Presentation sparks debate over high prices, rebates for students

JEFF ANTENORE/Daily Bruin Woodrow Clarke, aid
to Gov. Gray Davis, speaks to students Tuesday about the energy
crisis, Enron and economic health.

By Kelly Rayburn
DAILY BRUIN SENIOR STAFF
[email protected]

Months before blackouts threatened California, T.H. Culhane had
an energy crisis of his own. He pledged to find a way to cut
himself off the grid ““ he would never again rely on the state
or huge energy firms for his power.

But despite his efforts, Culhane is one in a vast group of
students who ““ even if they make mammoth efforts to cut back
on energy ““ do not qualify for state rebates designed to
provide incentives for people to conserve. Like most students,
Culhane is not a home-owner and almost all the various state and
local incentives available for residents are exclusively targeted
to those who own the space in which they live.

Culhane brought up the point with Woodrow Clark, senior policy
adviser to Gov. Gray Davis, after a presentation Clark made called
“Greening California’s Power” in the Public
Policy building Tuesday.

“Now there’s a guy who’s ahead of his
time,” said Clark, who seemed pleasantly caught
off-guard.

Almost two years and thousands of dollars after Culhane made his
pledge, everything in the UCLA urban planning Ph.D. student’s
downtown apartment ““ his television, VCR, computer, electric
guitar amp, and lights ““ is powered by huge batteries
fed by roof-top solar panels.

“I will never pay another utility bill,” Culhane
said.

After first getting in good shape by tirelessly powering his
batteries with a bicycle generator, Culhane decided he would set up
solar panels on the roof of his apartment complex near Vermont and
1st Avenues. His landlord loved the idea, he said.

Culhane spent about $7,000 to disconnect himself from the grid.
He asked if not owning a home should keep people like him from
having access to rebates.

“Drop me a note, I need to investigate that,” Clark
said.

Even if he owned his own home, Culhane would not qualify for
rebates, since he completely removed himself from the power grid.
The state only offers monetary incentives to people connected to
it, so they can centrally control preservation efforts, Culhane
said.

Clark, who said he would investigate the possibility of
non-home-owners qualifying for rebates, has already done plenty of
previous investigating on energy, taking a position as one of
Davis’ top aides in January 2001, during the thick of the
energy crisis.

Specifically responsible for looking for new, cleaner forms of
energy to power California and finding out how they can be
developed and funded, Clark expressed confidence that California
can “green” itself sooner than many experts say.

For example, he said, Ford Motor Company will come out with a
car in October that uses fuel cells ““ which store solar or
wind power for use when it is not sunny or windy ““ for only
$4,000 more than a gas-powered car of the same model would
cost.

When asked why consumers would opt to pay more for such a
vehicle, Clark said continued research on new energy forms
will help drive prices down.

Earlier, he displayed a Web site outlining available state
monetary incentives for cutting back on traditional forms of
energy.

With or without state incentives, however, Culhane pledges he
will never again be connected to the grid ““ it’s a
personal thing.

“When I got my master’s degree, I asked myself,
“˜What kind of urban planning student am I if I can’t
personally contribute?'”

For information on rebates for conservation efforts, visit
http://www.governor.ca.gov/state/govsite/gov_homepage.jsp