HCR50 Comment Rescue
kavips said…
This (HCR50 which recommends that the Public Service deny any request by Delmarva Power to recover from or pass-through to its ratepayers the costs it has incurred opposing the Power Purchase Agreement negotiated between Delmarva Power and Bluewater Wind) was tabled. Who has the vote count?
John Kowalko responds:
Kavips,
I had no choice but to table the Resolution since it wouldn’t have gotten the votes out of committee.
There was a critical absentee and some language changes suggested and ( most importantly, I feel) failure to invite the Public Service Commission.
I agree wholeheartedly with the PSC being present next time so that they might shed some light on the fact that the Delmarva lobbyist (Farley) expressed total confidence in their (the PSC’s) decisions and ability to fairly determine qualifying expenditures yet his client continues to wage and abet a campaign which contradicts that thought.
Farley (at the hearing) and Delmarva and its agents have consistently resisted the fact that the PSC has responsibly and “honestly” met its responsibilities in crafting an RFP process as mandated by HB 6 resulting in the December 18, 2007 Power Purchase Agreement. Since then, Delmarva (Farley and other “agents”) have objected to, worked against, and misrepresented to the ratepayers (at the ratepayers expense) the reality and truth of cost comparisons which clearly favor the BWW project. Mr.Farley, at Representative Thornburgs behest, testified at the hearing and soon strayed off point (of the resolution) and tried to debate the Delmarva/BWW proposal from his biased point of view while referring to me as the “gentleman from Newark, who is obviously a BWW supporter”. I quickly asked the chair to correct this obviously hostile witness and refer to me as “the Repesentative from Newark” with all due respect. The point being that Mr. Farley was never enjoined (by the chair) from straying significantly off-topic with a Delmarva promo while Tom Noyes (my invitee) was interrupted and told by the chair that he should “wrap it up”. Mr. Noyes stayed on point and concluded but the bias was exposed. Representatives Hocker, Thornburg and Booth were the most vocal participants of the committee and Representative Schwartzkopf (co-sponsor of the resolution) was eloquent in his attempt to keep the discussion in perspective. I offered the table and will be back with some changes and, hopefully, a PSC rep. next time and an open-mindedness for an objective discussion specific to the resolution.
John Kowalko
Not that you need any more evidence to figure where Farley and Delarvae stand, but listen to the sound bytes on the WDEL news piece and you will hear Farley say, “[BWW’s] wind experiment.”
Give him some credit, that is a master of word usage. Some people won’t catch it up front, but stating it that way will stick with some as a detriment.
What cute word usage can we come up with about Delarvae? Keep it disguised as Joe did.
“Delarvae”–that’s good, worthy of stealing!
I gave Jason permission a while ago. I think he used it once, then dropped it. All I ask is a h/t or acknowledgement if asked. It’s not often I create a “keeper.”
I think “Delarvae” is an insult to insects.
I also think it’s important we keep before the public the names of those in the General Assembly who are acting for Delmarva Power. Hocker and Thornburg have other strikes against them, but Hocker especially could be vulnerable on this issue, as BWW has a lot of support even in ultra-conservative Sussex County. Voters should be reminded who’s helping and who’s hurting the wind farm effort.
Al, I have updated the Choose Wind page here to give some feel for who is with us and who still has to be convinced.
Let me also make a point here that I know of no advocate for BWW that is paid by them or compensated in any way shape or form. That is a point that has not been made often in the media coverage. Everything besides what BWW puts out is grass roots support.
The wind farm is a boondoggle that should be considered on its own merit. If it is economically viable, let it be built with private funds and without forcing a utility to buy a pig in a poke.
Wind power can produce electricity that can be fed into the power grid. The problem is that it may not be available during peak times and be worthless. The fact that conventional power plants will need to be built as backup.
It takes courage to stand up against trendiness but sometimes it is necessary to remind the Emperor that he is buck naked.
Art, you keep showing up here and spouting BS. Are you saying that the Natural Gas plant proposed by Delmarva or the Coal burner proposed by NRG are in some way different? Do you think that the Nuke plant that Old Dominion is building isn’t based on contracted purchases?
What boat did you just get off of?
It takes courage to stand up against trendiness but sometimes it is necessary
Wow!
I’ve heard Delarvae (c) a lot of things but I’ve never heard them called courageous for trying to protect thier obscene profits at the expense of rate payers like you and I.
Art D’s style reminds me a bit of Andy Rooney… without the charm or journalistic credentials.
“Boondoogle” and “pig-in-a-poke” in consecutive sentences…
Ugh, Art, get dressed will you….You’re hard on the eyes..
First, the wind farm IS being built with private funds. Where have you been the last year and a half?
Secondly it is THE PUBLIC that wants the union between Delmarva and Bluewater; they want the benefits and look to their elected officials to let them have them…..
Thirdly, wind may be sporadic, but it will always be there and its free. Carbon sources such as coal, gas, and oil, are dwindling rapidly, will soon become sporadic, and their costs are soaring beyond belief….
If we build more wind farms across the entire continent, ( because the wind is always blowing somewhere), we minimize the problem of doldrums.
One of America’s places where the wind blows more constant, is off of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
We need to start somewhere, and saving tremendous amounts of money in the process for Delmarva SOS customers, would be a welcome bonus.
Dear Mr. Downs,
It is being built with Private Funds and the contract that is waiting to be signed is a legitimate, low-cost, price-stable guarantee that benefits the ratepayers, taxpayers and citizens of Delaware. The fact is that projects of the enormity needed to build new generating capacities to satisfy our insatiable thirst for energy, (especially clean, renewable and affordable energy), are a huge commitment made by these environmentally conscious corporations. They are crafted and negotiated to ensure that the investment is a sound one and there will be a fair return on their investment while maintaining a fair cost for the ratepayers who will be involved. This is what the RFP process resulting in the Dec. 18, 2007 Power Purchase Agreement has created and kudos should go to the PSC, Bluewater Wind and the many other participants (including the 6000 or so comment submitters) The boondoggle is being perpetrated by Delmarva Power in its campaign of lies, falsehoods and fera-mongering.
Thank you for your participation in the discussion.
John Kowalko
That is supposed to read fear-mongering. I probably had thoughts of ferrets and weasels on my mind as I typed.
Rsmitty, Delarvae is a classic that must be used repeatedly to bring home the point that interests other than the public benefit, are behind the fight against offshore wind.
Please forgive me in advance if I use it without crediting it to you every single time….this is my post of acknowledgment, because I know that somewhere, sometime, it will just pop out and I will not catch my lapse in time to make the acknowledgment.
It is a great phrase and is worthy of a good mind. You should be proud.
You acknowledged it plenty right here. Free-for-all!!!!
May I interject a little physical science here? Wind is generated when warmer air rises and cooler air moves in to replace it. On-shore plants exist in usually large areas of near constant air temperature. It takes a succession of high and low pressure cells to generate winds. While the succession can be forecast, the winds are totally dependent the varying temperature differences.
The solar heated land mass next to the shore usually and dependably heats the air above it causing it to rise. The nearby ocean rarely has temperatures exceeding that of the land. The lower water temps lower the temp of the air above it. That is the source of the wind that moves on-shore and that can dependably power the mills even after dark. The land mass still heats the air above it for hours after night fall. Wind to power the mills is available each day for most of a 24 hour cycle. The speed of the wind will depend on the heat absorbed by the land mass each day light hour. This near constant difference in temperature should allow greater dependablity of power generation than the on-shore plants that Delmarva insists are better.
TomaHawk – Right you are. I am not sure, but we may also get some benefit from having another land mass (NJ) to the NE of the windfarm.
For those of you that have trouble with science, have you ever seen the Kite Loft in Ocean City without a kite in the air?
“I think “Delarvae” is an insult to insects.”
LOL. You have a point there.