The parent company of FPL, based in Florida, as I’ve said, in which I hold shares (and continue to buy more regularly) has offered quite a nice return for investors over the last 15 years ending December 31, 2018. They have “delivered a total shareholder return of approximately 770%, compared with 98% for the S&P 500 Utilities Index and 207% for the S&P 500 Index. Since 2003, they have outperformed every company in the S&P 500 Utilities Index and 83% of the companies in the S&P 500 Index.”
Crazy stuff!
We are going to renewable energy and for many areas solar makes sense, especially when the storage issue is addressed. I welcome cars becoming EVs and I look forward to owning them.
Although the vehicle manufacturing companies are still in infancy I believe I’ve found a mature company in which to invest that provides and will continue to provide the renewable energy they’ll all require, while getting very economical and extremely reliable residential electric service from them. CSA
To drop interest rate to near zero to stimulate consumer and commercial buying is the very definition of artificially suppressing interest rates.
By keeping interest below the rate of inflation, they are devaluing the money in everyone’s bank accounts and it has also led to the pension fund crisis by driving pension funds into the stock market and having them lose their shirts in 2009.
The Bush 2 recession was so easily foreseen that even I could see it coming as early as 2002 and it resulted from lack of regulation. Interest only mortgage loans, stated income accepted on 100% mortgages and the fast shuffling of mortgages from the originating bank to investment banks with swaps adding a hidden cliff for the get rich quick crowd. And the current situation is just the next scheme for investment bankers to win and leave working people holding the bag.
Certainly the Fed’s interest rate results from the administration’s demand for kicking the day of reckoning can down the road in hopes things will remain rosy right up till the end. There will be and end though. Even a greasy mechanic can see it. Brooksley Born’s struggle is mostly forgotten but I feel certain that there are people like her in critical positions today trying to throw some light on the roach nest. I wish them, and US luck.
Musk is getting about 5 billion a year in government subsidies. Anyone can be successful as long as the Federal (a.k.a taxpayer) gravy train keeps flowing courtesy of the 1 million annually Musk spends on lobbyists to keep it going.
Pretty good return on the investment I’d say.,
That isn’t true. Tesla subsidies ran dry at the end of last year because they hit their production cap for getting them. And those subsidies are available to any electric car manufacturer until they hit that production cap.
Plus, those subsidies were $7500 per car for the first 200,000 (which works out to 1.5 billion) and was then cut in half for 6 months, cut in half again for 6 months, and then dropped off entirely. So that would be 2 billion max, not anywhere close to 5 billion per year. Where you probably got that false number is the (absurdly slanted) LA Times article which said Musk has gotten $4.9 billion in subsidies. But that’s not just for Tesla. That’s also SolarCity and this little unknown outfit that doesn’t do much called SpaceX.
And if you’re gonna count subsidies for SpaceX in the equation, then you need to be upset about Morton Thiokol, Rockwell, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and all the other mega-billion-dollar companies that worked on programs like the Space Shuttle and the Apollo program, because SpaceX is building rockets for NASA to use as well.
Meanwhile, the fossil fuel companies, you know, some of the richest and most profitable businesses that ever existed, get more than 20 billion a year in subsidies despite being well-established and insanely profitable.
Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a 1 Billion dollar aid package package for Buffalo a few years ago.
3/4 of that Billion was used to build and equip the Solar City plant at Riverbend which was then given to Solar City free of charge. All Solar City had to do was to meet it’s job quota. The quota has never been met and has been revised downward many times and They are facing a 41 million dollar fine in April.
Laid off workers at the plant have said that Solar City has been reporting twice as many workers as they actually have and that is still well below the goals.
I recall how outrageously extreme far right I became back in the 80s when my combined income tax was 42%. It was at that time extremely costly to pay taxes on a small business with even a reasonable profit and I understand the hostile attitude that small business owners had regarding taxes. I never seemed to ever quite exceed the cap on the self employment FICA tax and if I had my hostile attitude might have been easier to overcome. And just this morning I saw that Amazon’s federal corporate tax rate last years was 1.2% and several oil companies was ZERO and I feel certain that mechanics like myself worked a great deal harder than those paying only capital gains taxes on their investments.
That doesn’t seem to be right. You claim you were at the highest tax bracket, but never met the FICA cap. You’d have to earn double FICA tax cap salary to be in the top tax bracket.
There seem to be a LOT of scams going on in the “solar industry”.
I was besieged with offers for rooftop panels from various solar companies, but I did not respond to any of them. Then, a very bright former student of mine began working for one of those companies.
Because I trusted her, I allowed her to survey my property, and she told me that the orientation of my home would result in a couple of decades of solar usage before I could amortize the cost of the panels. As a result, she said that she did not recommend solar panels for someone in my age group.
About 1/4 mile from my home, last year somebody had solar panels installed on the north-facing side of his roof. He was scammed!
My house is a PERFECT location and orientation for Solar panels. I looked into when we built the house over 20 years ago, but the cost wast too high. Now the cost has come down drastically and the payback would be less then 10 years, but we’re going to move in a couple years when we retire.
The right house in the right location it can be good.
I use to work with a guy who retired and bought 1/2 an island off the coast of Maine. Built a 3000sq/ft timber-frame home. He’s completely off the electric grid. Between solar panels and a turbine he generates all the electricity he needs. Has 2 large propane tanks. The big appliances like Refrigerator and Freezer run off of propane. Satellite TV, and he’s close enough to shore to get cell and wi-fi internet.
Almost any homes around here are in a perfect location for solar power here on the Sun Coast! The sun is shining brightly nearly everyday and there’s no snow to cover panels. Some homeowners have panels on roofs, but because Florida Power and Light, my local utility, has so many solar power plants (farms) in Florida and building more every year, one can take advantage of solar just by turning on the lights or running the AC.
Also, FPL is starting a utility member (customer) program whereby customers can opt to have a surcharge placed on monthly utility bills (a subsidy) to be used for accelerating the use of renewable energy. Then, down the road in the future, these customers can reap a saving on their bills. https://www.fpl.com/energy-my-way/solar/solartogether-res.html I’m planning to opt in on this new program from one of the most innovative businesses on the planet, ASAP! CSA
There are probably 10+ new solar farms built in the past 5 years within 20 miles of my house.
I’ve flown into Indianapolis a few times over the years…THEE largest solar farm I’ve ever seen surrounds the airport. And they’re expanding. Right now they generate enough electricity for for 1/3rd of the power used for the airport (Th at’s a lot of power).
Driving through the back roads of upstate NY and try to count all the Wind Farms. Dozens and Dozens.
Update
EVs, Electric Vehicles, need fuel, electricity. What better source of clean fuel for EVs, like Teslas, is there than the sun?
Anyhow, this stock has a history of continued growth.
Shares I purchased last April 4th (2019) at $188.18 per share were at $278.52 per share when the exchange closed Friday, Valentine’s Day, an increase of over 47%, 90 bucks a share!
Shares I purchased less than 3 weeks ago on 01/27/20 at $266.08 have increased $12.44 share, already.
EVs and solar and wind generated electricity are enough to turn me into a tree hugger!
Feel the magic CSA
What’s going on with the solar in NJ? In both my subdivision and the one next to it in Cherry Hill, practically every other house has them. My next door neighbor has them on his heavily wooded lot. That can’t make sense. I don’t know them well enough to ask.
I don’t know which utility serves your neck of the woods, but in my area PSEG has a solar panel on the top of every one of their electric poles. Additionally, almost all of the larger industrial concerns have installed a huge array of solar panels in the areas surrounding their buildings.
As to homes, I couldn’t give you any kind of precise percentage, but I would estimate that ~15-20% of the newer homes have solar panels on their roof.
We are also pse&g. I just spoke with another neighbor. She said my next door neighbor told her that between tax credits and what he’ll make selling power to the utility, he’ll make more than the lease payments on the installation.
We also have the solar panels on the utility poles.
I was also told I would make money on installing solar panels from solar city (Tesla)/ For a $65,000 investment they calculated that I would make $12000 after 30 years. That was taking into account a $16000 federal credit.
It also did not include any replacement cost for any repairs or replacement of the batteries for the battery wall. They way overestimated my current electric bill, calculated a 2% increase in the cost of electricity each year but did not calculate any loss due to inflation.
Eveb if all of their figures were true, and none of them are, who in their right mind would 1nvest $65000 for a $12000 return after 30 years?
Oh, I would also have to cut down the maple trees on the south side of my house that are one of the reasons my electric bill are so low. That would not even make sense if I was 30.
He was scammed!
