Wonky Wednesday: Delaware Chooses Wind
It’s doubtful that the Public Service Commission has ever generated more interest and excitement than it has with yesterday’s decision to order Delmarva Power to begin negotiating with Bluewater Wind. The PSC’s order, which should be available online tomorrow, also directs DPL to negotiate with Conectiv and NRG for a natural gas backup facility. A last minute addition to the order specifies that a backup must be part of the picture.
This is an enormous victory for the activists who pushed for truly clean energy. But there is no assurance that negotiations will lead to a successful outcome. Three weeks ago, DPL president Gary Stockbridge was openly defiant of the PSC, saying the company wouldn’t negotiate unless forced to by a court order. As the News Journal reports, the company now promises to play ball:
Delmarva Power President Gary Stockbridge came under criticism several weeks ago for his vow not to negotiate. On Tuesday, he sounded more conciliatory.
“We will negotiate in good faith with all the parties,” he said, adding he will try to get the best price for his customers, as well as buying an appropriate amount of power.
Delmarva has long argued it doesn’t need to lock its customers into buying power from a new in-state source.
This of course is the crux of the matter. DPL would be happy to continue selling us energy obtained through three year contracts, which would leave ratepayers exposed to future rate increases from hikes in the price of fossil fuels.
Negotiations are due to start tomorrow, and possibly wrap up in 60 days, which strikes me as optimistic given the complexities of talking with three suppliers at once. I don’t know how much information we’ll have on the talks. We’ll have to stay on top of our public officials to make sure that propsects for wind power in Delaware aren’t snuffed out. Stay tuned.
Hmmm, let’s see….Minner does not contest it and it is allowed to go forward. Stockbridge sounds more conciliatory in his negotiations. a last minute deal, erases the clause that would allow Wind to go it alone………..
Negotiations start Thursday…………
So if either Delmarva, Connectiv or NRG stalls and shuts down the negotiating process with a “no deal”, the deal is off, and for every month it is stalled, we continue to pay way too much for electricity.
They achieve the same results with no political damage. Perhaps that is why Carney, the Building Trades Union, Minner, Delmarva Power, are pretending to move forward, when just a few weeks back, they were either strangely silent or antagonistic towards Blue Water’s proposal.
Of course, perhaps they did see the political writing on the wall, and decided to jump on the inevitable bandwagon. It was made obvious by Bullock’s defeat, that being anti Wind was political death.
We should celebrate, but realize that we are celebrating just the first score to go up on the board. It is time for the defensive team to go in and shut them down.
The trump card we hold is that 94 % want wind power for either economical or environmental reasons. You vote for NRG, and we can shut you down so fast.
But trust me, something is up. Be on guard for a trick play. There is way too little weeping on the other side to assume we have already won.
Let us continue to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
Of course it is not enough for our state officials to simply get in line behind the PSC’s decision and leave it at that. They need to know that citizens expect results, even though it may be hard to get DPL to agree to something it doesn’t want to do.
Most citizens want wind power for its environmental benefits and for the long term price stability it will bring to the energy mix.