Unlike Gov. Kaine, I am not applauding Dominion's "plans" to (supposedly, voluntarily) increase the mix of renewable power in its portfolio.
"I applaud Dominion for taking this step toward meeting the renewableenergy goals we have set for Virginia," said Gov. Timothy M. Kaine. "As westrive to meet the growing energy needs of the Commonwealth in a sustainable,environmentally responsible way, this kind of leadership from our private-sector partners is crucial."Dominion plans to achieve Virginia's voluntary goal of 12 percent of base-year electricity energy sales coming from renewable energy sources by 2022 and North Carolina's mandatory goal of 12.5 percent from renewable energy sources and energy efficiency by 2021.
In addition to renewable energy, Dominion's strategy for meeting the growing energy needs of its customers in an environmentally responsible manner includes cost-effective energy conservation and peak-load management efforts, as well as construction of new generating facilities fueled by a balanced portfolio of energy sources.
A few points. First, Virginia's voluntary 12% by 2022 renewable portfolio standard is wildly inadequate to meet the environmental challenges we face. Given the need to cut carbon emissions 80% in order to head off climatic catastrophe, I'd say that a 20% renewable portfolio standard (RPS) -- mandatory -- by 2020 would be a lot more like it. Click on the map for a larger view of what other states are doing: 20% by 2018 in California, 22.5% by 2021 in New Jersey, 20% by 2020 in New Mexico, etc. All of those are mandatory, by the way, not voluntary like Virginia. Which brings us to the next question, why on earth should we trust Dominion to do something they're not required to do?
Second, while Dominion is supposedly/voluntarily moving towards the 12% renewables goal, it's also planning a new 585-megawatt dirty coal plant in Wise County. As the Chesapeake Climate Action Network explains, this plant "would worsen global warming, accelerate mountain-top removal coal mining, encourage the construction of new transmission lines, and further pollute Virginia's air, land, and water." In other words, that one coal-fired power plant in Wise County would undo most, if not all, of the benefits coming from Dominion's move towards the 12% renewable portfolio standard. The Wise County coal-fired power plant also "locks Virginia into 40 or 50 more years of polluted air and greenhouse gases." Brilliant, huh?
Finally, why would we trust Dominion on anything, given its utterly abysmal environmental record? Ronald Reagan said "trust but verify" about the Soviet Union, and Dominion is Virginia's energy equivalent of the "Evil Empire." So where's the "verify" part of Reagan's formulation? I mean, this is a company powerful enough to write its own reregulation bill! As Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment explains, "the legislation would provide Virginia's utilities, including Dominion Virginia Power, billions of dollars in guaranteed profits to build coal and nuclear plants before it makes then invest even a dime in energy conservation and demand side management measures."
In sum, Dominion Power cannot be trusted and should not be trusted. This is a company whose slogan is "It All Starts Here." Well, I've got a few variants on that one that I think are a lot more accurate:
*Dominion: Global Warming Starts Here
*Dominion: Mountaintop Removal Starts Here
*Dominion: Melted Polar Ice Caps Start Here
*Dominion: Species Extinction Starts Here
*Dominion: Sleazy Corporate Power Over Our Government Starts Here
Instead of "applauding" Dominion for its pathetic record on the environment, we should be telling it in no uncertain terms what it HAS TO DO. Unless, of course, Dominion's in charge of Virginia and not our elected officials.
1) They could run out of mountains to blow up
2) Global warming could turn us into a Venus-like inferno where money spontaneously combusts as fast as you can print it
3) State and federal elected officials could finally get off their butts and show some leadership on this issue and change our regulations to make it more profitable to produce renewable energy than fossil fuel energy
Somehow I like #3 best. What about you?
Where exactly do you think you're going to buy electricity if not from Dominion?
My understanding of decoupling is that the utility would be guaranteed a certain rate of return on it's investment. Therefore they would not have a problem with selling "less product", ie. electricity.
What decoupling does is break the link between a company's sales and it's revenues.
The only thing this will really promote is investments in effeciency programs. Decision-making then refocuses on making least-cost investments to deliver reliable energy services to customers even when such investments reduce total sales. Now that's a really good thing! Efficiency is a huge resource that we haven't tapped because of the sales-revenue link.
But this isn't going to cause power companies to not invest in a coal plant if a coal plant is the least-cost alternative for supplying the electricity that is required.
If coal will generate 900 MW cheaper than 900 MW of wind, then the company will still invest in coal.
BTW, Dominion has just filed for a license to build a new nuclear reactor at its North Anna nuclear power station near Louisa, Virginia. While climate change may make nuclear a more beneficial option than coal, there are still issues that require public attention be paid to this license application, including the issue of transport of nuclear material, disposal of nuclear waste and vulnerability to a catastrophic terrorist attack. Stay tuned!
Good will is important to most executives. Contrary to some opinion, executives often make ethical/emotional decisions. I don't think business executives are that different morally from most other professions.
Good will also adds to the company's bottom line. It is not some accountant's fantasy. Among other things, good will helps relations with a legislature. (Bad guys have to contribute more money to get things done.)
BTW, apples and oranges are actually quite similar in their health benefits. And level playing fields are examples of poor construction -- most playing fields are crowned for drainage.