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Cost per Car load. Dollars.
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[quote]QUOTE: <i>Originally posted by kevarc</i> <br /><br />We get 3 to 4 trains a week. During turnarounds we do not get coal, so figure about 168 trians a year. And as I have stated before, we are a captive facility. <br /> <br />Studies show that if we had competitive shipping, we could save over $14+million a year. <br /> <br />There is also a price saving for using aluminum cars - about $0.50-0.60/ton <br /> <br />A few hard numbers from other cases that are a matter of public record. <br /> <br />Hugo Power Plant in Olkahoma - their price AFTER doing a buildout went from $1.5/mmbtu to $1/mmbtu <br /> <br />Houston Power & Light had a drop of about the same size when they did a buildout. <br />[/quote] <br /> <br />I was part of a lobbying effort by a local economic development agency here in North Central Idaho trying to get one of the proposed coal fired power plant proponents to locate up here instead of in Southern Idaho. I pointed out that the rail rates to get the coal to a plant located in Southern Idaho (served only by UP) would be close to twice the rate of locating here in North Central Idaho where we are served by shortline proxy by both UP and BNSF. The one drawback of course is the transmission bottleneck between the upper PNW and California (the intended market), whereas there is much more available transmission capacity running from Southern Idaho to California. The one thing I could not answer (and perhaps you could) is, would the savings from having competitive rail rates outweight the cost of upgrading transmission? If we're talking $15 million a year in savings by having competitive rail rates, wouldn't that make up for the enterprise's share of upgrading the BPA lines running south?
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