Must Read Post On Why Charlie Copeland is Trying To Kill Wind Power
Whatever you do today, you must make time to READ THIS KAVIPS POST.
If you ever wondered why Delmarva, Charlie Copeland, Hairless McDowell and the rest of the cabal are so committed to killing off the wind power project – all will be made Chrystal clear.
COME CLEAN CHARLIE COPELAND – YOU FRAUD!!!
FYI… It linked to the home page; I had to page down to find the article you mentioned, which if I remember correctly, is titled Chapter 2?
Fixed. Thanks!
I read the article.
Funny how no one wants Blue Water to have to bid against other companies for the exact same project.
Maybe someone else would be better, cheaper, faster, nicer.
I guess Blue Water paid off the right people. Who knew greenies could be so greedy!!!!
They say what you don’t know could make you into a liberal!
Here’s a better article:
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080124/OPINION07/801240323/1108/OPINION
Let Bluewater really compete
By CHARLES BONCELET
Posted Thursday, January 24, 2008
DELAWARE VOICE
For a variety of reasons, the proposed Bluewater wind farm is a bad idea and should be rejected. I propose an alternative that the state should consider.
I am a supporter of non-polluting power (who isn’t?) and have helped build a small demonstration windmill at the University of Delaware for engineering students to study.
The proposed facility off the coast of Rehoboth Beach has some advantages. Being miles offshore, problems with bird and bat kills and noise should be minimized. The windmills will be mostly invisible from the beaches.
The main problems are the Bluewater proposal will be very expensive and will supply relatively little power.
A wind generator’s output is strongly dependent on the wind, being proportional to the cube of the wind velocity. A 20-mph wind produces almost 2.4 times as much power as a 15-mph wind.
Engineering experience in Europe indicates that wind farms average about 20 percent of their maximum capacity. The Bluewater proposal is for a 450- megawatt system, but Delmarva would be obligated to buy only 300 megawatts at a time. The average output would be about 60 to 90 megawatts — only 5 percent to 7 percent of Delaware’s current electrical load.
Even this estimate likely overstates the wind farm’s contribution. Not only do winds vary, they vary unpredictably. Even with the best hourly weather forecasts, prediction errors will be made.
To counter these random variations and provide a constant voltage on the electrical grid, some extra power will be generated — and wasted.
Estimating electricity cost is tricky, as there are no offshore wind farms in the United States. There are some in Europe, but they have been operating for only a few years and do not have to withstand the occasional hurricane.
The state hired an independent consultant to evaluate the proposal. If only the Delmarva Power “standard offer service” customers pay (basically homeowners and small businesses outside the towns served by independent suppliers), then the increased above-market cost will be $13 or $14 per month per household in 2007 dollars. If all electric customers share the cost, the above-market cost drops to about $5 per month per household.
If the state goes ahead with the Bluewater proposal, it is only fair that all customers share this cost.
The consultant estimates the break-even time, when the above-market cost is zero, to be between 2028 and 2036. After that, power from wind is estimated to be cheaper than the alternatives.
Delmarva Power argues that even these estimates are low as they do not include various hidden costs that are not part of the direct bid. For instance, at night in the spring and fall electricity demand can fall below 300 megawatts. If wind is blowing strongly, Delmarva would have to buy 300 megawatts and sell any excess on the open market, likely at a loss. This loss would be absorbed by Delmarva’s customers, and is not reflected in the consultant’s estimates.
In summary, the wind proposal will replace only a small fraction of total consumption and do so at a substantial cost.
Are there alternatives? Yes; Delaware could import cheaper “green power” from other states. An organized conservation program, such as replacing old motors with new ones and electric water heaters with solar heaters, could almost certainly save up to 7 percent.
Rather than trying to guarantee a price, the state should do the following:
Grant Bluewater a permit to build a wind power facility off the Delaware coast. Require Delmarva Power to negotiate with Bluewater regarding where and how the wind farm will connect to the grid.
Rather than requiring Delmarva Power to buy power from Bluewater, allow Bluewater to compete in the green power market, selling electricity at whatever price the market will bear.
This proposal shifts the risks to Bluewater, but increases its potential reward. Delaware and other states have mandated future demand for green power. Bluewater should have no trouble selling to this market.
If Bluewater profits, the state will see increased income tax revenues. Future wind power projects will benefit from the knowledge gained.
I hope the wind farm is a success, but I cannot support asking Delaware ratepayers to absorb the many risks.
Charles Boncelet is a professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Delaware.
And the News Journal’s counterpoint to this one???….some twit from the “League of Women Voters”.
Oooh…..that’s parity of expertise!!!!
Itt gives me a warm feeling to know that the Delmarva PR capaign against wind power is working so well.
After all I’m paying for it.
“They say what you don’t know could make you into a liberal!”
Who exactly are they? Your shut-in mom, maybe? The ‘voices’ in your head?
You know what they say about social conservatives, right?
They got fucked-over sometime during their life, flipped-out, and didn’t know how to handle it like an adult! That, or indoctrinated into a exclusionary lifestyle from birth.
“They got fucked-over sometime during their life, flipped-out, and didn’t know how to handle it like an adult! ”
Hey Cracker, your Freud is showing.
“That, or indoctrinated into a exclusionary lifestyle from birth.”
Oohh…there’s the open wound, eh?
You can join the club anytime. Bring common sense!
Oh, how I pine for the days why “conservative” meant someone who put value on common sense.
Do you think those days will ever come again Mrs. Copeland?
I guess you gots nothing then, heh….
Raised by a bunch of Kennedy-lovin Irish Catholic liberals, so I guess you’re incorrect yet again, my friend.
Your projection makes me laugh.
Just one big problem with Boncelet’s take. It does nothing to lower my Delmarva energy bill.
Currently Delmarva picks and choses who will be the supplier and passes the cost on to me….What do I gain as a Delmarva customer by letting them choose to charge me for expensive gas fired electricity, when in fact I am using cheap wind power?
And the savings on the land based wind power under the PJM rules go to the utilities……not passed on to Delmarva’s customers..
What I want is cheaper power and Blue water currently is the only option that will provide it.
There are NO costs that will be borne by Delmarva’s customers. There are only SAVINGS, that a handful of legislators with ties to Delmarva have conspired to deny us.
picks and choses who will be the supplier and passes the cost on to me….What do I gain as a Delmarva customer by letting them choose to charge me for expensive gas fired electricity
*
Kavips, Delmarva wants to serve its masters at PEPCO to invest billions in nuclear power.
That is at the bottom of this bullshit.
We would fare best to have billions invested in off shore wind.
Guidance to address this complicated issue is found in the law that started it. HB6 (with sponsors McDowell, Adams and DeLuca, among others) directed a bid process to be opened for IN- STATE, LONG-TERM, NEW energy generation. The primary purpose was to stabilize ratepayer cost, not get the “cheapest” price. Look at the clear language in the law. It must be respected. Any developer was free to submit bids for IN-STATE new power generation. Onland wind developers could have submitted bids, but they did not.
NRG, Conectiv and Bluewater submitted bids. Bluewater won because it offered the best array of benefits to Delmarva Power customers for 25 years. Now, because Delmarva Power lost its arguments before the Agencies in May 2007, it turns to the same lawmakers who sponsored HB6 to now ignore HB6. That’s not right.
Delaware’s biggest natural energy resource is offshore wind. To ignore the entire PSC competitive process, the evidence, the law, and the public support is outrageous. It is grossly unfair to the offshore wind company, which invested millions of private dollars during the process, while playing by the rules at all times.
The increased cost over market for offshore wind will go down rapidly to market within 4 years, and then will go below market halfway through the 25 year contract. (See the Independent Consultant’s report 12/13/07, on the PSC website for Delmarva Power RFP.) That price will not fluctuate, as natural gas and coal prices will. With the added costs of carbon taxes and likely cap and trade penalties, offshore wind will give Delmarva Power customers a 25-30% hedge against price volatility every month for 25 years (since up to 30% of their power will come from offshore wind).
The mixed energy portfolio (coal, gas, nuclear and now offshore wind) is the way to go on this bid. Delaware needs to enforce its own laws if it expects to bring new business and more jobs into the state.
If Delaware wants to get off the plantation, the legislature must send the message to Delmarva Power: our state will have a new energy resource, whether you make money off it, or not.