At Large: The pressure’s off ... but now what do I do? 5D
Business&Money
S U N D A Y , J U L Y 15 , 2012
SECTION D
WWW.TUSCALOOSANEWS.COM
The future of
3-wheeled motorcycles are gaining popularity
POWER PRICES
By Rick Barrett
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Falling natural gas prices don’t mean lower power bills
MILWAUKEE | As their knees give out and it gets harder to balance a motorcycle weighing hundreds of pounds, more aging bikers are turning to three-wheelers. What’s more, trikes have become popular with people who don’t have balance issues but appreciate them for what they are — a practical and sometimes trendsetting alternative to a standard two-wheeler. “It’s a cool thing now because it’s different,” said Tom Dorcey, an events coordinator for Rob’s Performance Motorsports, a Can-A m Spyder trike dealership in Johnson Creek, Wis. Sleek and sporty, the Spyder is a three-wheeler from the makers of Ski-Doo snowmobiles that kind of looks like a snowmobile on wheels. Dorcey, from Janesville, Wis., became a trike rider after he and his wife were in a motorcycle crash 11 years ago. A car pulled in front of them, and they hit it at 50 mph. “After that, we never really felt comfortable on two wheels,” Dorcey said. Several manufacturers offer conversion kits that turn two-wheelers into trikes. A Wisconsin dealership, Kool Trikes, does conversions and is launching its own manufacturing system. The company is working with a West Coast fi rm to sell hundreds of trikes through a network of about 125 dealerships. “It’s coming together,” said Kool Trikes owner Randy Butler, adding that his business partner wants to sell 2,000 trikes a year within three years. Butler raced cars and enjoyed motorcycles, yet balance issues mostly kept him off two wheels. As a trike rider, even if he has a vertigo spell that forces him to pull off the road, he won’t tip over. Modern three-wheelers gained credibility in 2008 when HarleyDavidson Inc. signed a deal with Lehman Trikes USA for Lehman to build Harley’s Tri-Glide motorcycles. Now the Tri-Glides are manufactured at Harley’s plant in York, Pa. Lehman, based in Spearfish, S.D., suspended operations this spring after company founder John Lehman died in January. This month, the company was sold to California-based Champion Trikes for an undisclosed sum. Champion President Craig Arrojo said Lehman Trikes will now operate as a private company, and the Spearfish location will employ about 50 people when it’s back in production. Arrojo said he expects the fi rst trike to roll off the assembly line in less than three months. Lehman Trikes has a loyal following, according to Butler, who plans to produce 500 trikes in 2013 with his new system, which uses local metal and fiberglass-fabrication SEE T RIKES | 3D
By Jonathan Fahey
■ In many states, retail electricity rates are set by regulators every few years. As a result, lower NEW YORK power costs haven’t yet made their plunge in the price of natural gas way to customers. ■ Utilities often lock in their costs has made it cheaper for utilities to produce electricity. But the for natural gas and other fuels years in savings aren’t translating to lower rates advance. That helps protect customers for customers. Instead, U.S. electricity when fuel prices spike, but it prevents customers from reaping the benefits of prices are going up. a price drop. Electricity prices “We don’t make a penny ■ The cost of are forecast to rise slightly this summer. from fuel costs, which are actually delivering electricity, which acBut any increase is noteworthy because a direct pass-through to our counts for 40 percent natural gas, which is customers. But we are always of a customer’s bill on average, has been used to produce looking for ways we can rising fast. That has nearly a third of the eaten up any potencountry’s power, is 43 save on fuel costs, and tial savings from the percent cheaper than a year ago. A longall savings achieved from production of electricity. term downward trend Utilities are buildin power prices could lower fuel costs are passed be starting to reverse, through to customers.” i ng t ra nsm ission lines, installing new analysts say. equipment and fix“It’s caused us to Michael Sznajderman, ing up power plants scratch our heads,” Alabama Power spokesman after what analysts says Tyler Hodge, an analyst at the Energy Department who say has been years of under-investment. studies electricity prices. This may reverse what has been a The recent heat wave that gripped much of the country increased demand gradual decline in retail electricity for power as families cranked up their prices. Adjusted for infl ation, the averair-conditioners. And that may boost age retail electricity price has been some June utility bills. But the nation- drifting mostly lower since 1984, when wide rise in electricity prices is attribut- it was 16.7 cents per kilowatt-hour. SEE POWER | 4D able to other factors, analysts say: The Associated Press
A
Fuel mix for generation of Alabama Power electricity
1.3% (gas)
20%
5.5%
Gas
16.4% 80
7% 25%
76.7% Hydro
Nuclear
60
47%
40
20
2012*
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
Coal
*Has only been calculated through midyear
STAFF GRAPHIC, ILLUSTRATION | ANTHONY BRATINA
Brothers bring their beer back to home state of Alabama By Rick Harmon
Montgomery Advertiser
MONTGOMERY | One of America’s best beers began in a bathtub in Auburn, and now, a decade after The New York Times named it the country’s best pale ale, it is finally coming home. Dale and Chris Katechis didn’t initially plan on founding one of the country’s top breweries. Dale, who was a student at Auburn University when he fi rst brewed the pale ale in the bathtub of his trailer, only started brewing the beer again
to sell it at the Cajun restaurant he’d started in 1999 in the tiny town of Lyons, Colo. But patrons liked the beer so much, the brothers starting taking it around in a 16-foot box truck to distribute to local craft beer sellers. Then in a blind taste test, New York Times critics chose Dale’s Pale Ale as the best pale ale in the country. That proclamation helped Oskar Blues, which Chris Katechis said he and his brother named after the two hunting dogs they had growing up in Alabama, become one of the country’s most prestigious craft breweries. A decade later, Oskar Blues beer is
fi nally in Alabama. “It’s great to be coming home. We’ve been wanting to bring our beer back to Alabama for so long,” said Chris Katechis. You’ll be able to fi nd the beer in six packs at places such at some Publix supermarkets. It will also available on tap or by-the-beer at some restaurants and bars. And thanks to the family connection, it will be at a Montgomery institution, Chris’ Hot Dogs, which was started by the brothers’ grandfather, Gus Katechis. “It’s been a long time coming,” said SEE BEER | 3D
Brothers Dale and Chris Katechis operate Oskar Blues brewery in Lyons, Colo. Their awardwinning pale ale will soon be available in their home state of Alabama. OSKAR BLUES BREWERY VIA MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER