Utility officials ponder coal, nuclear plants (New England ISO)

[jpak]

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/03/23/utility_officials_ponder_coal_nuclear_plants/

Facing a worsening crunch in the supply of electricity, soaring prices, and rolling blackouts, top New England utility officials are thinking about some once-unthinkable solutions: more coal and nuclear power

Officially, no proposals for new nuclear reactors or coal-fueled power plants are in the works. But in an interview with the Globe, Gordon van Welie, chief executive of Independent System Operator New England, which runs the six-state power grid, broached the idea of coal and nuclear plants -- along with better conservation and wind power -- as steps the region, overly reliant on natural gas, must consider to stave off a power crisis.

''We don't want coal. We don't want nuclear power. We don't want windmills off the coast of Massachusetts. We don't want windmills in Vermont," van Welie said. ''We don't want any of that stuff, but then once you've made that decision, acknowledge what the costs are. You can't have it both ways."

To many environmentalists, coal and nuclear remain nonstarters. But as ISO New England girds for the possibility of having to impose Third World-style rolling blackouts as soon as the summer of 2008 to stretch out insufficient electric supplies, van Welie said, regional officials must ''start tackling the resource mix issue." That refers to New England's much heavier reliance on gas and oil and less on coal and nuclear power than other regions, for producing electricity.

<more>

[phantom power]

1. Christ, I hope they don't go with coal. But they will.

[jpak]

2. They probably will

If they started the process now, they *might* be able to commission a new NE nucular plant by 2016 at the earliest.

One winter's worth of rolling blackouts will change a lot of closed minds on wind power though...

If the NE states passed renewable "feed-in" laws similar to ones in Ontario, Germany and Japan (and more funding for conservation) they could get that stuff on line PDQ...

[phantom power]

4. I think another couple years of storms and high oil/gas prices...

will change most people's minds. Once they realize it's all not just going to go away. The middle east isn't going to become politically stable. The climate isn't going to stop getting worse. Gasoline isn't going to stop getting more expensive.

And yeah, a good dose of rolling black-outs will wake people up like a bucket of cold water.

The only flaw in the scenario, and it's a whopper, is how cursedly cheap coal is... I can practically see the CEOs of the coal companies licking their chops.

[Dead_Parrot]

5. Black is the new black, dontchaknow.

[megatherium]

8. Rolling blackouts sold not a few PV panels in CA, I gather. nt

[Dead_Parrot]

3. Have Greenpeace been taking lessons from bush*?

FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR FEAR



Global warming? just a myth. Piedras Negras? Never heard of it.

:(

[Odin2005]

6. They'll go with coal.

The Nucleophobes would rather melt the ice caps then accept the tiny risk of a meltdown. :eyes:

No coal, it causes global warming
No nuclear, there might be a meltdown
No wind, it ruins the veiw and might kill a couple birds

I swear, these people must want us to have no electricity. :crazy:

[One_Life_To_Give]

7. They will "Discuss" the issue till rolling blackouts start

Then see how fast they can slap some more generators on line to quell the riots.

Which plants can be built the fastest? Gas?
We might as well have the most expensive electricity in the world. Just as long as the beautiful people have a unspoiled view.