Posted on 07/15/2006 12:30:39 AM PDT by TheEaglehasLanded
Power deal hotly debated CWLP-Sierra Club pact sent to full council
By CHRIS WETTERICH STAFF WRITER Published Thursday, July 13, 2006
A national model for how to burn coal in a responsible way, or an extortion scheme hatched behind closed doors.
How to view the deal struck between City Water, Light and Power and the Sierra Club was hotly debated Wednesday night before the Springfield City Council utilities committee, which sent the agreement to the full council for a vote Tuesday.
The deal would avert a potentially costly delay caused by an appeal by the environmental group of the city’s construction permit for its new $500 million, 200-megawatt power plant.
As part of the pact, CWLP would spend $37 million on wind power and other environmentally friendly approaches to generating electricity.
About $15 million would come from a $43 million contingency fund in the plant’s construction budget that is supposed to be used for unexpected expenses. The rest would be paid for from the sale of wholesale energy once the new plant is operational.
CWLP chief engineer Jay Bartlett assured there would be no rate increase to pay for the deal. It’s unclear, however, whether customers could face additional fuel-adjustment charges, which are tacked onto bills when the utility has to buy outside power.
Besides purchasing wind-generated power, CWLP is agreeing to bolster existing conservation programs and create new ones and to further reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, nitric oxide and sulfur dioxide from the new plant. Most aspects of the deal would expire in 2015.
Bartlett estimated the cost of the alternative - fighting the Sierra Club before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - to be $137 million. That includes about $100 million from an increase in material expenses, $28 million from lost wholesale energy profits and $9 million from the cost of continuing the operation of Lakeside Power Station, which is to be shut down.
The Sierra Club deal requires the city to solicit proposals for 120 megawatts of wind capacity after CWLP gets its permit for construction, with the administration of Gov. Rod Blagojevich agreeing to buy half of that for state buildings in Springfield.
If CWLP cannot acquire wind power at a reasonable price, it “shall enter into a contract to build a minimum of 120 megawatts of wind capacity or have purchased 120 megawatts of wind turbines no later than Dec. 1, 2008, and shall be receiving wind power from at least 120 megawatts of installed wind capacity no later than June 1, 2010,” according to the agreement.
Bartlett said it was unlikely the utility would have to resort to building wind-generation units in addition to the coal-fired plant. If that were happen, borrowed money likely would be needed, he said.
CWLP general manager Todd Renfrow conceded that purchasing wind power will be an added expense but said “it’s good for the environment.”
State, CWLP and Sierra Club officials heralded the agreement.
“This is like a dream,” Roger Ricketts, head of the Sangamon Valley Sierra Club, said at a news conference before Wednesday’s committee meeting. “We’re going to become (environmental) leaders in the country.”
Graphs distributed by CWLP showed drastic reductions in the new plant’s emissions of carbon dioxide - the primary cause of global warming - nitric oxide and sulfur dioxide under the deal.
The utility would have to operate its nitric oxide scrubber 12 months a year, which it currently does not do, and would have to comply with tougher mercury standards proposed by Blagojevich, which have not yet been approved.
Most aldermen were silent about whether they’d vote for the deal, but Ward 1 Ald. Frank Edwards and Ward 5 Joe Bartolomucci called it “extortion.”
“We’re doing exactly what we said we didn’t want to do, which is let somebody else control our destiny,” Edwards said.
Ward 3 Ald. Frank Kunz also criticized the agreement.
“I think the people of Springfield are going to pay for what less than 1 percent of the population wants,” he said. “A small group of people have gotten their way.”
Sierra Club officials chafed at such characterizations.
“We are challenging every new coal plant being proposed,” said Becki Clayborn, the Midwest regional representative. “It’s not like we’ll get financial gain. We get environmental protection for your children and grandchildren. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. I’m really disappointed to hear ‘extortion’ ... and such negative things about such a good thing.”
Springfield will have cleaner, healthier air, asthmatics will suffer fewer attacks, and there will be less carbon dioxide to contribute to global warming, said Jack Darin, executive director of the Illinois Sierra Club.
“It’s the gift that keeps on giving,” Darin said at the news conference.
Kunz, however, decried the secrecy of the negotiations and the fact that no one from the Sierra Club approached aldermen. He said he felt slightly better about the deal Wednesday because it will be voided if another environmental group appeals the permit.
Renfrow said he regretted not telling aldermen sooner about the Sierra Club negotiations, but CWLP officials and their legal adviser said secrecy was necessary because both parties were revealing things they did not want in the public arena.
A confidentiality agreement was in effect between the Sierra Club and CWLP during the talks, which started in February.
But Kunz isn’t buying that argument because “the people of Springfield have put up a half billion dollars.”
“This is a far cry from a regular contract,” he said, urging residents to call their aldermen and the mayor to give their opinions of the deal. He declined to say how he would vote Tuesday.
Kunz, Edwards and Bartlett sparred over whether the utility had ever indicated to aldermen or the public that construction of the power plant, which is projected to be operational in 2009 or 2010, could be delayed for a year because of environmentalists’ objections.
“Why weren’t we warned of this before we put this kind of money out?” Kunz said, referring to the $120 million the utility has already spent on pre-construction and purchase of materials without acquiring a permit from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
“I believe that you were told this,” Bartlett said. “I think we did express all the risks. I think we went through in general terms all the things that could happen with construction and environmental delays.”
“I’ll tell you what we’ll do. I will have (City Clerk) Cecilia (Tumulty) pull audiotapes of all the meetings we had,” Kunz responded. “And I’ll be damned if you guys ever told me.”
Or the Sierra Club will be taking your money for their political agenda.
PLEASE, no Homer Simpson jokes.
As a resident of Rochester, IL, I am familiar with this scheme. Smells like the Reverend Jackson's Rainbow extortion scams. Also, what will CWLP and council do when PETA sues because the birds are dying in the wind turbines. These loonies yearn for the Dark Ages.
The Sierra Club should be disbanded under the RICO Act and their assets seized by the IRS...
When purchasing wind-generated power, how are the clean free range electrons separated from the dirty fossil/nuke types?
Are they certified organic electrons?
Here in Springfield, MO, we just approved a measure to construct a third coal fired power plant. The Sierra Club spent a bundle to defeat it but the measure carried by a 62 percent margin and they left town with their tail between their legs.
If they are built properly to specs, the pattern is repeatable and cheap. But, when you must deal with fanatics and nimbys, life is more difficult and COSTLY! Nuclear power is our future!
My solution to the waste problem is to rocket them into the sun!
Absolutely, and for a small extra charge this "Green Power" can be sent directly to your home so that you may feel superior to you neighbor. /s
Yeah, and I was born this morning.
Since part of Rochester is served by CWLP you should go to the City Council on Tuesday and ask them to delay the vote until we can see what all the negotiations had and. This will effect you directly.
If you know people in Springfield tell them to call their alderman to stop this deal now. This is backdoor compliance with Kyoto.
Hey, guess what. The Sierra Club's wind farm of choice is owned by Goldman Sachs. This was Enron's investment banker and also has claimed prominent pols like Robert Rubin, former Treasury Secretary and CitiGroup CEO that made calls to Paul O'Neill during the Enron collapse to help them out.
Jon Corzine, Governor of New Jersey. Former Republican Senate Candidate Jack Ryan, and Current Treasury Secretary Harry Paulson who is in deep with the Environmental Global Warming and selling huge land tracts to the Enviro wackos.
Goldman Sachs has several former top brass involved with Sierra Club. Deep pockets to get contributions from.
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