Economy

Some request inflation adjustment from wind power developers

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Some request inflation adjustment from wind power developers

Many of the wind projects were bid several years ago before the COVID-19 pandemic, Reynold explained. Since then, the costs of cement, steel and wind turbines have all increased.

How much additional funding each project has requested from the PSC depends on when the projects were originally bid.

“Ranging from 27% for some, all the way up to 70% for some other projects,” Reynolds said.

For land-based wind projects, the state estimates that the increases would translate into an additional cost to consumers of $1.57 per month.

Reynolds didn’t comment on the additional cost to consumers of offshore wind projects.

The PSC may rule on the inflation adjustment as early as Oct. 12. If the adjustments are approved, the additional funding will be triggered when the project reaches the construction stage.

“So, if the prices go back down, the inflation adjustment would be less,” Reynolds said.

If the PSC denies the inflation adjustment, Reynolds said the situation would be “bad."

“Both offshore wind projects, and the land-based wind and solar projects, have demonstrated that the prices have gone up for these projects. And so, they can’t get built at these prices,” she said.

The petitions cover about 90 renewable energy projects.

“A lot of them will get canceled,” Reynolds warned. “Some of them may successfully rebid.”

Here is some random financial advice that the good ol’ boy came up with …

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I Am Happy For The Sun

1) Debt is evil, don’t make it.
If you can’t afford to buy something with cash, you can’t afford it. Your poor. Be a grown up and accept that fact.

2) Live in poverty.
It’s always bad to have money in your bank account, because it doesn’t earn much interest and means it will get spent on things that you’ll spend later to get rid of at the landfill. I rarely have more then a $1,000 in the bank, because I’d rather live paycheck-to-paycheck, knowing that every time I look at my bank account I can’t afford to buy junk. Lock the rest of the money up in investments and savings accounts, the later that offers more flexibility during emergencies and for buying bigger purchases after a few years.

Landfill

3) Remember 90% of things you buy are going to either become poop or smell like burnt plastic in the burn barrel within 2 weeks of buying it.
While we all like playing with fire, watching things melt, and colorful flames, buying things to set on fire is a waste of money. So in other words, don’t buy it.

4) Do antagonize over $20 purchases.
Little things add up quickly. Do you really need it? Anything that is non-essential should not be purchased — even if you like watching plastic melt and burn.

Burning the Morning's Garbage Up

5) Don’t take a raise — or at least the majority of a raise.
Rather then taking a raise, use automatic deposits to savings accounts, 401ks, IRAs, or any other vehicle that defers the money to make raise never appear in your bank account rather then take it and spend it.

6) Always look for lower-cost ways of doing things.
Does the government offer the service for free or low-cost? Public libraries, public transportation, and public forest lands are free (or low cost) for your use and enjoyment.

North Harmony State Forest

7) Try to save more then you spend each week.
If you take home $1,300 then invest $700 of that check a wide variety of ways. It’s okay to withdraw money every few years for a big purchase, but at least you’ll be getting a better deal then most by buying it with money that has earned compounded interest rather then paying finance charges.

8) Sales are horseshit.
Buying things on sale usually is a bad way to save money on the purchase, unless you’ve been deferring a necessary purchase for a number of months.

Happy !!

9) Celebrate when the stock market goes down.
It means you can buy more stock for less money. Stock paper is just that — it has no value until you it cash it in. You shouldn’t give a rats ass about the stock market going down — except to look forward to the deals you are going to get. You shouldn’t be buying stock paper unless it’s for long-term goals, that can be sold when the market is booming.

10) Cheap, diverse investments are better then expensive ones.
Self-investing in boring, uninteresting broad-based funds are better. If you don’t understand an investment, then you shouldn’t be investing it. Have a dozen different ways of investing with different banks, different funds, and different investment types. It’s good to bet against your own investments with mutually opposing investments. If one thing goes bad, you’ll have other things to fall back.

11) Keeping buying a little bit of your investments each week, when you get paid.
The fancy financial types call this cost-based-averaging. It’s also not bad idea to wait until the market drops back down and convert some savings to stock, but be patient and wait for a good drop in the market. When people have been panicking on Wall Street for a week, that’s a good time to drop that $5,000 or $10,000 you don’t really need and toss it in the market for the hell of it — knowing that you might never get the money back — but you might also make out well.

Republican Sherriff Target Practice?

12) Pretend money in retirement accounts and stocks, unmature certificate of deposits is totally inaccessible and for all intents and purposes does not exist.
I mean I think have a ballpark idea what is in my investment accounts, but I don’t really give that much of dang, because it changes every day. I’m betting that in 20 years it will be a bigger amount. And for all intents and purposes, stock paper is an imaginary money — as stock paper has zero value until you cash it out.

Dollar Store Bands

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dollar-brands [Expires July 18 2023]

Family Dollar seems to prefer poor urban areas, Dollar Tree is a more suburban brand, while Dollar General is more of a rural/small town brand.

NPR

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The Fed holds interest rates steady but hints at one more rate hike : NPR

The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged Wednesday, but signaled that it's open to additional rate hikes in the future, if necessary, to combat stubborn inflation.

"In assessing the appropriate stance of monetary policy, the Committee will continue to monitor the implications of incoming information for the economic outlook," members of the Fed's rate-setting body said in a statement.

The central bank has already raised rates 11 times in the last 18 months, most recently in July. That's the most aggressive series of rate hikes since the early 1980s, and leaves the Fed's benchmark borrowing cost between 5.25 and 5.5%.

One of the most woke people I can think of has to be Joel Salatin 🚜

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Well maybe until he let the world know about his views on the COVID-19 vaccine, which from a business perspective probably wasn’t his best decision but is fully consistent with his world views. You can argue still to this day, Salatin is one of the most successful homesteaders out there. I wouldn’t say, go woke, to broke.

I was listening to the NY Magazine podcast this morning when they were talking about the origins of the word “woke”. The term has become associated with left-wing political activism, particularly that worn on one’s sleeve without much conviction. Feel good politics not grounded in reality. And a sober look at how people exploit it.

Humans like stories and good feelings. Many if not most successful businesses – outside of commodities and essentials for living are about telling a story. People need a reason to buy your product. Smart business owners find ways to tell a story.

People should be aware of what is happening in their community and in the world. They should care about others. Good business people are savvy when it comes to maximizing their resources. Salatin has developed some neat ideas to run his homestead that reduce the need for inputs.

And he’s built a story about it and diversified himself both in his ag business and the books and lectures he does. I’ve supported his farm by buying his books even though I’ve never been to his part of Virginia.

Like many people, being woke leaves me with a bad taste in myself as it is often based on denying reality and hiding yourself from the real world. But if you can play into consumer beliefs while being grounded in reality behind the scenes then I see no problems with being woke.

Gas Prices Push Up Inflation Rate – The New York Times

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CPI Report Live Updates: Gas Prices Push Up Inflation Rate – The New York Times

Federal Reserve officials are likely to remain wary about the outlook for inflation following a report released Wednesday: Overall price increases sped up because of a pop in gas prices in August, and a more closely watched index that strips out volatile food and fuel prices climbed at a faster monthly pace than expected.

The Consumer Price Index climbed 3.7 percent in the year through August, the report showed. That was both faster than the 3.2 percent July reading, and slightly quicker than the 3.6 percent that economists had expected.