Thursday, September 25, 2014
Members of the Decommissioning Advisory Panel: Guest Post by Guy Page
Introducing the Vermont Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel
Guest post by Guy Page of Vermont Energy Partnership
The newly appointed, 19-member Vermont Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel (CAP) reflects many of the policy and advocacy positions on all sides of the ongoing Vermont Yankee discussion. CAP’s first meeting is this Thursday, September 25, from 6:00-9:00 p.m. in the multi-purpose room of Brattleboro Union High School. All meetings are open to the public.
The CAP will serve a similar role in decommissioning Vermont Yankee that the disbanded Vermont State Nuclear Advisory Panel (VSNAP) served for the operational plant: providing a question and comment forum for members and the concerned public. However, the new panel, unlike VSNAP, includes two seats reserved for Entergy, owner of Vermont Yankee.
Kate O’Connor and Martin Langeveld were appointed by Gov. Peter Shumlin. Ms. O’Connor is a longtime Democratic operative, having mainly worked for governors Madeleine Kunin, Howard Dean, and Peter Shumlin. Most recently she lost the August, 2014 Democratic primary for the Brattleboro House seat. Mr. Langeveld is a Vernon planning commissioner and former Brattleboro Reformer publisher who has expressed, at local post-closure hearings, a strong interest in leveraging the closing of Vermont Yankee for the economic benefit of the local economy.
Senate Pro Tem John Campbell appointed Jim Matteau. During his tenure on VSNAP, Mr. Matteau often took an aggressive posture against Vermont Yankee. Campbell also appointed James Tonkovich of Wilder, Windham County. He is an employee of Vermont 2-1-1, a United Way of Vermont program that helps people in emergencies find the assistance they need. In this capacity, Tonkovich has participated in mock emergency drills at Vermont Yankee.
Speaker of the House Shap Smith appointed Rep. David Deen (D-Westminster), chair of the House Fish, Wildlife and Water Resources Committee, and River Steward for the Connecticut River Watershed Council, an environmental advocacy group that is a frequent critic and legal challenger of the plant’s use of river water for cooling. Mr. Smith also appointed Derrick Jordan of Putney, a past member of the Citizens Awareness Network.
Besides Matteau, appointments from VSNAP include Chair Chris Recchia, commissioner of the Department of Public Service, Sen. Mark MacDonald (D-Orange), and Mike Hebert (R-Vernon). Labor representative, Vermont Yankee employee, and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers official David Andrews has been a strong Vermont Yankee supporter.
Representing Entergy Nuclear on the panel are T. Michael Twomey, vice president of external affairs of Entergy Wholesale Commodities, and site vice-president Christopher Wamser. Other panelists include Human Services representative designee William Irwin, state officials David Mears and Pat Moulton, and Windham Regional Commission executive director Chris Campany. Planning Commissioner Stephen Skibniowski will represent the Town of Vernon.
State Sen. Molly Kelly of Keene, N.H., will represent five nearby New Hampshire towns. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has yet to name a panel member.
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Guy Page of VTEP has frequent guest posts on this blog. His most recent post was Reasons the Public Service Board Should Approve the CPG for Vermont Yankee.
I also have a recent post on the topic of the panel membership, Decommissioning Panel Appointments: Good, Bad and Ugly However, I did not describe the complete membership of the panel. Page's post is a valuable reference for understanding the panel.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
The Decommissioning Panel and the Three Conspiracies
Not a Conspiracy
Okay, I have to start by saying there are no real conspiracies about the Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel. But still...
Sometimes, you know, you just gotta laugh.
The First Conspiracy: Two Meetings Scheduled!
The first meeting of the Vermont Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel (VNDCAP) will be held at Brattleboro High School on Thursday, September 25, from 6 to 9 p.m. One panel member is New Hampshire State Senator Molly Kelly, who represents the New Hampshire towns closest to the plant.
At the very same time as the VNDCAP meeting, a different meeting was planned in New Hampshire, on the same subject. As described in the Reformer, the New Hampshire meeting would involve New Hampshire officials and representatives from New Hampshire Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
And here comes the first conspiracy theory. Green Mountain Daily is a website that is steadily against Vermont Yankee. One of their writers, Sue Prent, describes herself as "associated with Fairewinds Energy Education." (Fairewinds is Maggie and Arnie Gundersen's company.) In her article There's a meetin' tonight: there's a meetin' tonight, Prent writes about the overlap in meetings. She notes that the conflicting meetings "would be a shrewd way to ensure that the well-organized effort that opposed Vermont Yankee's continued operation would not have a full-strength presence in public discussions of decommissioning issues."
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have our first conspiracy. Well, at least we have our first conspiracy theory.
Second Conspiracy: Only One Meeting
Howard Shaffer had hoped to be the New Hampshire representative to VNDCAP. When Senator Molly Kelly was appointed to that position, he offered to help her. Shaffer realized, looking at the two meetings, that Senator Kelly could not be in two places at the same time. He alerted people in New Hampshire about the situation. Perhaps due to his efforts, the New Hampshire meeting was postponed.
Shaffer then commented on the Green Mountain Daily post, noting that people might look for human error before looking for conspiracies. Ms. Prent quickly wrote two snarky replies. Shaffer answered her as follows: Now that the Hinsdale meeting has been cancelled, where is the conspiracy? I know! Get the antis all together in one place so they can be identified! (There's always a conspiracy somewhere!!)
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have our second conspiracy theory. This one is tongue-in-cheek, however.
Third Conspiracy: Exclusion by Religion?
Shaffer is planning to go to the meeting in Brattleboro. I will not go. The meeting is on Rosh Hashanah, one of the Jewish High Holidays. This is clearly a third conspiracy, to exclude people like me!
The above sentence is a joke. I am sure the meeting date is not a conspiracy. It is clear from everything written above that these meeting planners are a gang that can't shoot straight. They probably would not have noticed if they had scheduled the meeting on Easter.
I wish all my readers and all my friends--- a good and sweet New Year.
-------
Okay, I have to start by saying there are no real conspiracies about the Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel. But still...
Sometimes, you know, you just gotta laugh.
The First Conspiracy: Two Meetings Scheduled!
The first meeting of the Vermont Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel (VNDCAP) will be held at Brattleboro High School on Thursday, September 25, from 6 to 9 p.m. One panel member is New Hampshire State Senator Molly Kelly, who represents the New Hampshire towns closest to the plant.
At the very same time as the VNDCAP meeting, a different meeting was planned in New Hampshire, on the same subject. As described in the Reformer, the New Hampshire meeting would involve New Hampshire officials and representatives from New Hampshire Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
And here comes the first conspiracy theory. Green Mountain Daily is a website that is steadily against Vermont Yankee. One of their writers, Sue Prent, describes herself as "associated with Fairewinds Energy Education." (Fairewinds is Maggie and Arnie Gundersen's company.) In her article There's a meetin' tonight: there's a meetin' tonight, Prent writes about the overlap in meetings. She notes that the conflicting meetings "would be a shrewd way to ensure that the well-organized effort that opposed Vermont Yankee's continued operation would not have a full-strength presence in public discussions of decommissioning issues."
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have our first conspiracy. Well, at least we have our first conspiracy theory.
Second Conspiracy: Only One Meeting
Howard Shaffer had hoped to be the New Hampshire representative to VNDCAP. When Senator Molly Kelly was appointed to that position, he offered to help her. Shaffer realized, looking at the two meetings, that Senator Kelly could not be in two places at the same time. He alerted people in New Hampshire about the situation. Perhaps due to his efforts, the New Hampshire meeting was postponed.
Shaffer then commented on the Green Mountain Daily post, noting that people might look for human error before looking for conspiracies. Ms. Prent quickly wrote two snarky replies. Shaffer answered her as follows: Now that the Hinsdale meeting has been cancelled, where is the conspiracy? I know! Get the antis all together in one place so they can be identified! (There's always a conspiracy somewhere!!)
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have our second conspiracy theory. This one is tongue-in-cheek, however.
Third Conspiracy: Exclusion by Religion?
Shaffer is planning to go to the meeting in Brattleboro. I will not go. The meeting is on Rosh Hashanah, one of the Jewish High Holidays. This is clearly a third conspiracy, to exclude people like me!
The above sentence is a joke. I am sure the meeting date is not a conspiracy. It is clear from everything written above that these meeting planners are a gang that can't shoot straight. They probably would not have noticed if they had scheduled the meeting on Easter.
A Good and Sweet New Year
I wish all my readers and all my friends--- a good and sweet New Year.
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| Rosh Hashanah foods and Shofar |
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End Note: Background about the Advisory Panel Meeting
The first meeting of the Vermont Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel (VNDCAP) will be held at Brattleboro High School on Thursday, September 25, from 6 to 9 p.m. There are nineteen members of the panel, including many plant opponents. Entergy and the plant union (IBEW) also have members on the panel. One panel member is New Hampshire State Senator Molly Kelly, who represents the New Hampshire towns closest to the plant. You can read the list of panel members in the Brattleboro Reformer article Yankee Decomm Panel to Meet Sept 25, and you can read my opinion of the panel at my post about the panel appointments: Good, Bad and Ugly. Howard Shaffer wrote about the panel at ANS Nuclear Cafe: The Latest Sop to Nuclear Opponents.
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Vermont Yankee Powers Down While Vermont Protestors Flock Down to New York City to Protest Climate Change
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| Empire State Building |
In the Brattleboro Commons, the article about the Climate March in New York is titled The last opportunity to keep the climate cool? According to that article, 1400 Vermonters are headed to New York for the march. They are traveling in fifteen buses (some sponsored by Ben and Jerry's) and many cars. The marchers hope to convince our leaders to do-something about the climate.
(Note: Ben and Jerry's is a major opponent of Vermont Yankee, although the company needs prodigious amounts of power to make and distribute their product. See my post on the Ironies of Ice Cream. )
In Vermont
Meanwhile, back in Vermont, Vermont Yankee is powering down for the last time. As this article in WWLP writes in a headline: Vermont Yankee provided about 70% of the electricity generated in Vermont. Replacement power is sure to come from fossil sources, though ISO-NE lists "alternatives, hydro and fossil replacement." Local businesses are already hurting, as some Vermont Yankee employees begin to move away.
Hypocrisy Rides Again
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| Poster from EcoWatch |
You can see the Wasserman poster at the right. His group has a rallying cry: "Don't Nuke the Climate!" (I have updated the poster with the much-better parody poster, below!)
McKibben and I had quite an exchange at this blog post: Carbon Dioxide and Nuclear Energy. (Check the comments section.) McKibben founded an organization against global warming, but he has been steadily opposed to Vermont Yankee's operation.
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| Thank you to Urs Bolt for this image |
A few facts, please
First: The UN. With a few moments worth of investigation, the anti-nuke "Climate Worriers" could find out that nuclear power creates far less greenhouse gases than almost all other forms of energy. If you look at the Wikipedia article on life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, you will see that the UN agency IPCC studied life-cycle emissions from many forms of energy.
According to IPCC:
- nuclear averaged 12 gCO2/kWh,
- rooftop solar was 41 grams.
- combined cycle natural gas was 490 grams.
Note that the IPCC is the agency that also tracks atmospheric carbon dioxide and warns us about global warming.
And yet, some people can claim the IPCC is truthful about global warming but dedicated liars about nuclear energy. Well, whatever! The movie Pandora's Promise has a really good bit about this. Comic relief! Watch the movie!
Next: Vermont Law School. But meanwhile, if people think they can't trust the IPCC, maybe they can trust Benjamin Sovacool, a leader at Vermont Law School and a dedicated foe of all nuclear energy? (Really, he's written anti-nuclear books). And Sovacool also did a life-cycle carbon dioxide footprint for various sorts of energy. I have no doubt that he did his level best to make nuclear look bad.
Sovacool's numbers are in the Wikipedia article. Sovacool calculated these life-cycle numbers:
- solar PV at 33 g CO2/kWh
- nuclear at 66 grams ("various reactor types")
- natural gas combined cycle at 443 grams.
Well, I guess Sovacool kind of bashed nuclear, huh? But this doesn't exactly show "Nuking the Climate," does it? I am sure he tried, though, gotta give him credit for trying...
It Really Rides. Hypocrisy Rides Again
According to the Vermont Agency for Natural Resources, as of a few years ago, 46% of Vermont's greenhouse gas emissions came from transportation, and 4% came from electricity generation. ( See page 22 of this pdf from the Agency.)
So what's with all these people getting into gasoline-fired vehicles and heading on down to New York City? Aren't they GASSING the climate! Of course they are.
They are riding the climate to death!
And I suspect they feel very virtuous about it, too.
---
End note: Someone asked me about the carbon dioxide footprint of this march. I don't know, but I welcome comments that would try to calculate it.
Friday, September 19, 2014
Electricity Rates Decrease, Thanks to Vermont Yankee: Harold Bailey Guest Post
The Electricity Rate Decrease Shows the Ongoing Value of Vermont Yankee
Guest post by Harold L. Bailey
This huge payout tells me two things: first, Vermont Yankee has once again proven itself to be a stellar corporate citizen that keeps its commitments. Second, Vermont stands to benefit from still more payments by Vermont Yankee - notably millions in cash for economic development. In addition to the $2 million of economic development funds already allocated for 2014, Vermont Yankee is scheduled to provide $2 million each year for 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018. These payments are contingent upon Entergy and the state both fulfilling in good faith the conditions of the Master Settlement Agreement governing the closing of the plant.
In particular, Vermont Yankee will need a state Certificate of Public Good to store more spent fuel in dry casks. Let's hope our state officials appreciate the benefits, to everyone, of a smooth decommissioning of Vermont Yankee.
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Harold L. Bailey was the representative for Hyde Park and Wolcott in the Vermont Legislature in 2002-2004. He lives in Hyde Park, Vermont. In the past week, this letter-to-the-editor has been printed in several newspapers in Vermont.
Friday, September 12, 2014
Decommissioning Panel and Appointments: Good, Bad and Ugly
Appointments Thick and Fast
With Vermont Yankee shutdown coming soon, the state government is getting busy appointing people to advise about, supervise, and generally harass the decommissioning project. Okay, okay, maybe that's too strong a way to describe it. Instead, perhaps I can just borrow the headline from a recent article in the Greenfield, MA, Recorder. Anti-nukers on Vt. Yankee Advisory Panel.
Well, that was a short blog post. I guess I can quit now...
No, wait! I still have things to talk about. There are good things, there are bad things, and there are...ugly things.
The Good
The New Panel: The old Vermont Nuclear Safety Advisory Panel (VSNAP) is being replaced by the newly-mandated Nuclear Decommissioning Citizen Advisory Panel. Howard Shaffer describes the new panel in his blog post at ANS Nuclear Cafe: The Latest Sop to Nuclear Opponents.
(Gosh, the titles of the links aren't getting any better, are they?)
In his post, Shaffer notes that the old panel was pretty much a straight Vermont-Yankee-bashing experience. The new panel may be better. The panel is larger, and includes representatives from Entergy and from the Vermont Yankee union (IBEW). Also, there will be representatives from neighboring states. Hopefully, the presence of these panel members will keep the panel from being a complete anti-nuclear attack-dog, the way VSNAP was in the past. As Shaffer describes it in his post, in the days of the VSNAP panel: The plant was in the position of being a witness to be cross-examined. There was no appeal to the panel’s findings. The meetings were covered in detail by the regional press. The panel, in effect, became a vehicle for anti-nuclear publicity.
With an expanded membership, hopefully the new decommissioning panel will be more than a kangaroo court.
The New Engineer: Vermont has always had a state nuclear engineer to advise the legislator. In my opinion, Vermont didn't always pick the most qualified person, but that is just my opinion. To my surprise, the newly-appointed state nuclear engineer is actually a qualified nuclear engineer. Oops, I forgot. The "nuclear engineer" job title has been changed to "decommissioning coordinator."
In the Rutland Herald (reprinted in The Recorder), Susan Smallheer reports about the new hire: Get to know Vt's decommissioning coordinator. Anthony Leshinskie is a nuclear engineer, who used to work at Palo Verde. In the article, Leshinskie is quoted as saying that Vermont Yankee appears to be a well-run plant, and he does not see the work force as demoralized. He notes that Entergy is not scrimping on continuous training (which makes the workers more attractive to new employers). Leshinskie said he was concerned that his role would be "anti-nuclear" but is now reassured that his job is technical, not political.
Ray Shadis, a long-time nuclear opponent, doesn't seem completely happy with this appointment. A quote from the Smallheer article: What Vermont or any ‘reactor-occupied community’ does not need is a bureaucratic pussycat,” said Shadis. (Shadis did not actually accuse Leshinskie of being a pussy-cat, but Shadis is obviously worried about something here.) Shadis emphasized that he believes that a state nuclear engineer should be a critic.
The Bad
Governor Shumlin, the President Pro Tem of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House appointed the six citizen panelists, all of whom are serving three or four-year terms. Vermont Business Magazine names the panelists in the article Shumlin, Campbell, Smith announce appointments to the Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel. As far as I can tell, a major qualification for these appointments was that the panelist was opposed to Vermont Yankee.
One of the panelists is David Deen, a legislator with a long history of opposing Vermont Yankee. He claims that the plant overheats the Connecticut River. In this article Deen describes Vermont Yankee as operating under a "zombie" water permit. He claims it has a fifty-five mile thermal plume that extends way downstream, keeping its thermal integrity of heating the river...all the way past the Vernon dam.
A second panelist, Derrik Jordan, is described as "a musician and social activist" by the Speaker of the House, who appointed him.
I don't know everyone on the panel, but I fear that the ones I don't know are probably of the same opinions as the ones I do know. For today, however, enough is enough.
The Ugly
Back in the days when the chairman of VSNAP was appointed by Governor Jim Douglas, a Republican, the VSNAP meetings were a complete zoo.
At one meeting, people came in costume. A costumed man and woman pretended to have sex while pro-nuclear people were speaking, distracting the crowd. At other meetings, members of the panel paced around and shouted "I am tired of being lied to!" They shouted down the chairman, who was attempting to keep the panel moving by Robert's Rules of Order. In another case, a panel member physically wrestled the microphone away from the chairman.
I was pretty naive then, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. But I saw it.
The meetings calmed down when the chairman of VSNAP was appointed by Governor Shumlin. There was no longer a reason to intimidate him or her. When the chairman was appointed by Shumlin, it meant that the agenda could be followed, with minimum interruptions.
My fear of the ugly. Now we have Entergy members and union members on the panel. That could be great or not-great. Great: maybe the new members can contribute. Not-great: once again, the panel includes people worth intimidating
Will the bad old days come again? I hope not, but I fear that they may.
With Vermont Yankee shutdown coming soon, the state government is getting busy appointing people to advise about, supervise, and generally harass the decommissioning project. Okay, okay, maybe that's too strong a way to describe it. Instead, perhaps I can just borrow the headline from a recent article in the Greenfield, MA, Recorder. Anti-nukers on Vt. Yankee Advisory Panel.
Well, that was a short blog post. I guess I can quit now...
No, wait! I still have things to talk about. There are good things, there are bad things, and there are...ugly things.
 |
| Smiley from Wikipedia |
The New Panel: The old Vermont Nuclear Safety Advisory Panel (VSNAP) is being replaced by the newly-mandated Nuclear Decommissioning Citizen Advisory Panel. Howard Shaffer describes the new panel in his blog post at ANS Nuclear Cafe: The Latest Sop to Nuclear Opponents.
(Gosh, the titles of the links aren't getting any better, are they?)
In his post, Shaffer notes that the old panel was pretty much a straight Vermont-Yankee-bashing experience. The new panel may be better. The panel is larger, and includes representatives from Entergy and from the Vermont Yankee union (IBEW). Also, there will be representatives from neighboring states. Hopefully, the presence of these panel members will keep the panel from being a complete anti-nuclear attack-dog, the way VSNAP was in the past. As Shaffer describes it in his post, in the days of the VSNAP panel: The plant was in the position of being a witness to be cross-examined. There was no appeal to the panel’s findings. The meetings were covered in detail by the regional press. The panel, in effect, became a vehicle for anti-nuclear publicity.
With an expanded membership, hopefully the new decommissioning panel will be more than a kangaroo court.
The New Engineer: Vermont has always had a state nuclear engineer to advise the legislator. In my opinion, Vermont didn't always pick the most qualified person, but that is just my opinion. To my surprise, the newly-appointed state nuclear engineer is actually a qualified nuclear engineer. Oops, I forgot. The "nuclear engineer" job title has been changed to "decommissioning coordinator."
In the Rutland Herald (reprinted in The Recorder), Susan Smallheer reports about the new hire: Get to know Vt's decommissioning coordinator. Anthony Leshinskie is a nuclear engineer, who used to work at Palo Verde. In the article, Leshinskie is quoted as saying that Vermont Yankee appears to be a well-run plant, and he does not see the work force as demoralized. He notes that Entergy is not scrimping on continuous training (which makes the workers more attractive to new employers). Leshinskie said he was concerned that his role would be "anti-nuclear" but is now reassured that his job is technical, not political.
Ray Shadis, a long-time nuclear opponent, doesn't seem completely happy with this appointment. A quote from the Smallheer article: What Vermont or any ‘reactor-occupied community’ does not need is a bureaucratic pussycat,” said Shadis. (Shadis did not actually accuse Leshinskie of being a pussy-cat, but Shadis is obviously worried about something here.) Shadis emphasized that he believes that a state nuclear engineer should be a critic.
 |
| Frowny from Wikipedia |
Governor Shumlin, the President Pro Tem of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House appointed the six citizen panelists, all of whom are serving three or four-year terms. Vermont Business Magazine names the panelists in the article Shumlin, Campbell, Smith announce appointments to the Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel. As far as I can tell, a major qualification for these appointments was that the panelist was opposed to Vermont Yankee.
One of the panelists is David Deen, a legislator with a long history of opposing Vermont Yankee. He claims that the plant overheats the Connecticut River. In this article Deen describes Vermont Yankee as operating under a "zombie" water permit. He claims it has a fifty-five mile thermal plume that extends way downstream, keeping its thermal integrity of heating the river...all the way past the Vernon dam.
A second panelist, Derrik Jordan, is described as "a musician and social activist" by the Speaker of the House, who appointed him.
I don't know everyone on the panel, but I fear that the ones I don't know are probably of the same opinions as the ones I do know. For today, however, enough is enough.
The Ugly
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| Gargoyle, Wikipedia |
At one meeting, people came in costume. A costumed man and woman pretended to have sex while pro-nuclear people were speaking, distracting the crowd. At other meetings, members of the panel paced around and shouted "I am tired of being lied to!" They shouted down the chairman, who was attempting to keep the panel moving by Robert's Rules of Order. In another case, a panel member physically wrestled the microphone away from the chairman.
I was pretty naive then, and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. But I saw it.
The meetings calmed down when the chairman of VSNAP was appointed by Governor Shumlin. There was no longer a reason to intimidate him or her. When the chairman was appointed by Shumlin, it meant that the agenda could be followed, with minimum interruptions.
My fear of the ugly. Now we have Entergy members and union members on the panel. That could be great or not-great. Great: maybe the new members can contribute. Not-great: once again, the panel includes people worth intimidating
Will the bad old days come again? I hope not, but I fear that they may.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Another Name for Methane: The Microgrid for Vermont
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| Natural gas |
At the national level, NRG and HuffPo are starting a joint venture called Generation Change: Together We Will Be Heard. This forum is going to have "realer than real" dialog about energy, including the new "solar power that has evolved from large roof top panels limited to industrial buildings to ones that are compact, portable and charge our phones, cameras and tablets."
Okay, yeah, confusing.
At the Vermont local level, there's a joint venture between NRG and the Gaz Metro's wholly-owned subsidiary, Green Mountain Power (GMP). As Vermont Digger reported: GMP Teams With National Energy Company to Build Microgrids.
The story is clearer locally, but the story is not fun.
The NRG CEO takes a stand for Natural Gas
The Vermont Digger story quotes NRG CEO David Crane about these planned microgrids. He says that "the best form of energy storage is natural gas. "
Huh huh huh? Now methane is energy storage?
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| Traditional not-smart solar |
Finally, one comment link explains it. The link is to this article, with more extensive quotes from the NRG CEO. NRG Energy Deploying Dean Kamen’s Solar-Smart In-Home Generator.
Note the clever title "Solar Smart Generator." Solar and smart! How wonderful.
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| 55KW Stirling Generator Wikipedia Smart Solar? |
I gather that NRG's goal is for every home to have its own Stirling engine and a natural gas connection. The end-quote on the Solar-Smart article is from NRG CEO David Crane: “The solar industry belongs with the natural gas industry -- those industries go together. They just don’t know it yet.”
Side Note: It's a large company, but not everyone has heard of NRG. Wikipedia describes their business areas as including co-generation, renewable energy, and renewables. The company owns many fossil-fired plants, some wind farms, and part of a nuclear plant. The core company was part of Houston Lighting and Power. It has expanded by many acquisitions.
The GMP CEO takes a stand against electricity distribution
Now, back to Vermont. In the Vermont Digger article, we see that the CEO of GMP is in line with this "your very own Stirling engine" idea. (I guess that is why she's teaming up with NRG on microgrids.) In the article, GMP CEO Mary Power described the current energy infrastructure as “archaic” and made up of “twigs and twine” that will cost the nation tens of billions of dollars over the next decade.
The CEO of Green Mountain Power Seems pretty cavalier about the current grid. Doesn't sound eager to maintain that old "twigs and twine" system. This is even though she heads a DISTRIBUTION utility, for heaven's sake! What is she doing saying stuff like this? Does she want to see the archaic grid disappear, along with GMP and her job?
GMP may lose, but Gaz Metro will win
Of course not. In my opinion, CEO Mary Powell's job is safe. After all, she works for Gaz Metro. GMP is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gaz Metro. We Vermonters forget that at our peril.
Even if Powell doesn't bother much about the grid in Vermont, her parent company can do very well. Gaz Metro can hope to put in lots of gas pipelines for those microgrid Stirling engines.
Vermonters may lose, but the state government will win
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| "Twigs and Twine" Wonder what GMP linemen think of Ms. Powell's statement? |
Sending the state and utilities a total of $30 million dollars in a year is a lot for a small plant. As an oversimplification, taxing Vermont Yankee to that extent made its profits lower and its power less competitive. This was one of the reasons it closed, in my opinion.
Raising Taxes for the State
With gas pipelines, raising taxes is just so easy. You can force a gas pipeline to pay, say, $30 million a year in taxes...no problem. The pipeline will just go to the PSB and ask for a rate increase. People won't stop buying the product (natural gas) just because the price went up. For heating your home, home, fuel oil and propane will probably still be more expensive than natural gas. Also, once you use natural gas, there may well be a cost to retrofitting your home furnace for another fuel.
Basically, as long as gas remains cheaper than oil, the sky will be the limit on how much distribution utilities will be willing to pay for gas-fired electricity. Even if gas is highly taxed and expensive, the distribution utilities will buy it. After all, the distribution utilities can't go broke, as long as they can go to the PSB, explain the situation, and get a rate increase.
The Winners and The Losers
So, with this great leap forward of a mutual aid pact between Gaz Metro and NRG, who are the winners and the losers?
Winners:
- Gaz Metro (sells more gas)
- GMP (sells more gas, after all, it is Gaz Metro)
- State administration. The state can tax the pipelines as much as they want to tax them, and the consumers will pay.
- Vermont consumers who want reliable power. They want someone to keep repairing those sticks and that twine.
- Vermont consumers who want affordable power. The mixture of high-priced gas, stealth gas taxes and few merchant plants will mean "bye-bye to affordable."
- Any sincere environmentalist who is living painfully off the grid with solar panels, a wood stove, a bunch of batteries, and a vegetable garden. This person just didn't know how easy it is to be green with natural gas, the new storage.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Welcome to New Blogs
I was about to label this post: Welcome to new bloggers! Then I decided that Welcome to New Blogs was a better choice of title.
Dan Yurman
You see, the first blogger I want to welcome is Dan Yurman. He's not new to blogging. Indeed, he is a towering figure as a pro-nuclear blogger! (And he's tall, too.)
Dan's Idaho Samizdat was the first pro-nuclear blog I ever heard about. Dan Yurman and Rod Adams were the first to welcome my own blog when it started on New Years Day, 2010.
So I can't say "New Bloggers" to Dan. However, I can say: Welcome Back, Dan Yurman! We have missed you!
Here's a link to his new blog: Neutron Bytes. And here's a link to his Welcome Post about how his new blog will be structured.
Ed Kee
Ed Kee is a new blogger, but he is not new to the nuclear industry.
With degrees from the Naval Academy and Harvard, Kee has been a consultant in energy economics for two decades. Here's a link to his biography. Most recently, Kee was vice president at NERA Economic Consulting.
He has recently started his own company, which gives him the freedom to blog. His blog is the Commentary section at his website for Nuclear Economics Consulting Group (his new company). Welcome to Kee and his knowledge of economics! The nuclear blogosphere needed someone with Kee's expertise.
Nuclear Economics blog
His first post: Nuclear Power Plants: Long-Term Assets in a Short-Term World.
Two More Blogs: Actinide Age and Power for the USA
Rod Adams Atomic Insights blog introduced me to these two blogs. If you search Atomic Insights for "Another Blogger for Nuclear Energy," you will find Rod's introduction to these two blogs, as well as introductions to the Yurman and Kee blogs.
Actinide Age has been published since late last year (yeah, I''m slow). It's an Australian pro-nuclear blog, also pro-renewable. One post shows the solar panels at the blogger's home. (This Is the Life.) He wonders whether he would use such panels if Australia were powered by low-emission nuclear energy. The blog is well-written, well illustrated, and most important, well-reasoned. The blog motto: Inexhaustible clean energy is optional. Choose wisely.
Power for the USA is one feisty blog. I can't think that I have a single reader who will agree with everything in this blog! But readers will agree with many aspects, and the blogger is certainly knowledgeable. Rod Adams's introduction to the blog gathered almost thirty comments, and a discussion/dispute between the blog owner, Donn Dears, and Rod Adams.
Donn is a retired executive with GE. He is in favor of nuclear energy and gas turbines. He is against exaggerated fear of both radiation and global warming. Whether you agree with all the posts or not, you have to admire a blog with posts such as Our Navy Should Go Nuclear, Not Green.
New Blogs
We have a wonderful new set of pro-nuclear blogs with so many different slants on the issues!
Enjoy!
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| Yurman's twitter icon |
You see, the first blogger I want to welcome is Dan Yurman. He's not new to blogging. Indeed, he is a towering figure as a pro-nuclear blogger! (And he's tall, too.)
Dan's Idaho Samizdat was the first pro-nuclear blog I ever heard about. Dan Yurman and Rod Adams were the first to welcome my own blog when it started on New Years Day, 2010.
So I can't say "New Bloggers" to Dan. However, I can say: Welcome Back, Dan Yurman! We have missed you!
Here's a link to his new blog: Neutron Bytes. And here's a link to his Welcome Post about how his new blog will be structured.
Ed Kee
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| Edward Kee Photo Courtesy of Nuclear Energy Institute |
With degrees from the Naval Academy and Harvard, Kee has been a consultant in energy economics for two decades. Here's a link to his biography. Most recently, Kee was vice president at NERA Economic Consulting.
He has recently started his own company, which gives him the freedom to blog. His blog is the Commentary section at his website for Nuclear Economics Consulting Group (his new company). Welcome to Kee and his knowledge of economics! The nuclear blogosphere needed someone with Kee's expertise.
Nuclear Economics blog
His first post: Nuclear Power Plants: Long-Term Assets in a Short-Term World.
Two More Blogs: Actinide Age and Power for the USA
Rod Adams Atomic Insights blog introduced me to these two blogs. If you search Atomic Insights for "Another Blogger for Nuclear Energy," you will find Rod's introduction to these two blogs, as well as introductions to the Yurman and Kee blogs.
Actinide Age has been published since late last year (yeah, I''m slow). It's an Australian pro-nuclear blog, also pro-renewable. One post shows the solar panels at the blogger's home. (This Is the Life.) He wonders whether he would use such panels if Australia were powered by low-emission nuclear energy. The blog is well-written, well illustrated, and most important, well-reasoned. The blog motto: Inexhaustible clean energy is optional. Choose wisely.
Power for the USA is one feisty blog. I can't think that I have a single reader who will agree with everything in this blog! But readers will agree with many aspects, and the blogger is certainly knowledgeable. Rod Adams's introduction to the blog gathered almost thirty comments, and a discussion/dispute between the blog owner, Donn Dears, and Rod Adams.
Donn is a retired executive with GE. He is in favor of nuclear energy and gas turbines. He is against exaggerated fear of both radiation and global warming. Whether you agree with all the posts or not, you have to admire a blog with posts such as Our Navy Should Go Nuclear, Not Green.
New Blogs
We have a wonderful new set of pro-nuclear blogs with so many different slants on the issues!
- World overview (Yurman, Neutron Bytes)
- Economics (Kee Nuclear Economics)
- Australian pro-renewable (Actinide Age)
- Energy for the United States (Donn, Power for the USA).
Enjoy!
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