Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Brace Yourself for Electric Shock

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by

James A. Bacon
in

The Virginia Air Pollution Control Board Dominion Virginia Power has approved air pollution permits for Dominion Virginia Power’s proposed coal-fired power plant in Wise County. “We have not yet had the opportunity to review the final permits, but this decision paves the way for us to start construction in the very near future,” the company stated yesterday in a press release.

Although the Virginia City Hybrid Energy Facility will be cleaner than most coal plants, it falls far short of environmentalist expectations. Rate payers won’t like it either once they figure out how much it will cost them.

I haven’t seen an accounting of what impact the plant will have on Dominion’s electric rates. But $1.8 billion is a lot to spend for a facility that generates only 585 megawatts, enough to power only 146,000 homes. What’s that? Ten years of Northern Virginia residential development — not including commercial growth and the scads of new energy-intensive data centers that are in the works?

If you live in Dominion service territory, prepare yourself for electric shock. It’s coming!

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Comments

  1. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    How much of the cost is due to cleaner air requirements?

    You want clean air, you pay. You want pristine air, you pay a lot more.

    RH

  2. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    “…it falls far short of environmentalist expectations. Rate payers won’t like it either “…

    Aren’t environmentalists ratepayers?

    RH

  3. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    $1.8 billion is a lot to spend for 585 kilowatts.

    I could do it for $78,000 at Sam’s Club.

    RH

  4. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Or, you could do it with wind power for around $2.34 billion.

    RH

  5. Jim Bacon Avatar
    Jim Bacon

    Thank you, Ray. I’ve corrected the original post.

  6. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    sorry. My 2:27 sounded snide. The devil made me do it.

    RH

  7. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    What are the initial and life-cycle costs for a Nuke? I did some work for Comm Ed a few years ago. It operates six nuclear power plants in Northern Illinois.

    TMT

  8. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    I didn’t look at Nukes. I think it depends a lot on the local opposition, just as wind depends on local windspeeds.

    I like Nukes. I’ll like them a lot more when they can buy their own insurance on the open market.

    Here’s a little tid bit for wind proponents: the power available from wind varies like the square of its velocity. You get a lot more power with a little more wind.

    Low wind sites need a lot longer blades, and higher towers, so the cost a lot more.

    On one well established wind farm the historical record is that over half the power produced is generated in jsut 15% of the time – due to high wind conditions.

    As a result, there are real limitations in what they call “penetration”: how much of the local market can be supported by wind without causing other competing costs to rise.

    If you think wilderness roads are a problem, a major cost of wind installations is a) the cost of the roads to transport the equipment in. and b) the cost of power lines to transprt the power out.

    RH

  9. Larry Gross Avatar
    Larry Gross

    re: wilderness roads

    canard …

    Virtually every Mountain in Va has had it forest cut at least once.

    and roads were cut to get the logs out.

    Further – many mountains already have communications towers and power light rights-of-ways.

    There is very little true wilderness in the East.

    California residents use 2/3 of the power as Virginia residents.

    We will need more power – but how much more we need has a lot to do with the 1/3 more than we use and especially the peak power needs.

    The 1/3 more and peak power is what necessitates rate increases to pay for new plants – whether they be coal, nukes or wind.

    If we set a reasonable cost structure such that the first 2/3 of power are kept at a reasonable level but everything over that because more expensive; essentially you incorporate into the cost – what will be needed to build new plants – then people can choose whether or not they want to keep their power consumption to a level that does not require a new plant or they can choose to pay extra for the new plant that will be needed to provide them and people like them with more people than the average person would use.

    Right now – there is no incentive to NOT use more power – much less conserve.

    Dominion does not charge enough in its current rates to pay for new plants.

    That’s why when they build new plants – they need a rate increase.

    Why not set up a price structure that let’s people choose whether they want more power or not?

    I note that water systems work this way.

    You get a normal allocation – which is the standard usage of about 300 gallons a day – for a reasonable price but if you want more than 300 gallons a day – you pay a LOT more – because for everyone that uses a LOT more – they are using water than could be used by another house but cannot unless the system is expanded.

    So – why not have an electricity allocation of 6000 KWh a year for a very reasonable price and everything over that incorporates the costs of new power plants into it?

  10. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    “So – why not have an electricity allocation of 6000 KWh a year for a very reasonable price and everything over that incorporates the costs of new power plants into it?”

    Because the people who use less than 6Kwh need new power plants, too. The argument that they do not contribute proportionately to the problem is spurious.

    And also because it makes a difference what you use the power for. If it is a real waste, that’s one thing, but if you are peanlizing those who use a lot of power productively, then that is a huge mistake.

    Dominion should charge enough in its rates to pay for new plants, and Virginia should charge enough to pay for new roads. The rate structures can charge more for more use and not be punitive.

    ——————————-

    “..they are using water than could be used by another house but cannot unless the system is expanded.”

    Why is one person’s marginal use more valuable than another person’s marginal use?

    RH

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