?Power
Frequently Asked Questions
We need more power plants here to avoid what is happening in California, right?
Wrong! Unlike CA, we have an abundant supply of coal, which is the main supply of energy for producing electricity in the midwest. Cinergy should be encouraged to develop more coal-based electricity generation. The Bush administration is providing this encouragement by:
If we don't stop the power companies -- all over the U.S. -- from raiding the dwindling supplies of natural gas, we may have trouble heating our homes and business, or paying the rocketing prices.
Why does Cinergy want to install a new power plant on Kenton Lands Rd?
Cinergy has 4 primary divisions: two regulated Utilities, and two (unregulated) market divisions. The Cinergy Merchant division is an aggregate of entities including a Limited Liability Company named Cinergy Capital and Trading, Inc (CinCap).
For most of us, prior contact with Cinergy is by way of the Union Light, Heat & Power division of Cincinnati Gas & Electric. This is a regulated distribution company ("disco"). In Kentucky, the Public Services Commission oversees ULH&P activities in Kentucky, including power generation.
The Cinergy Energy Merchant CinCap, not ULH&P, is proposing the power plant, outside of the regulated control of the Public Services Commission. The electricity generated will serve primarily non-Kentuckians. The electricity will feed a regional grid, named ECAR (East Central Area Region) comprising MI, OH, IN, KY, WV, and parts of PA and VA. As of [2006 Jan 01, ECAR was consolidated into a wider coverage area named RFC.]
In this ECAR region, Cinergy supports the most active trading hub of energy resources in the U.S.! Cinergy, an $8.5Billion global company, is #2 in ECAR, barely half of American Electric Power in base generation capacity. But Cinergy this year moved ahead of AEP in peaking capacity, doubling its capacity after purchase of 1000MW in TN and MS.
This "mini" Erlanger prospect of 75MW will incrementally fatten the Energy Merchant asset base while leaving the heart of Northern Kentucky with MAXI decline in Quality of Life, nearly destroying the homes and lives of countless Northern Kentucky citizens for generations to come. That is not a good deal for Northern Kentucky.
Isn't this just another case of NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard)?
No! It is true that almost wherever a power plant is proposed, someone will complain. But every power plant in America has a buffer around it separating the toxic, hot combustion from pathways of human lives, both for safety and for health reasons. This buffer is commonly regulated by state environmental protection guidelines. A permit is granted in some cases when these guidelines are respected. In this case, there is no buffer. Cinergy completed a 50-page application for the necessary permit and mis-stated two important factors in the permit:
Within 1200 feet of the proposed smoke stacks are:
not the usual makings of "Industrial Area"!!
In the permit, reporting maximum levels of emissions of toxic pollutants, Cinergy reported maximum values based on 0° F and did not indicate relative humidity. Yet actual operating ambient conditions can exceed 100° F and 95% humidity. It is well documented by General Electric, the manufacturer of the combustion engine that combustion efficiency degrades substantially as temperature and humidity rise, resulting in substantially higher emissions levels of toxins. No data is available properly characterizing these elevated levels.
Cinergy has other sites to pursue that do provide the appropriate buffer respecting fundamental rights of residents to a safe, clean environment.
Unfortunately, Kentucky legislators have not been adequate at legislating controls on the degree to which a Cinergy bully may impose itself without regard to residential rights. According to Representative Droud, this neglect will be corrected in the next session convening next January in Frankfort. Until then, Cinergy and other power companies have targeted 23 opportunities in Kentucky for power generation. But nowhere is this much combustion so close to this many lives, and we will not neglect our duty to fight the evil tyrant!