The Vermont Energy Land Use Report

The Energy Education Project of the Ethan Allen Institute (I am the director of the Energy project)  has a new initiative: the  Vermont Energy Land Use Report.  We announced  the report in the Ethan Allen Institute February newsletter, and I copy that announcement below. Later, there will be press releases and so forth.

To donate to preparing this report, click the Donate button on this blog or the Support Freedom button on the Ethan Allen Institute website.  Please donate to help build a solid report which will be of interest to everyone in Vermont.

Energy Education Project Keeps Close Watch on Energy Issues

In the last few months, the Energy Education Project has focused in two main areas:

• Educating people about the value of the Vermont Yankee power plant, and encouraging them to testify in favor of the plant at the Public Service Board hearings
• Writing op-eds and letters to the editor about the economics of renewable energy and the problems with over-investing in these technologies.

Both these areas are the source of fierce debate within Vermont. Here's the gist:

Vermont Yankee:

The Public Service Board must rule on a Certificate of Public Good for Vermont Yankee.  The PSB evaluated this subject between 2008 and 2010, but then the Senate voted in 2010 to forbid the Board from releasing its findings.  The Federal Court decision in 2012 told the state that it could not make decisions about nuclear plants based on nuclear safety.  Nuclear safety evaluations are the purview of the Federal government.

At that point, the Public Service Board decided its docket about Vermont Yankee was  contaminated with inappropriate material. It opened a new docket, and held two public hearings about the Certificate of Public Good.  In general, anti-nuclear groups completely mob these hearings, often with many people from Massachusetts.  The Energy Education Project encouraged supporters of clean efficient energy to come to the PSB hearings.  Other groups (such as Associated Industries of Vermont and the main Vermont Yankee union) did the same. Therefore, the meetings had a high proportion (in one case, a majority) of plant supporters.

Plant supporters line up
to make statements at hearing

Since the supporters were not outnumbered, more of them chose to speak.  We made an effort to have the Public Service Board hear both sides of the Vermont Yankee story, including the supporter side. That effort was successful.  There were only two public hearings on this docket. Plant supporters were there.

Renewable Energy:

In 2011, newly-elected Governor Shumlin was "shocked" to discover that the state's energy plan assumed that Vermont Yankee would keep operating.  His appointees at the Department of Public Service put together an ambitious energy plan: the state will use 90% renewable energy for everything (including home heating and transportation) by 2050.

Wind resource map of Vermont

This plan is similar to Germany's Energiewende plan, which is currently running into deep trouble. Too many intermittent sources are destabilizing the German grid. Neighboring countries, such as Poland, are tired of having their power plants be "backup" to Germany's intermittent power surges from wind turbines. These countries are setting switches to be able to isolate German power, when necessary. In other words, the European grid is becoming somewhat fragmented. Also, the electricity costs are forcing some manufacturers to leave Germany.  However, the German plan is being partially bailed out by new power plants burning brown coal.

The new Comprehensive Energy Plan for Vermont has striking similarities to the German plan.  The Energy Education Project has written several op-eds about this issue.

We will write a white paper in the near future about the land use consequences of the current Vermont Energy plan. Renewables are not only intermittent, they are diffuse energy sources, and require a lot of land to make a relatively small amount of power. Land use has only been addressed in a fragmentary way in the media, and we will rectify that.

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The Energy Education Project

I am director of the Energy Education Project of the Ethan Allen Institute.  The Ethan Allen Institute was founded in 1991 and is Vermont's independent, nonpartisan, free-market-oriented public policy think tank.  The Institute was kind enough to take my interest in Energy Education seriously, and form a Project under the general heading of the Institute. We founded the Energy Education Project of the Ethan Allen Institute in September, 2010.  Here's my blog post about the Energy Education Project launch.

The Ethan Allen Institute just revitalized its website, to a great, modern site.  I encourage you to visit ethanallen.org.  The new site is attractive and very easy to navigate!  Most of the topics are far removed from energy, but I expect energy will be higher on the agenda in the near future.  You can donate to the Ethan Allen Institute by clicking the "support freedom" button on the web page.

Thursday at the Montshire: Energy Education Project Kick-Off

This evening is the first meeting of the Energy Education Project. The meeting will be held at the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich at 6:30 p.m. The Energy Education Project is hosted by the Ethan Allen Institute, and the acting president of the Institute, John McClaughry, will introduce the two speakers.

Both speakers aim at putting some of the recent controversies about Vermont energy in an informative perspective.

• I am going to speak about ISO-NE (Independent Systems Operator for the New England grid). To make good energy choices, people need to know where their electricity comes from, and how it is dispatched and priced.

• Bob Hargraves will inform people about the history of the Vermont Yankee plant.

You can read short biographies of us at the Coalition for Energy Solutions website.

I have been pretty busy preparing for this talk, but you can expect some good blog posts after the meeting. I also plan to post links to the talks at the Energy Education Project web site.

The formal mission statement of the Energy Education Project is:

The Energy Education Project helps people in Vermont understand their energy options in terms of cost, reliability, environmental impact and government support.

The informal mission statement is: Energy Information for Vermont...without the hot air!

And yes, there's a tip of the hat to David MacKay's book on Sustainable Energy in the informal statement.

Hope some of you can come this evening!

And if you can't come, please go to the Energy Education Project website, click on the PayPal button and join. We're trying to get a rational message out there, while many irrational things are being said by well-funded opponent organizations. Membership is the Energy Education Project is $30 per year, and tax-deductible. Join now! If you can't join, please consider donating a smaller amount. Thank you!

Here's a link to my post about the project that was in the ANS blog. It gathered some nice comments.

See ya later! Maybe tonight!

The Energy Education Project

The fellow on the left is Ethan Allen, a famous figure in Vermont. He led the Green Mountain Boys during the Revolutionary War. Actually, he started by fighting against New York State for Vermont's independence before the war. When the Revolution began, he switched from fighting New York to fighting the British. He captured a major British fort almost immediately.

Good move, Ethan.

The Ethan Allen Institute Energy Education Project

The graphic above is the logo of the Ethan Allen Institute, which is hosting the Energy Education Project, a not-for-profit group which will inform Vermont citizens of their energy choices....without hot air.

The idea for the Energy Education Project started this summer. In July, NRC Chairman Jaczko came to Brattleboro and met with seven "citizens groups" opposed to Vermont Yankee. I felt we needed at least one citizen's group to tell the truth about energy. I was very happy when the Ethan Allen Institute agreed to host the Project.

A little about the Ethan Allen Institute and its leadership. The Ethan Allen Institute, founded in 1991, is Vermont's independent, nonpartisan, free-market-oriented public policy think tank. John McClaughry, acting head of the Ethan Allen Institute, is a former member of the Vermont legislature. He holds a M.S. degree in Nuclear Engineering, and spent some of his career at GE

ANS (American Nuclear Society) Announces Project

ANS Nuclear Cafe blog announced the Energy Education Project today. ANS is hosting View From Vermont as a regular feature; here's a link to Howard Shaffer's View From Vermont post of about two weeks ago. Thank you, ANS, for showcasing the Energy Education Project today!

How to Join the Energy Education Project

Yearly dues for the Energy Education Project are $30, but donations in any amount are very welcome. Since the Ethan Allen Institute is a 501(c) 3 Corporation, dues and donations are tax deductible. The membership page includes a PayPal button, as well as an address.

If you don't want to join the Energy Education Project at this time, consider joining our email list by sending an email through the project website.

Our First Meeting, Thursday, September 30

On Thursday, September 30, the Energy Education Project will present Energy Choices for Vermont: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Montshire Museum of Science, 1 Montshire Road, Norwich.

At this first meeting, the president of the Ethan Allen Institute, John McClaughry, will introduce the project. After his introduction, Meredith Angwin will describe the role of ISO-NE in grid reliability, and Dr. Robert Hargraves will present a history of the Vermont Yankee power plant.

I hope you can come to the meeting, but not everyone lives close enough to attend. However, everyone can consider joining the project. If you have any questions, please email me at mjangwin at gmail.

We plan to make a difference to the energy debate in Vermont.

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VTEP

I don't want my friends at the Vermont Energy Partnership (VTEP) to call me up and say: "Hey Meredith. What do you mean there's no group now? What are we, chopped liver?" VTEP does a great job, but they have a different organizational and membership structure, slightly different goals, and different activities than the ones we have planned. Of course, we plan to cooperate with VTEP.

A Quote from the Press Release:

Ethan Allen Institute announced the Energy Education Project in a press release on Friday.

The Ethan Allen Institute today announced a new Energy Education Project , designed to educate Vermonters about their energy choices without the usual “hot air.”

The Project will address current issues, such as relicensing Vermont Yankee and the federal legal challenge to Vermont’s method of paying for renewables (Feed In Tariffs). In a broader scope, the Project will provide education about the economics and environmental impacts of conventional and renewable energy generation, including new technology now on the horizon....

The Project plans educational outreach programs including community meetings, energy debates, and social media.

John McClaughry, acting president of the Ethan Allen Institute, says: “Ethan Allen Institute is pleased to host this project. The subject is timely, and the scope of the project fits with the Institute’s mission of building a stronger and more economically prosperous Vermont.

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Ethan Allen Graphic courtesy of the Ethan Allen Institute

Graphic of VY 4 VT courtesy of Entergy Vermont Yankee. (It is a lawn sign.)