Power suppliers attack their rivals' technology (Delaware catfight)

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http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070204/BUSINESS/702040315/-1/NEWS01

In an effort to secure a lucrative deal to supply Delmarva Power with electricity, three power companies are calling their rivals' technology risky and potentially harmful to the environment, according to documents obtained by The News Journal.

The conflict highlights two innovative but domestically unproven technologies. NRG Energy wants to add a coal gasification facility, perhaps with new environmental safeguards, to its Indian River plant. Bluewater Wind hopes to put up a wind farm in the Atlantic Ocean off the Delaware coast.

A third company, Conectiv, is seeking to build a natural gas plant at its Hay Road Power Complex.

The bids were submitted in a process outlined by Delaware lawmakers hoping to stabilize and reduce the cost of electricity after a nearly decade-long process of deregulation. The state deregulated the industry in 1999, temporarily capping the price to consumers. The caps came off in May, resulting in an average 59 percent increase in residential bills

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