Playing the Game

by Art Woolf

The press made it seem like it was a real win for Vermont.  Long-term electricity contracts for the two major Vermont power companies with HydroQuebec's seemingly inexhaustible supply of clean and green hydropower. 

But maybe there's more to the story than meets the eye. From the Vermont perspective, it looks fine.  We lose Vermont Yankee's power and gain HQ's.  It will probably be somewhat more expensive than VY's, but it's cheaper and more reliable than solar or wind.

But look at it from HQ's perspective.  Just like any business, they don't like competition, and VY was a competitor for what HQ is really after:  the big power-buying utilities in Boston and Connecticut.  VY's 650 megawatts must be replaced, preferably by a low carbon source.   It won't be replaced by coal.  It could be replaced by natural gas.  But HQ is a much more politically desirable option.

HQ knows that the Vermont Senate has voted to kill VY.  There is a chance that the vote could be overturned.  Governor Douglas has said as much.  But with the guarantee of a good chunk of green HQ power, any wavering state senator has less inclination to vote in favor of renewing VY's license.

With the stroke of a pen, HQ has insured that little Vermont does a big favor for HQ's management.  And even if Vermont does get a good deal (the price right now is uncertain), it's a small price for HQ to pay for a much bigger market, and a higher price, for customers where it really matters.

Comments

[Vermont Woodchuck]

All this noise about "GREEN" this and that, so here comes an article from the place where turbines sprout like dandelions in the spring.

"There is no evidence that industrial wind power is likely to have a significant impact on carbon emissions. The European experience is instructive. Denmark, the world’s most wind-intensive nation, with more than 6,000 turbines generating 19% of its electricity, has yet to close a single fossil-fuel plant. It requires 50% more coal-generated electricity to cover wind power’s unpredictability, and pollution and carbon dioxide emissions have risen (by 36% in 2006 alone)." [snip]
The rest of the article is here.
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fpcomment/archive/2009/04/08/wind-power-is-a-complete-disaster.aspx#ixzz0hoYhsrBS

The article does explain the cruel joke of Cap & Trade and subsidizing micro-producers.

[Matt Z]

Shutting down VY is great! We get to: 1. buy power from out of the country(kind of like buying oil from the middle east) 2. Buy power from mid-western coal (Acid Rain) 3. Lose the property tax revenue from VY 4. lay -off all the workers from VY and lose the employment taxes and hopefully 5. drive up elec. rates in the state enough so that IBM, GMCR, and other large power users will definately not expand here in VT. Shutting doen VY is a great achievement for the CLF, HQ, and mid-western coal.

[Lazarus Long]

Let's not forget the CLF has an interest in a gas fired plant in New Hampshire.

[Ralph Colin]

...and following up on Matt's and Lazarus' comments, one has to wonder what kind of armament around his head does Peter Shumlin wear that these fairly simple and obvious facts can't penetrate. I guess that the Pentagon mught like to know. I should think that most Vermonters would also like to know.

[Mark M]

Did I miss something here? Did we really "gain HQ and lose VY" or did we continue to buy HQ (and actually a tad less than we have been) and lose VY, leaving us with a big hole to fill?
It's my understanding that the Vermont utilities will very probably be back in Quebec to negotiate further contracts to try and close the VY hole, at whatever price they can bargain for.....Please correct me if I'm wrong...

[Glenn Eno]

Art,

Great angle.

Supply and demand correct???

Level or even slightly reduced demand and a huge cut in supply equals a good deal for HQ. It's almost like: "We've cut the school budget but taxes increased". Personally, I have no issues with HQ. I've never heard anything negative from friends at CVPS. I think they're jumping at a great opportunity.

Senator Shumlin? He appeared on Fox Business News with Stuart Varney recently. I just tried to link to this but the video is gone. He claimed Germany's electric supply is 30% solar. "We need to close VY because of tridium and cobalt leaking into the ground". I chuckled as he hit the tridium and cobalt talking point about a dozen times as Mr Varney's staff quickly discovered that Germany's solar production to be about 1%.

Senator Shumlin also claimed VY only produces 2% of the electricity in the New England grid. OK- I use about 1/10th of 1% of the water in my town. On my street I use 20%. I can make it sound however I want.

Senator Shumlin cast that aside by saying he was "told 30%". Mr Varney pounced on this and it was clear these were not the softball questions the Senator is use to getting.

I suppose he's hearing we only need 10 million to balance the budget as well.

[Glenn Eno]

I found the link:

http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/4087852/lawmaker-on-closing-nuclear-plant/?playlist_id=87053

[Lazarus Long]

Senator, egg, face, some assembly required. I don't think the good senator will want to do any more interviews with "extreme right-wing" news people any more. Too bad our instate news people didn't have the _______ to challenge him on his junk data.
I love the " word is our bond " statement. I hope it applies to him also.