Today's Bristol Herald has a strong editorial against Dominion Power's planned coal-fired power plant in Wise County. This is a big deal for a paper that -- as Josh Tulkin of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network notes -- endorsed Senator William Wampler (R-Bristol). The Bristol Herald editorial totally "gets it" (bolding added for emphasis):
Sounded good until we read the fine print. Many of the jobs are temporary and the number has decreased over time. The plant, while cleaner than older coal-fired facilities, isn't clean enough. It is still a polluter.In fact, if built as designed, the state's Air Pollution Control Board has determined it will be one of the biggest polluters in Virginia...
Southwest Virginia is being asked to sell its birthright for the promise of a bowl of soup. We are being asked to willingly consent to further pollution of our air in exchange for a few jobs and some tax dollars (although it isn't clear if these will offset the incentives given to Dominion to build the plant here). This is no bargain.
[...]
...Vigorous pursuit of conservation and energy efficiency would be an even better approach. Some experts believe efficiency and conservation could free up as much power as the new plant will produce.
In the past, we've given the plant our conditional support, but always with the caveat that the environment and residents' health must be protected. Recent events have convinced us that the plant - as presently proposed - will do neither.
[...]
Without clean air and water, our mountain views and our health, we have nothing. Even several hundred jobs isn't a good enough reason to jeopardize our inheritance.
So there you have it from the southwestern Virginia newspaper that generally leans Republican (it endorsed George Allen in 2006 and George W. Bush in 2004). Dominion's coal-fired power plant in Wise Count will be an environmental disaster that won't even benefit the region economically. And the plant wouldn't even be needed if Dominion would crank up its energy efficiency, conservation, and renewable energy programs. Sadly, it's stuff like this that makes us say "Dominion Power: Global Warming Starts Here!"
I guess when your only other major newspaper for far Southwest Virginia is the Kingsport Times News, you really learn to appreciate the Bristol paper.
h/t: The Green Miles
The sad fact of the matter is, most people have little idea how the process of electricity is proposed, sited and governed. Our government, the SCC, Dominion Power, and the PJM, our state's "grid authority", does not dictate what new source can be proposed. Any proposal for new power is driven by the market and more importantly, it is accepted that if the market doesn't present itself with a viable alternative, one must not exist. Furthermore, with comments like the following from one of the most senior democratic legislators in Congress, it is easy to believe the energy industry has bought off politicians, or better yet, it leaves many searching for other solutions.
"I am very pleased by Dominion's selection of a site for the future development of a new clean-coal power generation plant in Wise County. I will work with Dominion to ensure all federal regulatory requirements are resolved as expeditiously as possible."
Cong. Rick Boucher (D-Abingdon) May 16, 2006
Member, House Committee on Energy and Commerce
Chairman, House Subcomittee on Energy and Air Quality
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Because of grid inefficiencies, the EIA states 17% of all electricity meant for the market is lost during the course of transmission and distribution.
In 2003, the DOE stated that if all businesses changed to higher-efficient lighting, 21,000 MW of demand would disappear from the grid nationwide. That amount of electricity is the equivalent of 12 power plants the size of the current North Anna nuclear facility.
The EIA stated in 2003, 40% of all electricity purchased by factory industries was wasted and never used during the course of their process.
Currently among large businesses and property-owners, energy efficiency and energy management is not mandatory, and the voluntary DOE energy audit program is now closed. Most state and municipal governments have not enacted any sort of initiative to implement the same. If they did participate, large consumers of electricity could actually receive money from an energy curtailment specialist in return, yet still maintain 100% security in terms of uninterrupted electricity.
Additionally, FERC believes energy efficiency and conservation would save the industry substantial investments by avoiding misplaced, overlapping, and otherwise inefficient expansion to the grid infrastructure. And while the industry does pay the upfront costs for grid expansion, these expenses eventually are handed down to customers. That's right, you and i are paying for the inefficient build out of the existing grid! As consumers of electricity, we are already paying for the wasted electricity no one will ever use, its built into every kilowatt hour you are charged. Why not capture the wasted electricity if it is cheaper to implement than other sources of new electricity, clean, nuclear or dirty?
The PJM, our state's "grid authority", believes in their region, which is the oldest, the largest, and probably the most troubled grid in the nation, a modest 3% of curtailment could put off the need for new expansion to the grid as much as 7 years! Imagine what could be accomplished with a more aggressive policy, nationwide!
If you are thinking 1970's style conservation isn't going to work, you are correct; but this is 21st century computer technology aimed at reducing electricity consumption during the hours of peak demand, summer b/n 2-6pm. Increases in demand during the peak hours of consumption, is the industry's primary driver for new investments to the grid.
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The ranking order for any new power supply (generation or transmission) should be met first through Energy Efficiency and Conservation. The state of California has it right.
Secondly, all government-owned properties and operations, as well as all larger-sized businesses should be required to participate in an energy audit, which would include amongst other things, an electricity curtailment program, self-administrated or hired. Such a program would cost a business or government little or no upfront money, and the savings would be immediate.
Thirdly, all utilities must be mandated at the very least to offer and advertise the same, demand response to residential customers in the form of smart switches for hot-water heaters and outdoor a/c units.
Fourthly, if new generation is needed, preference should be considered toward distributed generation (DG), which is the application of smaller low or zero-combustion generators sited w/i the region of demand. Why make rural country-sides, natural mountainous areas, or important waters such as the Chesapeake Bay or inshore Atlantic Ocean, foot the bill for what we urbanites have created, especially in those urban areas where there is currently very little or no self generation? By itself, DG is an efficient method of grid expansion.
What can you do to help Wise County?
Ask your electricity provider if you can have a smart switch installed on your electric hot-water heater or at the very least, your outdoor a/c unit.
Next ask your local elected official if your local government has implemented energy efficiency and conservation on its government facilities.
If the answer is yes, ask them who their curtailment specialist is, if it is not self-adminstrated. Governments who merely install CFL's isn't the same.
Gov. Kaine issued an executive order earlier this year for such an initiative on state gov't facilities, and the DOE already passed the same on federal facilities in 2005.
Energy Efficiency & Conservation before any and all green power.
And Miles, I look forward to another rating of "1" from you. Way to keep an open perspective towards saving our planet.
The Wise Co. proposal was already out there a while ago. If wind and tidal was truly an alternative generation source today for us here in Virginia, then it is up to wind and tidal producers to come forward. We'll soon see several if not many from DVP's recent RFP, but unfortunately, they'll probably come too late for Wise Co. In the meantime the demand for electricity in our grid grows.
If you want to know where I am coming from, you need to take a peak backwards for a moment. That could take a longer post.
The government, either via the carrot or stick, needs to be the one that pushes the new technologies forward. Left to it's own means, the industry may eventually find it's way there, but it'll take far too long. There absolutely should be an alternative source available today that can meet all of our needs but there isn't - so we either go with Dominion's plan (meet the need and put off alternative development until "later") or we admit to ourselves that it's crunch time now and we do whatever we have to do to make the next power plant in Virginia be an alternative based one.
And while we're working to bring up the alternative/renewable based solution, Dominion can work on it's energy conservation and efficiency plans to make sure the system doesn't become overburdened. You correctly point out that "demand of electricity in our grid grows" so instead of Dominion tripping over itself to meet that demand with the lowest cost solution (a coal plant), how about they quell demand through conservation and efficiency programs? Either way the grid stays safe, but one way screws up the environment even more while the other is the first of many steps toward addressing the global environmental disaster that looms right around the corner.