There’s a new coal fired power plant being built in Gillette, Wyoming, in the neighborhood of a coal mine that my Uncle Dale worked in for many years. Residents of neighboring South Dakota are protesting because the utility has requested a 26% increase in price to pay for the plant. Protesters don’t seem to care that the plant doesn’t contain state of the art scrubbers to protect air quality in the area, which includes the incredibly beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota, home of Mt. Rushmore.
Meanwhile, back in Colorado, Xcell Energy is decreasing its usage of coal by 30% as it converts three coal powered plants to natural gas. Their motivation is impending EPA regulation designed to reduce the infamous brown cloud on the Front Range. The coal industry in Colorado is protesting because they believe it will cost Colorado jobs in their industry. Never mind that most Colorado coal is sold out of state, and continues to be desirable because of its unique characteristics.
Back in March, which seems like a lifetime ago, I met with Fred Eggleston of Xcel Energy, who was anxious to tell me that Xecel is #1 in wind and #2 in solar, and if the trend continues, they will be #1 in the nation in all renewable. They are currently encouraging people to install solar, with rebates, so that they can exceed the state mandate to get 30% of their energy from green sources. But Xcel is also opening Camanche III, a new coal fueled facility that uses new technology and is 10 times the size of the about-to-be-decommissioned-after-piloting-a-solar-project local Cameo plant.
Eggleston was also excited to tell me about their Innovative Clear Technologies Program, announced in January 2009. It involves one new clean technology program each year for 10 years. The first project was Cameo, where the company is already saving 10 times the cost of the project. It also involves a start date for tearing down Cameo by 12/31/2010 or 12 months from the start date of the solar project. Representative King sponsored a bill to try to save the 35 jobs currently at the plant.
And in the middle of all of this angst about jobs and clean air and clean water, along comes the EPA with a new rule saying that mountain top coal mines can no longer just dump their waste into valleys, effectively burying streams.
There is a lesson in here somewhere, and I think it may be that left to its own devices business, even utilities that are #1 in renewable energies, will only consider the cost of polluting our air and water when forced to do so by regulation. We need to find the right regulatory balance that preserves jobs, creates the energy we need, and leaves our air breathable and our water drinkable. But we need regulation.
Homework:
http://www.gjfreepress.com/article/20100401/COMMUNITY_NEWS/100409997/1076&ParentProfile=1059
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jaVtbqC2cFVFywcDKO9xMhAsvMKgD9EQC6482
http://cleantechnica.com/2010/04/01/xcel-energy-cuts-colorado-coal-use-by-30/
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/articles/coalplant_conversion_bill_on_g
http://www.gjsentinel.com/opinion/articles/printed_letters_april_1_2010
Meanwhile, back in Colorado, Xcell Energy is decreasing its usage of coal by 30% as it converts three coal powered plants to natural gas. Their motivation is impending EPA regulation designed to reduce the infamous brown cloud on the Front Range. The coal industry in Colorado is protesting because they believe it will cost Colorado jobs in their industry. Never mind that most Colorado coal is sold out of state, and continues to be desirable because of its unique characteristics.
Back in March, which seems like a lifetime ago, I met with Fred Eggleston of Xcel Energy, who was anxious to tell me that Xecel is #1 in wind and #2 in solar, and if the trend continues, they will be #1 in the nation in all renewable. They are currently encouraging people to install solar, with rebates, so that they can exceed the state mandate to get 30% of their energy from green sources. But Xcel is also opening Camanche III, a new coal fueled facility that uses new technology and is 10 times the size of the about-to-be-decommissioned-after-piloting-a-solar-project local Cameo plant.
Eggleston was also excited to tell me about their Innovative Clear Technologies Program, announced in January 2009. It involves one new clean technology program each year for 10 years. The first project was Cameo, where the company is already saving 10 times the cost of the project. It also involves a start date for tearing down Cameo by 12/31/2010 or 12 months from the start date of the solar project. Representative King sponsored a bill to try to save the 35 jobs currently at the plant.
And in the middle of all of this angst about jobs and clean air and clean water, along comes the EPA with a new rule saying that mountain top coal mines can no longer just dump their waste into valleys, effectively burying streams.
There is a lesson in here somewhere, and I think it may be that left to its own devices business, even utilities that are #1 in renewable energies, will only consider the cost of polluting our air and water when forced to do so by regulation. We need to find the right regulatory balance that preserves jobs, creates the energy we need, and leaves our air breathable and our water drinkable. But we need regulation.
Homework:
http://www.gjfreepress.com/article/20100401/COMMUNITY_NEWS/100409997/1076&ParentProfile=1059
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jaVtbqC2cFVFywcDKO9xMhAsvMKgD9EQC6482
http://cleantechnica.com/2010/04/01/xcel-energy-cuts-colorado-coal-use-by-30/
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/articles/coalplant_conversion_bill_on_g
http://www.gjsentinel.com/opinion/articles/printed_letters_april_1_2010
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