Grumpy Editor

CALIFORNIA SOLAR REQUIREMENT COULD ADD $10,000 TO NEW HOME PRICE

Little has been said about it nationally, but home buyers in California, already facing some of the highest prices in the nation, will be paying a bit extra next year when the Golden State makes solar mandatory for new houses, notes Grumpy Editor.

The requirement could easily add $8,000 to $10,000 to the home’s price, according to the California Energy Commission (CEC).

The solar addition will increase the average monthly mortgage payment by $40, figures CEC.  But, it adds, new home buyers will save an average $80 a month on  heating, cooling and lighting bills.

Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, tells CNBC's "On the Money" that the new solar requirement could undermine a segment of the real estate market that's struggled to add to new homes relative to demand.

Added costs could hit "the affordable side of the market," she mentions, where prices on available homes have been under pressure.

"It's a very different perspective depending on if you're looking for affordable homes, or pricier homes," she adds.  “It's already difficult for builders to build, and I think this is just going to exacerbate that problem."

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE REPORT DELAYED.  Robert Mueller’s final report on the two-year investigation of the so-called Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, which media were awaiting this week, won’t be out after all, leaving print and broadcast outlets in suspense.

DOW POSTS NINTH STRAIGHT WEEKLY GAIN.  The Dow rose above 26,000 again on Friday, gaining 181.18 points to close at 26,031.81 for the first time since Nov. 8 in posting its ninth consecutive weekly gain --- longest streak since May 1995.

MILLENNIALS TARDY ON AUTO LOAN PAYMENTS.  A record seven million Americans are more than 90 days late on auto loan payments and millennials are clearly leading delinquency rates, finds the New York Fed. It notes the number of new auto loans and leases appearing on credit reports last year reached the highest level in 19 years.  Researchers note there was a “sharp worsening” in the number of delinquent auto loans held by borrowers under 30. 

FOUR TERM MINNESOTA DOG MAYOR DIES.  Duke the four-term ceremonial canine mayor of Cormorant Township, Minn., went to "doggy heaven" last week.  The Great Pyrenees, 13 years old, made national news for being elected the dog mayor, acting as the village's ambassador to the public.

 

SEN. SCHUMER QUESTIONS HEDGE FUND WITH EYES ON GANNETT.  Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wants to know how many journalists hedge fund Alden Global Capital intends to lay off if it manages to take control of Gannett, publisher of USA TODAY.

 

SMOLLETT REAPS HEAVY COVERAGE IN MEDIA.  Actor Jussie Smollett, gaining more media coverage than the President over the past week, was cut from this season’s final two episodes of Fox’s “Empire” after Chicago police charge him with filing a false report for allegedly staging a hate crime attack on himself.

SNOW HITS HOLLYWOOD.  Last week's snow in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles is the first such dusting since 1962.

Calif. solar facility output fizzles, despite bright location

 

Maybe it’s time to rethink solar plants.  An Associated Press story --- not getting far-reaching media attention --- finds the largest solar power-producing plant of its type in the world at the California-Nevada border "once promoted as a turning point in green energy, isn’t producing as much energy as planned,” notes Grumpy Editor. 

The second paragraph of the AP story raises eyebrows.  It mentions one of the reasons is that “the sun isn’t shining as much as expected.” 

That’s puzzling. 

The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System facility, spanning five square miles of federal land in California, 50 miles south of Las Vegas, couldn’t be located at a better spot to capture the sun’s rays.  There is ample sunshine for the operation’s 350,000 computer-controlled mirrors that reflect rays to boilers atop 459-foot towers.

Among major cities, nearby Las Vegas ties with Phoenix as top U.S. locations in average annual sunshine with a high 85 percent.  That’s 3,825 hours of unblocked sun’s rays a year. 

Yet, the $2.2 billion solar facility is producing only about half its expected output for this year. 

What’s the hangup?  The California Energy Commission blames the sluggish output on “factors such as clouds, jet contrails and weather” having “a greater impact on the plant…” 

Really? 

Clouds (which are few) jet contrails (which are everywhere over the country) and weather (which is mostly dry and sunny at the California-Nevada border desert location)?  Hmmm. 

A research firm analyst says the facility’s early production facilities “do not paint a strong picture for solar-thermal technology development.” 

 

FYI, IN CASE YOU MISSED THESE… 

With the Thursday high temperature predicted to be 40 degrees under cloudy sky, look for shivering PETA activists at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade to protest SeaWorld’s use of orcas (killer whales) by cramming several naked, black-and-white painted people into a bathtub set outside Macy’s flagship store in New York’s Herald Square…Oops!  Near the end of President Barack Obama’s Friday executive action speech in Las Vegas on immigration changes, KSNV-TV, Las Vegas, interrupted his remarks, dropping in a Cox Communications commercial…By the way, a pre-Vegas speech NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, not widely circulated, finds 48 percent oppose the president taking executive action on immigration, while 38 percent support it and 14 percent have no opinion or are unsure…And while the president spent the weekend in sunny Las Vegas, that included playing 27 holes of golf with former New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter in his foursome, Vice President Joe Biden was in the Ukraine, where he announced an increase in U.S. nonlethal aid --- including Humvees and radar equipment…As another cold spell hits a chunk of the nation, a Reuters story out of Oslo, Norway, mentions, “This year is on track to be among the warmest on record,” then reports the coldest U.S. November morning since 1976 “with subfreezing temperatures in all 50 states”…Forget the influence of usual U.S. developments such as corporate earnings and federal actions.  Friday’s surprise rate cut from China's central bank coupled with dovish comments from European Central Bank’s president sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average soaring 91 points to 17810...Lowest price of the season?  A mailer from Motor Trend magazine pitches a subscription deal to non-subscribers, pointing out the annual cover price is $215.64, but with a “rate adjustment” one can grab “your revised rate” of --- $9.  And the magazine will toss in a free emergency flashlight…Radio station KNEB, 
Scottsbluff, Neb., --- 962 miles from Los Angeles --- beat by several hours the Los Angeles Times with word that 170 passengers and six crew members on board a Princess Cruises ship that docked in San Pedro (in Los Angeles Harbor) fell ill following an outbreak of norovirus…Join a state National Guard --- and see Africa?  Members of National Guard battalions from California, Minnesota, Ohio, Texas, Iowa and Kansas have been ordered to mobilize for deployments to West Africa next spring to support U.S. and international efforts to stem the spread of the Ebola virus.

 

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Harry Reid turns up rhetoric in Nevada cattle feud

Senate majority leader Harry Reid, of Nevada, who was mysteriously quiet during a week-long standoff involving a Nevada cattle rancher and the Bureau of Land Management that ended (at least temporarily) April 12, suddenly became quite vocal over the past week --- following the abrupt BLM pullout --- with a series of  interviews from Reno to Las Vegas, going so far as to label those who sided with rancher Cliven Bundy in the cattle-grazing feud “nothing more than domestic terrorists,” observes Grumpy Editor.

About 300 cattle in the BLM roundup were returned to Bundy after the week-long “bullying” by the feds.  

Reid’s almost daily attacks last week grabbed front-pages and broadcast news leads in the state and elsewhere, especially after the Nevada Democrat appeared at a Las Vegas Review-Journal “Hashtags & Headlines” luncheon at a major Strip hotel on Thursday.

Attendees paid $40 a head to hear Reid answer questions directed at him by a Review-Journal liberal columnist. 

While Reid received wide coverage of his “domestic terrorists” phrase, there was no mention of the range dust being kicked up when the BLM rode in with 200 armed agents, including snipers positioned in the hills plus growling police dogs along with use of tasers and helicopters at Bundy’s ranch in Bunkerville, 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas.  Since 1870, the Bundy family’s herd has been grazing on that Clark County land.  

The BLM and its hired “cowboys” went to the ranch to start rounding up Bundy’s 908 cattle grazing on 1,200 square miles of remote mountains and desert managed by BLM and the National Park Service.  Early reason for the roundup was triggered by supposed endangerment of the desert tortoise.  Then the emphasis switched to Bundy not paying grazing fees for 20 years.

Major media stories in the past week did not mention Reid’s close ties with the communist Chinese and the possibility of a major solar facility locating on the vast sun-bathed grazing land that also contains rare minerals along with the tortoises.  (See the April 14 Grumpy Editor on earlier developments at the Bundy ranch and mention of Harry Reid in the headline over a revealing Infowars.com story --- a day prior to the BLM pullout.)

Reid was linked to a proposed $5 billion solar plant in southern Clark County two years ago.  That operation, later shelved, involved a Chinese energy company.

Interestingly, in the same edition that reported Reid’s “domestic terrorists” description of Bundy backers, an illustrated Review-Journal feature focused on about 750 sheep dispatched to the hills on the western edge of Carson City, on the western side of Nevada, to munch on invasive grasses to reduce risk of wildfires as the fire season nears.

No comment from Reid on those grazing animals that belong to a four-year-old Gardnerville sheep farming company.

 

In case you missed these…

WESTERN POLITICAL LEADERS SEEK LOCAL CONTROL ON LANDS.  Allied with the Bundy feud with the feds in Nevada, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Friday that more than 50 political leaders from nine states convened in Utah’s capital to discuss their joint goal --- wresting control of oil, timber and mineral-rich lands away from the feds. "The urgency is now,” declared State Rep. Ken Ivory (R-West Jordan, Utah) who organized the summit with Montana State Sen. Jennifer Fielder (R-District 7).

 

LOS ANGELES GETS ANOTHER DAILY.  First editions marking the Wednesday debut of the Los Angeles Register were hawked on Los Angeles City Hall grounds --- across the street from the Los Angeles Times building. The paper will be sold at more than 5,500 retail outlets and vending machines. It’s the first new daily in the City of Angels since the Daily News turned into a daily in 1981.  The Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, a long-time daily, folded in November, 1989.

  

MEDIA PEOPLE ON THE MOVE.  Fox News re-signed Chris Wallace to a multi-year deal to continue anchoring Fox News Sunday.  He has anchored the Sunday morning program and contributed to Fox News’ political and election coverage since joining the network in 2003…Radio host Laura Ingraham joined ABC News as a contributor and will continue as guest commentator for Fox News Channel, often filling in for Bill O’Reilly on The O’Reilly Factor…Dee Dee Myers, one of former President Bill Clinton’s press secretaries, was named head of corporate communications and public affairs for Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros., Hollywood’s largest studio.

 

U.S. NEWSPAPER REVENUE CONTINUES DOWNWARD.  Newspaper Association of America said the industry’s 2013 revenue slipped 2.6 percent to $37.6 billion.  Print advertising revenue last year sank 8.6 percent to $17.3 billion but circulation revenue gained 3.7 percent to $10.9 billion.

 

GET READY FOR THE LOCAL ANGLE.  A newspaper editor in the west ran a distant police beat story in yesterday's edition like it happened down the street.  A woman in Dover, N.J. --- that’s 2,300 miles from the breaking news, headline-conscious editor --- reported that on the first date with a man she met on the Internet, Joel (last name unknown), swiped her TV set and dog. 

Now the editor is hoping for a follow-up.

Reid nixes Olympic garb from China but boosts solar plant

While much coverage stemmed from Sen. Harry Reid’s negative comments on Chinese-made uniforms that the U.S. Olympic team plans to wear at the games' July 27 opening ceremonies, media did not give much attention four months ago when the Nevada Democrat praised the Chinese in a deal involving a solar power plant in southern Nevada, points out Grumpy Editor. 

The Senate majority leader, noted for holding back legislation in recent months, seemed surprised about the origination of Ralph Lauren-designed attire for the athletes. 

His fuming quote, repeated over the weekend in television news, will go down as a classic:  “I think they should take all the (Olympic) uniforms, put them in a big pile and burn them and start all over again.” 

In a later call to home-state reporters, Reid emphasized:  “Our athletes should not wear clothes manufactured in China.” 

While Reid seemed shocked, it indicated the long-time senator hasn’t shopped lately in men’s clothing departments of Macy’s, Target or even Wal-Mart. 

Checking labels would have shown him that much garb for men (and women) these days is produced in Cambodia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, India --- and China.

Xinhua News Agency, China's official news agency, today called the made-in-China uproar "hypocritical" and "irresponsible."

 His jab at China contrasted with a March 21 news conference in which he promoted a bargain deal involving a Chinese group that will pay $4.5 million --- less than one eighth of the $38.6 million assessed value --- to buy land from Nevada’s Clark County to build a solar plant in Laughlin. 

Chinese-made components would be used at the solar site. 

In plugging the benefit of the Chinese-operated plant for the Golden State, not the Silver State he represents, Reid said it “will generate the electricity California must have in just a few years; 30 percent of all electricity must come from renewable resources.”

 

Obama praises solar plant: 5 jobs, no power for Nevadans

National media on President Barack Obama’s solar energy visit to the Las Vegas area on Wednesday neglected to mention that the one million glittering photovoltaic panels that served as a backdrop for his 17-minute televised speech that brought applause from the audience and heavy print/broadcast coverage, would not provide one watt of power to Nevadans who helped foot the bill, observes Grumpy Editor. 

And as for total jobs created at Sempra Energy Corp.’s Copper Mountain Solar 1 plant in Boulder City, 30 miles east of Las Vegas:  only five full-timers run the plant. 

That wasn’t exciting news to Nevadans in a state that has the highest unemployment rate in the nation, 12.7 percent. 

San Diego-based Sempra owns the facility that cost $141 million with a portion of that funded by Nevada taxpayers who consistently receive hikes in power rates --- now among the highest in the nation --- from NV Energy, Inc., which serves the Silver State.

Yet, Sempra's solar energy output from Nevada is being directed to California. 

Both NV Energy and Sempra are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. 

Meanwhile, Obama’s short visit to Boulder City did not win applause from many of its 15,000 residents who were curbed from their daily activities. 

On the afternoon the president’s motorcade traveled from Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport, where he arrived on the Boeing 747 Air Force One, motorists, including visitors and business people, were advised to stay away from Boulder City because of congestion and road closures.