Let's make a deal.
Submitted by James on Fri, 06/02/2006 - 8:32pm
Duke Energy wants to burn some more coal. That's to be expected. But here's what has me worried. Whatever new coal plants they build (and they will build them) will come on line no sooner than 2011. That's five years out. So imagine how far in the future anything even remotely resembling renewable energy must be. Here's how I'd handle it:
Dear Duke Energy.
Please move forwared and build your new coal plants. We'll make permitting as and easy as possible. Be sure the plants are as green as green can be and then some.
There's only one condition: Give us a date certain by which you'll have 33 percent of your power generation from alternative sources. Give us the month, the day and the year. Hit that date and you'll be rich beyond your wildest dreams, and I know they're pretty wild. Miss that date and penalties will kick in big time.
We'll make it worth your while to innovate. And it'll cost you if you don't.
So we have four numbers to discuss:
Date
Percentage of source shifted
Upside benefit
The penalty costLet's make a deal.
Press release below.
From Reuters
NEW YORK, June 2 (Reuters) - U.S. power company Duke Energy Corp. (DUK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Friday said it filed an application to build two 800-megawatt base load coal units on the site of its Cliffside Steam Station plant in North Carolina.
The company said its Duke Energy Carolinas unit filed an application with the North Carolina Utilities Commission for a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the project.
Under Duke's plan for the Cliffside site, it would also retire four existing units and install emissions controls at the plant. It sai it could invest about $2 billion on the project.
Duke filed for air permits for the proposed new units with the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources in December.
The company hopes to receive approval for the project by early- to mid-2007. It said the initial unit could be operational as early as 2011.
JLF
Wonder what the Puppeteers would say to such a deal? Could this provide common ground for wingers and wackos (us and them)? Wouldn't that be a hoot.
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
Cliffside?... Where's Cliffside?
Cliffside is about 66 miles from Charlotte down I-85, through Gastonia, Kings Mountain, Boiling Springs. It used to be a typical Southern mill town, until Cone Mills left and the town basically turned into a ghost town. The plant is big news, as more people move back into the area.
To find out more, check out Reno Bailey's (my Dad) Web site Remember Cliffside at www.remembercliffside.com , full of photos and stories about his home town.
He also wrote a book called Cliffside: Portrait of a Carolina Mill Town.
In a bookstore in nearby Forest City ("Far City"), his book was the #2 best seller behind some J.K Rowling woman. Never heard of her.
Thanks.
I always figured it was beside a cliff.
Are you from Cliffside? What does the community have to say about all this? Maybe they should all get rich too!
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
No...
I'm from Charlotte, but live in Cary. My Dad is obviously from Cliffside. I know that they are actually building new houses in Cliffside that have an architectural style of old houses from the past.
http://www.remembercliffside.com/current/swinghouse/progress.html
Don't know about getting rich, but getting jobs in the area is good news.
Is Coal Better than Nuclear?
To be honest - I am torn. With nuclear power, you eliminate greenhouse gas emissions, pollutants that contribute to acid rain and smog, strip mining in the Appalachians, and I am sure other things as well.
With nuclear power, you have to deal with the hazardous waste.
I know there are many, many steps that should be and need to be taken toward conservation and green energy. But the NC population is growing rapidly. Can we get enough power from green sources?
Is a coal-powered plant better than a nuclear power plant? How do you pick between greenhouse gases and nuclear waste? I really don't know.