Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by kevarc No they haven't, but coal is still the cheapest fuel.. You must remember the PNW is almost as bad a Calafornia as far as environmetnal extremests. So the NIMBY factor for building transmission is far less than the NIMBY factor for building an ukky coal fired plant in thier state. Let some other state deal with the pollution, as long as it is to the east and the prevailing winds are out of the west. [/quote] That's true, and it reflects on the poor job the media has done of covering energy issues. The PNW is pretty much condemned to having our non-hydorpower energy needs being filled by either natural gas fired plants, or importing electricity at market rates. Either way, the energy planners from the PNW have almost eliminated the one main advantage of locating a manufacturing plant here, namely cheap electric rates. Of course, the hydro system is played out as far as future expansion, but if our energy planners had any sense, they would have pushed for new coal fired plants built within the region as the adjunct to the hydro system, since coal is the next lowest cost form of electricity generation. Thus, they could have continued having the lowest cost energy to market to manufacturers, instead of losing that advantage to the South and MIdwest. With natural gas now costing $6.00/mmBtu or more, even new power plants fueled by the more expensive clean coal technologies would have been preferable to natural gas plants, market priced imported energy, or having to deal with the recessionary pressures of mandated conservation measures. Even most enviro types will publicly acknowledge that such technologies are not all that objectionable, and probably such clean coal projects could have passed muster for approval here in the PNW. But as I mentioned previously, the railroads have a bad reputation in the energy press for gouging coal customers, and that perception played a significant part in the opting for coal alternatives.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag