Legalectric

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

“I think everyone who’s looked at this recognizes that the cart is before the horse,” said Alan Muller, who directs the environmental group Green Delaware.

Yup — it’s the north end of a horse headed south… It’s not just Excelsior Energy’s Mesaba Project that doesn’t deserve a Power Purchase Agreement. Any proposal is too expensive and a forced contract is not in the public interest when you don’t need it!

Here’s the State of Delaware’s latest Conslutant Report:

Independent Consultant Interim Report 4/4/07 Final

Given this report, confirming, round robin’s barn, moi’s take on this, it’s time to focus on the IRP and get the state’s energy priorities in order — it wouldn’t take much to replace the nasty coal plant that’s only running at nominal capacity with a dispatchable wind/gas combination.

Public hearings are next week:

Tuesday, April 10, 2007 @ 7:00 pm

Delaware Tech – Jack F. Owens Campus

Theatre, Arts & Science Center

Georgetown, DE 19947

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Wednesday, April 11, 2007 @ 7:oo pm

Auditorium (Mezzanine Level)

Carvel State Office Bldg

820 French Street

Wilmington, DE 19801

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Thursday, April 12, 2007 @ 7:00 pm

Public Service Commission

861 Silver Lake Boulevard

Cannon Building, Hearing Room

Dover, DE 19904

In addition, written comments from the public will be accepted on or before Wednesday, May 2, 2007. Written comments should be submitted to the Commission at 861 Silver Lake Boulevard, Cannon Building, Suite100, Dover, Delaware 19904.
What to comment about?  Here’s the docket with the IRP and submissions on the record so far:  Delaware PSC – Integrated Resource Planning Docket
And in the sNews today:

Bidding questions arise in Assembly

By JEFF MONTGOMERY, The News Journal
Posted Friday, April 6, 2007

A day after a consultant’s report called for a delay in choosing a new power plant, speculation mounted that the process is on the verge of sputtering out and could wind up back with the General Assembly.

“This has gotten off track,” said House Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Gerald Hocker, R-Ocean View. “I think it’s going to get thrown back in our laps.”

State lawmakers ordered Delmarva Power, the state’s largest power supplier, to solicit bids for a new plant last year in the wake of a 59 percent jump in Delmarva rates. But the process, which drew three proposals — including offers for an offshore wind farm and a “clean” coal plant — was flawed, the state energy consultant’s report released Wednesday said.

Now, that report, which said Delmarva should restart the process to seek more bids, is pushing the process closer to collapse, observers say.

“I think everyone who’s looked at this recognizes that the cart is before the horse,” said Alan Muller, who directs the environmental group Green Delaware.

Delmarva’s own consultant said the three proposals were not in the company’s best interest and recommended choosing none of them. That thought was echoed Thursday by Delmarva President Gary Stockbridge. He said Delmarva opposes all three as too costly, and opposes postponement of the May 8 target for a tentative decision.

“They want us to find an option that would stabilize prices at a reasonable cost, and we don’t believe any of these bids meet those demands,” Stockbridge said. “We’ve been very clear that any of these bids have to have enough benefit to offset all the downsides of a long-term contract.”

Under the process, Delmarva would be forced to enter into a long-term contract with the winning bidder.

But one of the bidders accused Delmarva of “doing everything within its power to retain the status quo.”

“They should not be rewarded — and Delaware rate payers should not be punished — for Delmarva’s intrans-igence,” said Jim Lanard, director of strategic planning and communications of Bluewater Wind.

Bluewater wants an order that would make Delmarva sign a long-term power purchase agreement from a proposed 30-square-mile wind farm several miles off the state’s Atlantic coast.

Also up for consideration is a proposal by Conectiv Power to build a new 177-megawatt gas turbine at its Hay Road complex in east Wilmington and NRG’s offer to build a next-generation coal plant and produce 600 megawatts of power.

A group of state agencies is expected to decide on one of the bids.

“If Delmarva comes back and says ‘This is not a prudent thing to do, this is not going to save ratepayers any money,’ then I think this whole debate is going to fall back to the General Assembly,” said Sen. George H. Bunting Jr., D-Bethany Beach.

Gov. Ruth Ann Minner said Wednesday that the consultant’s objections should be considered before the PSC and three other reviewing agencies make a joint recommendation.

Previous reports have estimated that the plants could cost ratepayers from $100 million to $5.2 billion more than they would pay by 2038 if Delmarva got the power from regional markets.

NRG spokeswoman Lori Neuman said in a prepared statement that “NRG continues to be actively involved in the … process.”

Bill Yingling, a spokesman for Conectiv, said the company would stand by its proposal. The selection or any decision to change the process, Yingling said “is between Delmarva Power and the state.”

But Senate Minority Leader Charles L. Copeland, R-West Farms, said he was uncomfortable with arrangements that force Delmarva to sign a long-term purchase-of-power contract with plants that could be financially shaky.

“Why put Delaware ratepayers at risk to make an investment that power industry people themselves are not willing to make?” Copeland asked.

Copyright ©2007, The News Journal.

NRG forced to unveil secret emissions information

By Rachel Swick
Cape Gazette staff

NRG Energy’s attempt to keep emissions data secret failed this week when the Court of Chancery declined to issue a restraining order to prevent release of the information.

NRG, which proposes to build a new $1.5 million plant near Millsboro to provide the state with new power, submitted a petition to keep trade secrets out of the public light. After a four-hour hearing Tuesday, March 27, in Georgetown, Chancellor William “Bill” Chandler III refused to grant the restraining order.

The information on emissions data was released this week, but energy watchdogs are still skeptical, saying more information is needed.

The state’s Public Service Commission released four binders of information on NRG’s proposed coal gasification plant Wednesday, March 28. The information did not include how much energy the plant would use, even though it noted the plant would produce 201 pounds of carbon dioxide for every million pounds of energy used.

John Austin, a member of Citizens for Clean Power and a former scientist for the Environmental Protection Agency, said he supports the Bluewater Wind proposal to build a wind farm in the Atlantic Ocean.

Carbon dioxide emissions are linked to global warming, but even knowing how much will be released by the new plant does not tell the public how much energy the plant will consume, which is vital information, said Austin.

“Even if sequestration at 65 percent were possible, the carbon dioxide emissions of a 220 megawatt unit would go uncontrolled,” said Austin. “[Coal gasification] units have not turned out to be the better alternative they have been touted to be. [Coal gasifiNRG
Continued from page 1
cation] is just a way to mine and burn coal faster. I conclude that the NRG bid is not in conformance with the Coastal Zone Act and should be removed from further consideration.”

Austin’s concerns were echoed by Green Delaware’s Alan Muller, who said NRG continues to try and withhold information the public needs to know before making an informed decision about the future of power in Delaware. Muller said the company continually holds back emissions information and has not cleaned up the existing plant. NRG is also going to court over the multi-pollutant emissions regulations passed by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) last year, seeking more time to comply with the regulations.

“We’re still nowhere near where we need to be, and the only solution to this is to unwrap the entire bid,” said Muller.

Proposals for future

Faced with a steep rise in electric bills in 2005, state officials ordered Delmarva Power, in conjunction with the Public Service Commission, to search for new power suppliers. A request for proposals was issued and three proposals are now under consideration, including NRG’s coal gasification plant, Bluewater Wind’s offshore wind farm, and Conectiv’s natural gas plant. The request for proposals called for new power that would generate 400 megawatts of electricity– enough to power more than 300,000 homes.

When the public first requested copies of the three proposals, all three companies, Conectiv, Bluewater Wind and NRG, released heavily redacted copies. Later, both Conectiv and Bluewater released more in-depth information, but NRG refused, stating the requested information contained trade secrets. Conectiv plans to build a 200-megawatt natural gas plant in Wilmington, while Bluewater Wind proposes a 600-megawatt wind farm in the Atlantic Ocean. Bluewater later filed a petition with Chancery Court to block the release of information regarding its equipment supplier, Vestas Offshore. Even though Bluewater had earlier signed a nondisclosure agreement with Vestas, without informing the Public Service Commission, Chancery Court granted Bluewater’s petition to prevent disclosure.

NRG officials said they are concerned that the release of the entire proposal will only lead to a loss of trade secrets to competing companies.

Caroline Angoorly, senior vice president for NRG’s northeast division, said the court filing was in response to ongoing requests for information, which she says are trade secrets.

“The more than 1,100-page bid NRG submitted to the PSC is the culmination of two years of focused effort, as well as significant funding to support development of NRG’s IGCC project at Indian River,” said Angoorly. “We have disclosed the vast majority of information contained within our bid and seek only to protect vital and proprietary details that, if released, could potentially harm NRG’s ability to most effectively structure and bring its proposed generation projects to fruition – both in Delaware and elsewhere.”

Chandler disagreed, stating that the Public Service Commission (PSC) had done its job and given NRG as much room as possible to protect trade secrets.

“It’s obvious to me that the commission made its decision in an informed and deliberate matter,” said Chandler. He said NRG had no right to challenge the PSC’s fairness in the power-bid process, because the final decision on future power has yet to be made.

NRG officials said they would continue to pursue financing for a coal gasification plant in Delaware.

“NRG continues to stand behind our proposal and we remain firm in our belief that [coal gasification] is the answer to providing energy reliably and in an environmentally responsible manner,” said Lori Neuman, spokeswoman for NRG.

Contact Rachel Swick at: rswick@capegazette.com

Time to trot out this photo again — NRG has to release the “emissions” info but there’s no requirement, YET, to release any cost/pricing info.  We’ve GOT this info for Mesaba, so NRG’s should be assumed to be about the same until proven otherwise!  Produce, NRG!

“We’re still nowhere near where we need to be, and the only solution to this is to unwrap the entire bid,” said Alan Muller, who directs the environmental group Green Delaware.

Catching up here, this came out while in transit:

Key details concerning NRG plant still withheld
Report lacks information needed to gauge emissions
By JEFF MONTGOMERY, The News Journal
Posted Thursday, March 29, 2007

Key details on pollution emissions, costs and environmental risks from a proposed clean coal plant remained withheld Wednesday, a day after a court cleared the way for more information to be made public.

The Public Service Commission released four binders containing hundreds of pages of bid documents from three companies vying to build a new power plant.

But those documents shined little new light on the effects of the proposed plants.

For example, NRG Energy’s proposed 600-megawatt plant would produce 201 pounds of carbon dioxide for every million pounds of energy used, according to the documents. But withheld was information on how much energy the plant would use.

The information means little without access to NRG’s estimate of energy consumption, said John Austin, a retired Environmental Protection Agency scientist who supports a different plan to build windmills.

Carbon dioxide pollution, which is linked to rising global temperatures, has become one of several controversial issues in debate over the process.

NRG’s plan calls for pumping 65 percent of carbon dioxide emissions deep underground. But details about that plan were also withheld.

“We’re still nowhere near where we need to be, and the only solution to this is to unwrap the entire bid,” said Alan Muller, who directs the environmental group Green Delaware.

The fragmented details come a day after NRG lost a Chancery Court case in which it sought a temporary restraining order prohibiting the Public Service Commission from releasing details. The News Journal and others had requested bid information be released because the process for choosing a new plant includes public input and evaluates the proposals based on cost and environmental impact.

NRG is proposing a more-than $1.5 billion plant near Millsboro that would burn natural gas-like fuel made from processed coal. The company is competing with Bluewater Wind LLC’s offer to build a 200-turbine offshore wind farm along the state’s Atlantic Coast and Conectiv Energy’s proposal for a 177-megawatt gas-fired turbine at its complex in east Wilmington.

Conectiv has laid open its entire proposal. Bluewater made some of its plan available to the public, holding back information on price and financing.

The Public Service Commission is scheduled to make a tentative recommendation on the winning bidder in May.

Under a process ordered by lawmakers last year, the winning company would enter into a long-term contract to supply Delmarva Power, the state’s largest electricity provider. The bill, aimed at stabilizing energy rates and supplies, passed after Delmarva raised rates 59 percent for residential customers last year.

Contact Jeff Montgomery at 678-4277 or jmontgomery@delawareonline.com

To comment on this article (and please do!) click on headline above to go to site, scroll down, and add your comment!

… not only are we still waiting, we’ve not heard a peep whatsoever about it…

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Let sleeping dogs lie????