Public Power - June 2008 - (Page 13)

5 6 The Warner-Lieberman climate change bill, now before the Senate Energy Committee, would likely lead to massive fuel-switching from coal to natural gas for electricity production. Many in the energy industry are worried about the cost and availability of natural gas. Do you think this is an appropriate solution to concerns about climate change? I do not support the Warner-Lieberman bill in its present form. I have concerns about the ability of the current and potential compromise costcontainment mechanism to work in practice and about the speed of carbon emission reductions. The timetable comes before there is much chance that carbon capture and storage will be perfected at reasonable cost for new, much less for retrofitting onto existing coal-fired power plants. The pace of reductions can’t be accomplished without massive construction of new nuclear plants, which the bill does not address. The bill, as currently crafted, will force massive fuel shifting to natural gas from coal, which will drive up natural gas prices and harm U.S. manufacturers that need gas for petrochemical and industrial uses. While the modeling predicts gas price increases ranging from 20 to 40 percent by 2020 and 9 to 146 percent by 2030, the vast uncertainty for natural gas prices is grounds enough not to support the measure until a better safety valve is crafted. As a co-sponsor of the Bingaman-Specter cap and trade bill, I, of course, prefer that measure’s “safety valve” device to be used at a minimum. What policies do you think the nation should embrace when addressing climate change? We need quickly to fund a wide array of clean and alternative energy technologies to cut carbon emissions. We need better funding, not just for basic research, but for development and deployment, so economies of scale can drive down installation costs. For society to afford reduced carbon emissions, we need to fund hydrogen research, induswww.APPAnet.org 7 trial gasification projects in a variety of geologic formations, press not just wind, but traditional and enhanced geothermal, ocean and also expanded hydro development, plus biomass and solar. We need to set up a Clean Energy Bank, recently proposed by Senator Pete Domenici, to provide loan guarantees and financing for the whole range of technologies that we will need. There are a host of other things we can do to spur technology. Congress seems satisfied with the way the federal power program is running right now. Do you expect the Senate energy committee to address any issues related to the federal power marketing agencies this year or next? Congressional work on PMA issues in the last few years has mostly taken place in the budget and appropriations process. During the past three budget cycles, Congress has opposed administration actions that would have increased rates for PMA customers. I was pleased that in its recent FY09 budget request, the administration dropped these troublesome PMA proposals. We may hear from the PMAs this year when the Senate energy committee convenes transmission-related hearings. The energy committee will be interested in learning about the transmission needs of the federal power marketing agencies. 9 You support development of energy resources in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but environmental interests strongly oppose any development in ANWR. What is the middle ground between the pro-development and anti-development interests? Supporters of opening the Arctic coastal plan to tap America’s largest on-shore oil and natural gas reserve have thought we already have proposed real compromises. We have offered to physically disturb no more than 2,000 acres of the 1.5 million acre coastal plain — just .01 percent of the wildlife refuge. We have proposed to limit exploration to the winter when no animals would be disturbed. We have limited the size of well pads and stopped physical disturbances, including by allowing critical habitat areas to be set off-limits to surface disruptions. We also have set up funding to aid anyone unexpectedly affected by development. In the most recent bill, we have dedicated half of the total federal revenues from ANWR development— likely to be about $300 billion over the next 30 years—to fund alternative and clean energy installations with the other half going for Low-Income Home Energy Assistance, weatherization and other social programs. With the expected retirement at the end of this year of Senator Pete Domenici and Senator Larry Craig, you seem likely to move up to a leadership position on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. What issues do you expect to see on the committee’s agenda next year? Besides debate over nuclear plant expansion and of how to store or reprocess the radioactive waste, in the electricity sector I expect Congress to look at further steps to spur transmission upgrades. A new administration may suggest a new look at RTOs and ISOs. And since the debate over carbon emissions is certainly only going to heat up, how to further alternative energy will be before Congress most assuredly. ❚ 10 8 Nuclear power seems headed for a second life here in the United States. Is our country ready for an expanded nuclear power program or should new construction wait until the spent fuel repository is built and begins operating? We need new nuclear power to come on line as quickly as possible. While not a perfect solution, dry cask storage will allow needed carbon-free base-load power to be built as soon as the licensing can be finished for this next generation of nuclear plants. That will suffice until Yucca Mountain is finished and open as, at least, an interim storage site and until new nuclear waste reprocessing facilities can be perfected and built. JUNE 2008 13 http://www.APPAnet.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Public Power - June 2008

Public Power - June 2008 Contents Perspective 10 Questions Finding Common Ground on Climate Change Solutions A Patchwork Approach to Renewable Energy Whose Grid Is It Anyway? The Little Utility That Could Benchmarking Customer Service Can Prairie Hay Power Your Town? Storming the Control Room Investing in the Smart Grid Coming of Age: Superconducting Cables Community Broadband Economic Development Customer Service Human Resources For Governing Boards Safety Parting Shot

Public Power - June 2008

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