Dan's Papers - May 8, 2009

Lost in the maze of never-ending problems facing the homeowner is the pressure to go "green" - preferably as quickly as possible before the next run on energy prices. Although those costs are almost 50% lower than last year at this time, who truly believes that they are not eventually going to go back to record levels once the economy is nolonger the focus?

In the heat of the last spike in oil prices, the entire country was on a quest to find an alternative - solar cars, solar heated pools, solar bathrooms. Recently, Southampton added solar laws to the books that force green construction of newly built swimming pools and homes.

But then the mental landscape changed when the world banking system seemed poised to collapse. Going green became less of a priority. However one person who has not abandoned the beating of the green drum is New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele of the 2nd District which, as he describes it, basically covers "from Montauk Point to the William Floyd Parkway," with the Hamptons neatly tucked in. Discussing the challenges of going green, Thiele explained that, "The initial cost is the barrier; everyone wants to do it but coming up with that big number when you are saving or paying college tuitions or things of that nature makes it tough."

So in the last year, while the bright light was on the banking mess, Thiele has introduced three separate bills to further his cause. He explained that the first bill deals with a "Real property tax credit for the purchase of solar power." The concept is to somehow help finance that initial cost of going green. His second bill, in his own words, is one, "Authorizing local governments to finance solar improvements on behalf of homeowners and businesses. Local government would front the money for the improvements by issuance of a low interest, tax exempt bond, and it would be repaid by those who install solar through an assessment over a 30 year period. This would remove the large up-front cost that discourages this investment. Boulder, Colorado and Berkeley, California are already doing this successfully."

Thiele said that he's thinking long term here. He will be against any off shore drilling around Long Island and will forever oppose any concept of nuclear power on Long Island. He is in favor of wind power and solar power concepts being explored and developed.

His third bill, also introduced to the State Assembly this year, was meant to "Create a feed-in tariff program to provide a payment of 32 cents per kilowatt as an incentive for all excess solar energy sold back to utility companies by homeowners and businesses who install solar. The current rate is about 1/3 of that. California and Ontario, Canada are already doing this."

Thiele acknowledged that the legislation will need some heavy lifting but he's sure he's on the right side of the issue and that time will prove that. He himself is exploring the best ways to most efficiently convert the new home he just inherited. "It's the initial cost, that's the barrier I am trying to break away with my legislation," he said. While Thiele knows most people accept that going green is the right thing for the future, with so many costs screaming out to be paid daily, the homeowner must choose what needs to paid immediately. Last year, fuel prices were the big issue, but now that's not the case. And now, with gas prices back to around $2.00, even that gas guzzling SUV doesn't seem so bad. A wise old fishing buddy said, "I know how many miles per hour my boat gets at various speeds, basically how many MPH my car gets, but who truly know how many MPH their house gets?"

When it comes to getting clear on exactly what that house MPH is, Assemblyman Fred Thiele is on the ball, still thinking green.