Kilowatt Ours :: Interviews from the Film

Out of an estimated 54 hours of videotaped interviews I conducted during the
making of Kilowatt Ours, only 27 minutes are included in the final documentary. However, there is much great information in the other 53 hours and 33 minutes of interview footage, so I have posted these interviews in their entirety in this new special feature of our website.

These interviews are presented in the order they appear in the film. Any
edits you may see did not eliminate significant content so that all interviewee comments are presented in context. Off the cuff comments and extraneous interruptions during the interviews were cut out to shorten the content. Some interviews are presented in multiple parts due to their length, and for your convenience. In addition, we've even included some interview subjects that are not included in the finished documentary.

Chapter 1: Mountain Top Removal

Larry Gibson - Anti Mountain Top Removal Crusader

All these mountains are slated to be destroyed.
This is madness; it shouldn't be allowed to happen...
Not only are they destroying the land, they are destroying the environment for everyone...

Julia Bonds - Environmental Activist

They use 2500 tons of explosives every day in Appalachia.
That's why I say we are under assault.
This is insane, completely insane.

Chapter 2: Five Tons of Coal Per Year

John Sell - Spokesman, Georgia Power - Atlanta

Ten or fifteen years ago people didn't have as many appliances as they do now.
A lot more electricity is being consumed.

Chapter 3: Our Planet is Warming

Michael Shore - Southeast Air Quality Manager, Environmental Defense

We are messing with the delicate balance in our atmosphere that supports life on this planet.
Our atmosphere acts like a blanket that holds heat in.
Our planet is warming and we can do something about it or not.

James Hansen - Director NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies

There is no doubt that our planet is getting warmer.
It has become crystal clear that the warming is due to the burning of fossil fuels.

Melton Martinez - Elder, Navajo Nation

In 1950 they started drilling and found lots of uranium.
All the stuff they brought up is radioactive.
My uncle and the other guys he worked with all died of cancer.

Dr. Arjun Makhijani - Nuclear Physicist, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research

We've got this material that has a very, very long dangerous life and we haven't been able to solve this problem.
Projected cost of repository in the US is more than $60 Billion.
The nuclear power industry is lining up for subsidies.

David Lochbaum - Director of Nuclear Safety Project, Union of Concerned Scientists

It's the most costly way of making electricity.
It's a risky means of providing electricity.

Chapter 4: Altering an Eco-System

Jim Renfro - Air Quality Specialist, Great Smokey Mountains National Park

Air pollution is one of our worst problems.
It is damaging the very resources we are mandated to protect.
83% of the pollution is sulfate particulates which come from power plants.

Mark Wenzler - Director of Clean Air Programs, National Parks Conservation Association

Every single national park in the US has haze pollution.
Power plants still remain the largest single source of haze pollution in our national parks.

Chapter 5: Poisoning Our Grandchildren

Dr. George Lucier - Associate Director of National Toxicology Program

As a consequence the child has neurological deficits that they never outgrow.

Dr. Clay Ballantine - Asheville, North Carolina

We have numerous studies that show increased asthma rates all tied to air pollution exposure.
Electricity use is the main cause of air pollution.
The more that we waste and do inefficiently with our power generation the more particulate pollution and ozone pollution we have the more disease and asthma we have.

Rev. Woody Bartlett - Interfaith Power and Light, Atlanta, Georgia

We're poisoning our grandchildren.
We've got to stop.

Chapter 6: Changing Our Direction

Danny Orlando - Energy Star Specialist, US EPA

Let's go shopping for energy star products.
Refrigerators operate 24/7 and are now more than 40 % more efficient that ones just a few years older.
If we would just replace one lamp with a CFL lamp we could save enough energy to light 2.5 million homes and...

Chapter 7: In Search of Savings

Dennis Hyde - Homeowner, Geothermal Installation

I went from paying $220 per month to $60 per month.

Joe Bach - Contractor, Crosswinds Communities

This is a 62 unit building we are building with Geothermal heating and cooling systems.
We found it more cost effective and we use it as a selling point.

Robert McAllister - Energy Manager, Sumner County Schools - Portland, TN

We're saving in the neighborhood of $5,000 per month.
All the savings can go back into teachers, operating costs of the schools.
You can't afford not to afford it.

Jean Simmons - Teacher, Smith Middle School

This is just wonderful because the room is flooded with natural light.
We are always looking for ways to make the classroom atmosphere better for students.
This is one very positive way of doing that.

Sanford Smith - Corporate Manager for Real Estate and Facilities, Toyota Motor Sales, USA

This building is 60% more efficient than any building code in the country.
I have savings that contribute to the overall health of the company.

Joe Mike Akard - Sullivan County Department of Education

The old saying is that you can't get something for nothing. In this case you are getting something for nothing.
You are getting all this equipment and upgraded facilities.
By turning off computers overnight we are going to save $40,000 per year.

Kenneth Goff - Foreman, Sullivan County Department of Education

We've gotten $24 Million dollars of upgrades with no new dollars from taxpayers.
It has all been financed with energy savings.

Larry Riggs - Traffic Engineer, City of Birmingham, Alabama

We've ended up with a savings of $220,000 per year.

Chapter 8: Conservation Power Plant

Fred Yebra - Director of Demand Side Management Programs, Austin Energy

Before considering building another power plant you should look at what is the potential for energy efficiency within the community.
What we have done in Austin is to build an energy conservation power plant.

Will Wynn - Mayor - Austin, Texas

In the early 1980's the city was planning a coal fired power plant but instead found that energy conservation could replace that plan.
Daily we cam serve more than 600 Megawatts of electricity for half the price, and we continue to grow our economy while doing that.

Bill Sparks - Conservation Specialist, Austin Energy

Part of what I do is education of our customers.
If you look at the payback it is less than 1.6 months.

Katie Jensen - Green Building Expert, Austin Energy

One of the things we look at is what percent better than code can we achieve by better design and installation.

Jaime Gomez - Duct Doctor, Austin Energy

A huge loss of energy going through that hole right there.

Dian Grueneich - Commissioner, California Public Utilities Commission

We have learned through experience that energy efficiency not only makes sense but it needs to be made the highest priority.
When you are in a crisis situation like we were in 2002, no one wants to wait three years for a new power plant.

Arthur Rosenfeld - Commissioner, California Energy Commission

If we can improve the efficiency of our buildings and industry by just 1% per year, that is a huge oil well under each of our cities.
California has held constant while the rest of the US has risen by about 2% per year.

Wally McGuire - Director of 'Flex Your Power' Energy Conservation and Efficiency Campaign

It was clear that the one way California was going to get through the crisis, it would be through energy conservation.
We cut peak demand by 14% in that one year.
And we didn't have blackouts.

Arnold Schwarzenegger - Governor of California

We simply must do everything in our power to slow down global warming.
This is something we owe our children and our grandchildren.

Stephen Smith - DVM Executive Director, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

If we were to get really innovative we could see some of the older power plants taken off line.

John Gent - Hog Farmer, Southeast Iowa

We have a private wind turbine for our own use.
Wind turbine cut our electricity to zero from $600 per month.

Derek Decker - Dairy Farmer, West Gate, Iowa

That's the digester and that's the gas line going to the turbines.
It takes a waste product and creates something useful.
It has been a real investment saving about $1800 per month.

Salvador Lamas - Co-Owner, Taco Burrito King

All our salsas are made with solar hot water.
In the long run it will pay for itself and it is the minimum that we can do as a small business owner to help out mother earth.

Tom Benson - Owner, World's Largest Laundromat

In a laundromat we have to produce hot water all the time.
My decision to go solar was based in the numbers making it a good business decision.
I feel good that I am pointing a direction for similar business owners by saving money and doing something good for the environment.

Christopher Flavin - President, WorldWatch Institute

If you do an aerial survey of the flat roof space of a typical city you'll find that as much as half the electricity could be supplied by covering the flat roof space with solar collectors.

Brad Bello - Director of Facility Operations, Saint Francis Winery

We are on the roof of the facility looking at the 457 Kilowatt Solar Collection System.
This provides 42% of our usage saving 10 to 20 thousand per month off our electric bills.

Chapter 9: Net-Zero Energy

Joe Schiller - Homeowner

Most days this solar array provides most or all of our energy needs.
The house is designed with most of the windows facing the south.
For the price of a new car he is energy independent.

Jeffrey Christian - Building Technologies Director, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

This is a net zero energy house.
At this moment the house is actually producing more energy than it needs. The solar energy is now being pushed across the grid.

Glen McCullough - Chairman, Tennessee Valley Authority

Over the next three years, TVA will sponsor five Habitat for Humanity homes that will become a zero energy neighborhood.
These homes will produce as much energy as they consume.
A tremendous advantage for the owner.

Gary Harris - Green Power Switch Manager, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

Green power consists of wind, solar and methane gas.
Participation is the key. You have to have people who are willing to purchase blocks of green power.

Chapter 10: Take the Kilowatt Ours Challenge!

Jeffrey Barrie

Watch Additional Video Footage

Interviews with other experts that did not make it into the movie but had great things to say on their subject matter.
Go back to the Kilowatt Ours Chapter Listing to watch each chapter and read the script.

Special Thanks to

This feature on the Kilowatt Ours website is made possible thanks to generous in kind support from Rich Hopkins of New Dawn Productions.

Kilowatt Ours interviews