to the testimony that you could tell? Any questions from them or was it all just testimony, and did the members pay attention (or, as so often happens, get up, come and go, whisper among themselves, have glazed eyes and so on)?

The commissioners stayed the full time and seemed mostly attentive (Judge Christie and Judge Jagdmann were there full-time, a third "sit-in" judge had a medical appointment early on and left.  I didn't get his name).  Other than procedural matters, the Judges did not ask questions.  

The Dominion attorneys asked no questions.

The Southern Environmental Law Center attorney asked a few questions during the first two hours, mostly of the FOR people who were county commissioners, mining organization leaders, etc.  The questions seemed to be geared toward establishing this was a single bid job with no competition (as I interpreted them)

Judge Christie ran the hearing and was fair and even-handed.  Despite the long list of people testifying, there was no time limit and we sat through some real stem-winders.  Several times he reminded people that repeating what other people had already said was counter productive to getting out in a timely manner, still he showed no temper.  He did begin to look dazed toward the end--as we all did.  Christie did have to calm the kids down reacting to testimony, but did suggest they could waves their hands in the air to show agreement.  

Judge Jagdmann never spoke but was attentive and I saw her making notes on several occasions.  

There was a lot of testimony that was of the "witness my life" or "if my dad were still alive"-type, that was compelling and often poetic, but not really SCC actionable material as I understand the mission of the utility commission.  Still they were allowed to continue. A couple of the kids got off into the weeds of conditions in Bangladesh or somewhere.  

When Dr. Llewellyn and her WB crew testified, when I testified, we tried to address numbers, statistics, and analysis of the application.  The judges made a lot of notes when people got into fiscal and health details.  

The only "rigging" was of the witness list.  Supposedly it was "first come, first to testify", but it was clear that someone delivered a pad of the FOR folks at 8am, since I signed up at 9 am and spoke at 6:30 pm while all the FOR people arrived after I did but completed their testimony in the first two hours.  

Accommodation was made for the senators and delegates first, but when the bus had to leave at 3pm for the return to Wise County, those people were bumped up an later all people returning to the far western counties, which was reasonable.  Also, although the period for written comments had passed, it was mutually agreed that if someone who was there wanted to leave written comments, they would be accepted.

All and all I found the commission's conduct to be reasonable.  One qualification for SCC commissioner must be a cast ironed bladder.  We broke once for lunch and once for 20 minutes in the late afternoon.    

rick kennerly
www.twcan.org  

I've rattled on, but I did want to say that the timing of this hearing was genuinely believed to be a major screw-up on the part of Dominion.  

It was believed by the organizers that this hearing was scheduled to be mid-week and inconveniently soon after the holidays to discourage participation by the public.  

In fact, from opening remarks made by Judge Christie, Dominion tried to put the public hearing off until February, but since this hearing had been publicized, he insisted it go ahead.

But the size of the opposition, particularly the college kids, could not be ignored.  Next time, they'll check the university break schedule before scheduling a hearing.  

This was a rare procedural screw-up by Big D.  

rick kennerly
www.twcan.org

n/t

I also want to strongly encourage CCAN to start a Web-based petition against the Wise County Plant.  It worked like a charm on abuser fees and I think it could be an effective tool to galvanize and demonstrate popular support on this issue as well.

Now we need to post this link EVERYWHERE!

Rick provides us with additional testimony from Dr. Chris Llewellyn and Bob Richardson:

---

Dr. Chris Llewellyn

SCC Hearing on Wise Coal Plant
1/08/08

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Commission:

I come before you, like many here, having taken a day off work, to comment on this proposed coal-fired power plant in Wise County because, for me, it is simply THAT important. I know you appreciate that due to the time and location, there are many more who would have liked to have come, but were unable to.

Your task is to weigh all the evidence and testimony and make the decision you feel is in the best cost/benefit interest of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

This is what we know so far:

The plant is proposed to cost $1.6 billion, up from an initial estimate of $800 million, and that cost will only increase. Other recently proposed coal fired plants in other states, including neighboring North Carolina, have seen costs rise from 25-80%. (North Carolina, Florida and South Dakota)

New re-regulation laws allow a generous 14% return on the utility's investment in coal-fired power plants, passed along to the consumer.

Carbon capture sequestration technology has a short and small track record. While this proposed plant reportedly has the capability for this technology, as proposed, this plant will not employ this technology. CCS will utilize up to 40% of the power the plant will produce and add at least 2.7 cents to the retail price of that electricity.

This plant will produce 5.4 million tons of CO2 annually, and to capture and sequester most of the CO2 for the 50-year life of this plant, nearly 2 billion barrels of supercritical CO2 will need sequestering. That's a pretty big reservoir requirement, and to procure, operate and maintain that reservoir will have another as yet undetermined cost. Current small CCS projects are turning up surprises, such as the relative permeability of various rocks. And how long the CO2 can be contained remains to be understood.

IGCC technology makes carbon capture less expensive than pulverized coal, but the cost of electricity from an IGCC plant would still increase approx. 30% with carbon capture technology in place.

Unknown to all will be the added cost of future carbon credits. No one can predict what that cost will look like, but at 5.4 million tons of CO2 annually, it will not be insignificant. This cost will likely be imposed sooner rather than later. And also, passed on to the consumer.

What about other long term, future costs?

The American Lung Association reports that pollution from coal-fired power
plants is responsible for 24,000 premature deaths/year. Increased asthma rates, heat, flood and other weather related deaths, as well as increase in vector-borne diseases will occur with rising temperatures.

There are an unacceptable number of coal mining related deaths annually.

Virginia is uniquely vulnerable to the effects of sea level rise with 3300 miles of tidal coastline. Aside from acreage loss, salt water intrusion will effect water quality and may damage forests.

The reliability of water supply networks may be compromised.

Fish and shellfish, important Virginia industries, will suffer in warmer waters. Increased frequency and intensity of storms will result in loss of agricultural areas, crops and timber species. Regional droughts, water shortages and excess precipitation, with spread of pests and diseases, will have negative agricultural and health effects. Not to go unmentioned is the local effect of mountaintop removal surface mining on the land, water and air and local resident quality of life and health.

Finally, what about jobs? Wise County is viewed as job-hungry.

This plant touts a possible 800 construction jobs, 250 coal mining jobs and 75 plant operation jobs.

But beware, and look to the history of Meigs County, Ohio. Sixty years after agreeing to two coal-fired power plants in exchange for promised jobs and economic prosperity, the county remains one of the poorest in Ohio.
On the other hand, according to the Perryman Group, if solar renewable energy were incentivized, in Virginia alone, over the next 20 years, this would result in an additional $5.2 billion in economic activity with more than 82,306 Virginia jobs created. Dominion's current green energy represents only 2% of their portfolio. There are enormous untapped clean, renewable, sustainable energy possibilities.

A coal-free future IS possible!

Virginians could curb their energy consumption by at least 10% with techniques used routinely in other states. There is no glory in Virginia ranking last in the country in energy efficiency and conservation, but again, this provides tremendous potential.

Our governor's Energy Plan has asked that all efficiency and conservation
measures be exhausted before consideration for construction for conventional electricity generating facilities. This is both reasonable and practical, and in the best overall economic cost/benefit interest to Virginians.

Beyond that, we simply must start generating our electricity in a truly clean, renewable and sustainable way. Our future hinges on today's choices.

I ask that you consider all these costs, current and future, tangible and projected, economic and environmental, in coming to your decision.

Thank you very much for your attention.

________________________________________________

Bob Richardson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SCC Hearing on Wise Coal Plant
1/08/08

Members of the Commission; my name is Robert Richardson and I reside at [snip]

I ask that you look at the larger picture.

I do not believe that Dominion Power has done due diligence in examining and presenting the alternatives. It is not in their best interest to do so.

Dominion Power as with most enterprises is simply looking to maximize profits, and with a guaranteed fixed profit, it is in their interest to find the most expensive option and not the least. Where else can you find a guaranteed return on investment of 14%!

This is completely contrary to the ratepayer's interest that you are tasked to protect.

It is my understanding that at present nearly 50% of the power generated is lost in transmission. This is a direct result of building large centralized generation facilities far away from the population centers. This loss nearly doubles the cost to the consumer.

The way to reduce this loss it to generate power where power is needed in a distributed fashion. Can you imagine the uproar if this plant was proposed for the middle of Richmond or in Northern Virginia. The political uproar would be deafening.

Instead the only communities where this would not be political suicide are the sparsely populated and economically depressed communities of Appalachia. Only there are the jobs and taxes generated by such a project going to trump the health and environmental costs to that community. What is not taken into consideration though is the health and environmental costs to all Virginians and likely all mankind. We do not act in isolation.

The $1.6 billion price tag for this project is simply a drop in the bucket when compared to the health and environmental costs that it will inflict. Although these costs do not show up in ratepayer's bills, they will certainly come out of the pockets of all Virginians and perhaps all mankind. That is if mankind is even able to buy their way out of such destruction.

Also, please don't forget to include the cost of operating the plant, the cost for additional transmission lines, and the costs for all the Dominion Power goodwill advertisement.

For all intents and purposes, Dominion is a monopoly. So we should all be asking: Why does Dominion have to advertise? And who is paying for these advertisements? Of course it is the ratepayers.

It is time to become leaders and not simply profiteers. What Virginia and the world at large needs is a decentralized network of clean energy generation facilities if we are to avoid catastrophic damages to the world, as we know it.

In a state that is dead last in efficiency, we need to start with conservation. We need to understand peak demand and how that drives the entire industry. Dominion Power has so much surplus outside of peak demand periods that they will basically give the power away at greatly reduced rates since the generation facilities run around the clock.

If we would invest only the direct cost of this plant into energy savings and conservation, we would likely eliminate the need for this Coal Fired Power Plant and several others.

The $1.6 billion dollar construction cost alone represents well over $10,000 per household served. Add on the anticipated cost of carbon sequestration and the number is over $18,000/household.

You can get a lot of insulation and clean geothermal energy for $18,000/house. Thus reducing peak demand and the need for more CFPP.

I could go on and on about why building another CFPP is wrong. Instead I simply ask that you consider the whole picture and all the costs to ratepayers.

Thank you for this opportunity, your time and your attention. I would be happy to continue this conversation at your request.