativeDivision | GovernmentalJurisdiction | FilmEditorReferences:
Organization: Stanford
Overall Sentiment: 0
Relevance: 0.300335
Disambiguation: Location | Company | SportsAssociation | AcademicInstitution | ChivalricOrderMember | CollegeUniversity | UniversityReferences:
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After millions in tax breaks and handouts, the solar power industry's honeymoon is over with some counties and ratepayers, as the expected jobs, savings and revenue have not materialized.
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- climate change
- gov jerry brown
- Jerry Brown
- renewable energy
- riverside
- solar energy
- solar panels
- solar power
- the host
- U S
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California doubles down on solar power, as critics question cost, job results
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