Cypress Creek coal-plant on hold... hopefully forever

Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC) announced in a press release that it has suspended plans for a coal-fired plant known as Cypress Creek near Dendron in Surry County, Virginia. The announcement is a victory for cleaner air and water, especially in the Tidewater region of the commonwealth. ODEC cited more stringent EPA regulations and market conditions as driving the decision, but a broad coalition of groups, including Wise Energy for Virginia, had built a strong case that harm to air quality and water quality from the 1,5000 megawatt plant would outweigh any possible benefits. Less demand for coal also means less destruction from mountaintop removal coal mining.

ODEC supplies power to 11 electric cooperatives including Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative. This bird attended the SVEC annual meeting where ODEC's CEO, Jack Reasor, said the company would not be moving forward on Cypress Creek and looking at alternative sources. Coarse Cracked Corn had previously commented on the $6 billion threat to the environment here and here and is proud to have been a tiny "cluck, cluck" in the coalition of groups, local governments, and citizens in Hampton Roads that helped to put this toxic stew on the back burner.

Those of us who care about the environment need to keep minding the kitchen because the toxic stew isn't totally off the stove - ODEC spokesman, David Huggins, indicated work may resume in a couple years depending on the outcome of an appeal to the Supreme Court over the EPA's carbon emissions standards.

Glen Besa, director of the Virginia Chapter Sierra Club, called on ODEC to invest in "efficiency, wind and solar power now." For its part, ODEC says it is exploring "alternative sources of power supply" but that could mean more natural gas and hydrofracking. As citizens we need to keep the pressure on the General Assembly and utilities to put in place meaningful laws and policies to encourage efficiency and renewable energy. Virginia could look to forward-looking states where a variety of incentives make solar and wind energy affordable now.

Time to go solar?

According to an article entitled "Cost of Solar Energy Plummets" that I first read in the April/May 2012 edition of Mother Earth News, the cost of a residential solar power system has dropped about 40% in the last couple of years. The same article is posted online at a site called Academic Articles.

The writer, Dan Chiras, points out that conventional energy costs about 17 cents per kwh in New Jersey and in many major cities conventional electricity costs 10 to 12 cents per kwh. In the Midwest, the unsubsidized cost of solar has fallen to 13.7 cents per kwh and federal tax credits bring it to less than 10 cents. To sweeten the financial incentives even more, some U.S. utilities currently buy renewable energy credits from customers that help them meet state goals for renewable energy production.

I get my electricity from Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative and, since I'm just beginning to check this out I, don't know if it makes economic sense in my situation. At our pre-Civil War home I mostly heat with propane (and wood) and cook with propane. In addition to lighting, the water heater and dryer (we hang 75% of laundry on the line) are electric and one room has electrically warmed flooring. In short, we are far from a totally electric home. I do know that (including the basic consumer charge; riders, distribution charges, and adjustments; and local/state taxes) I am paying about 11.75 cents per kwh used.

At this point I don't know the viability and costs of installing a photovoltaic (PV) system at my location. I don't know how quickly I could recoup the upfront costs or how it would impact resale value. I don't know how cooperative my co-op will be, although I am reasonably impressed with their conservation programs and overall service. And, I certainly don't know if federal tax credits will make a PV system cost effective.

But, I recently watched construction nearby of a solar system to provide heating at a poultry house and I do know that with costs of PV systems coming down quickly, the current environment may be a good time start humming the 1969 George Harrison song, "Here Comes the Sun."

Cypress Creek - more questions than answers

Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC), of which Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative is a member, has proposed to build a new coal-fired power plant known as Cypress Creek Power Station in the Town of Dendron (pop. 300) in Surry County, Virginia. At a cost up to $6 billion ($9,000+ per household served), Cypress Creek would be the most expensive coal power plant in the country and the largest coal-fired plant in the Commonwealth. ODEC has already spent thousands of dollars in the ongoing permitting process. ODEC defends the plant by stating that coal "is still the least expensive way for us to make sure we have the electricity we need at an affordable price."

Others aren't so sure that ODEC's dollars make much sense. Wise Energy for Virginia commissioned a study by Synapse Energy Economics Inc. The respected analysts concluded that an uncertain economic climate and costs of meeting regulations related to carbon dioxide could mean even higher electric rates for consumers.

Of course, there are costs that aren't always measured in dollars and cents. A Chesapeake Bay Foundation study found that the plant would discharge significant amounts of mercury and other toxins into the James, Pamunkey, Blackwater, Nottoway, and Roanoke rivers and into the Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation says the plant violates provisions of the Clean Water Act. Physicians for Social Responsibility and others have pointed out that air and water discharges from a coal-fired power plant will create a variety of environmental and health problems for the region. Cypress Creek is located just upwind and upstream from one of Virginia's most populated areas - Hampton Roads - which is also one of the state's major tourist destinations.

So far, ODEC has been touting the benefits but has been less than forthcoming about the costs, financial and otherwise, of Cypress Creek. SVEC members should be asking questions and demanding answers. A few of those questions:

• How much will Cypress Creek cost? What will SVEC contribute? How with this be passed on to customers?
• With many banks wary of the risks of financing coal-powered plants, how will Cypress Creek be financed? What are the borrowing costs? How will those costs be passed on to SVEC customers?
• What are the alternatives to a mega coal-fired plant? Have those alternatives been completely explored?
• Currently there is excess power on the PJM grid and an uncertain economy and greater conservation make future demand uncertain. Do we really need this mega power plant?
• Since the beginning of the year plans for at least eight coal-fired power plants have been abandoned or put on hold. Most recently it was Wolverine Power Cooperative's plans for a coal-fired plant in Michigan. An air quality permit was denied and the Michigan Public Service Commission concluded that the plant was not needed and "would result in an estimated rate increase of $76.95 per month for the average Wolverine residential customer." What lessons can we learn from that case study? Will Cypress Creek mean customer's rates could increase by 50-60% a month?
• The ODEC board of directors has yet to vote on the Cypress Creek plant. Why is ODEC moving forward on the project without formal approval of the board?
• Can ODEC and SVEC assure customers that rates won't go up to pay for Cypress Creek?

Many questions and, so far, few answers from ODEC, SVEC, and the other member cooperatives. As customers of an electric cooperative, we are the owners... it is our cooperative. We should demand answers before ODEC moves forward with Cypress Creek.

Don't elect whack jobs on SVEC

Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative will be electing new directors at their annual meeting on June 10, 2010. One of the nominees in Augusta County is a right wing whack job by the name of Philip Lynch. While his bio that was sent out in the Notice of the Annual Meeting sounds perfectly reasonable, he is a crazed reactionary blogger going by the name of "Yankee Phil" and a local political flamethrower whose ideology is way out of bounds for SVEC members. We don't need those kind of views on the Board of Directors of Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative and we certainly don't need the distraction that his presence would bring to the co-op's governance. Paul Bugas, Joyce Craun, and Larry Howdysell are better choices!