“BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES - Frederick News-Post” plus 3 more |
- BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES - Frederick News-Post
- More Business - San Francisco Chronicle
- SBDC reaches out to downtown business owners - News Herald
- Obama Pushes for Small Business Loans - CBS News
| BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES - Frederick News-Post Posted: 06 Feb 2010 07:21 AM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it.  Advertisements
Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. | |
| More Business - San Francisco Chronicle Posted: 06 Feb 2010 05:26 AM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. On Thursday night, Marin's fledgling public power agency, the Marin Energy Authority, set its rates and picked a company to buy electricity wholesale for many of the county's residents. Although some residents have worried about the program's possible costs, the authority could start selling power to its first customers by May. If that happens, Marin County would become California's first to adopt a new form of public power called "community choice aggregation," using a law written in the wake of the state's energy crisis. Under community choice aggregation, cities and counties can buy electricity for their residents, while traditional utilities continue to own and operate the power grid. San Francisco isn't far behind Marin, pushing forward on its own community choice plan. Other towns and counties are likely to follow, drawn by the promise of greater local control over electricity rates. In places such as San Francisco and Marin County, advocates also want to control - and increase - the amount of renewable power they use. "We're stepping up and answering the call of, 'What are we going to do about climate change?' " said San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi. "Everyone talks a good game, but we're right in there, working on the nuts and bolts to make this happen." But PG&E won't make leaving easy. The utility, California's largest, has a long, successful history of blocking efforts by cities to go into the public power business or join another utility. Although PG&E originally supported the law that created community choice aggregation, it is now backing an initiative for the June ballot that would make setting up such systems much harder. Delivery linesMarin Energy Authority officials say PG&E, based in San Francisco, has threatened not to deliver electricity to the authority over PG&E's power lines - an act the authority considers illegal. The utility also has threatened to sue the authority, demanding that it perform a full environmental impact report before starting operations, said Marin County Supervisor Charles McGlashan. "That would be the rope they'd use to hogtie us until June, when they can kill us with the ballot measure," said McGlashan, who also serves as the energy authority's chairman. The measure would force local governments that want to compete with PG&E to win the approval of two-thirds of their voters first. PG&E spokeswoman Katie Romans said that for now, the utility will concentrate on persuading its customers in Marin County to stick with the company. The authority is a joint-powers agency formed by the county and all of its cities except Corte Madera, Larkspur, Novato and Ross. Starting next week, the energy authority will mail notices to residents, telling them that they can opt out of the new system if they would rather stay with PG&E. The company plans its own outreach campaign, urging its customers not to leave. "We're just staying the course," Romans said. "We're going to continue to communicate with our customers about the risks of the plan." PG&E's argumentPG&E maintains that power prices could rise under the new system, although the utility has already asked state regulators for permission to raise its own rates next year. Under the Marin Energy Authority's rates set on Thursday, most residents will pay the same amount for electricity, month by month, as they do with PG&E. Residents who want 100 percent of their electricity to come from renewable sources will pay an extra $3 to $6 per month. Not all Marin County residents and officials have welcomed the public power plan. In December, the county's civil grand jury issued a report called "Marin Clean Energy: Pull the Plug," arguing that the effort's costs were too uncertain. Some residents have complained that the local power effort isn't local enough: The authority has hired Shell Energy North America, a subsidiary of an international oil company, to do most of the actual work. E-mail David R. Baker at dbaker@sfchronicle.com. This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. | |
| SBDC reaches out to downtown business owners - News Herald Posted: 06 Feb 2010 06:59 AM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. PANAMA CITY — The Small Business Development Center wants to help downtown businesses get and stay healthy by making house calls. "I'm just reaching out to downtown business owners," said John Branch, certified business analyst. "I know some of the unique problems of downtown." Toni Shamplain, Downtown North Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) manager, called the outreach with the center a "new partnership," but Branch said Thursday no new services will be offered. He already visits small business owners who are unable to slip away for meetings during business hours, he said. The center operates under Gulf Coast Community College through a Small Business Administration grant. Free services include helping businesses determine marketing, loan applications, taxes and incorporating. The downtown CRA, which works to improve the downtown economy, approached Branch about the assistance, Branch said. In an e-mail Wednesday, Shamplain said Branch will help the owners retain business. About six downtown businesses have closed during the last year because of the recession. Trigo was the latest to shutter last month. Branch said he can help small businesses downtown because he has an insider's view of their problems; he owns Tally-Ho Drive In on Harrison Avenue. The two major dilemmas downtown residents must overcome is the lack of an after-hours crowd and a transient population that might make customers uncomfortable. Those issues are unique to downtown, Branch said. For information, call Branch at 271-1108, ext. 12 or visit www.northfloridabiz.com. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. | |
| Obama Pushes for Small Business Loans - CBS News Posted: 06 Feb 2010 07:42 AM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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