Last column, I suggested folks need to start paying attention to the fundamentals of our economy.
Last week, the Highwood Generating Station coal plant proposal was dropped by Southern Montana Electric. They’re now going for wind towers, and a natural gas boiler that will provide “timing power” to back the “inconsistent” wind power.
And just today, another big coal power plant in Nevada up near Elko bit the dust, to cries of joy from U.S. Sen. Harry Reid … you know, the guy running the “stimulus bill” show?
Let’s go …
One: With coal and gas, you can flip a switch and something will happen. That’s not always true with wind and solar, unless you happen to be God.
Two: Natural gas and coal are both heat sources, yet profoundly different. How? Try cooking supper over coal. Adventurous? Try premium unleaded. Really adventurous? A nice, glowing chunk of near-critical plutonium should cook your meat. Which do you prefer? Riiiight, now yer cookin’ with gas …
Which is more efficient? Pipe the gas to the plant, make steam to spin the turbine, which spins the generator to make the electricity, which gets pumped through the wires and through your meter to your electric stove, or just slap the pot on your gas stove and use about one-third of the gas to do the same job?
Coal works best in centralized facilities large enough to amortize the necessary scrubbers, while all you need for natural gas is a big enough pipe, and you don’t need fancy emissions controls. That’s why so many of us not only cook with gas, but use gas to heat our homes. The bottom line: If you want heat, use gas. If you want power to run motors and make light, use coal.
Three: In terms of global supply, we have gobs of coal. While you would never imagine so by comparing the Powder River in Wyoming to Colstrip in Montana, Montana has more recoverable coal than Wyoming.
But America’s gas supply is pinching down to the point where LNG (liquefied natural gas) imports from overseas are increasingly necessary.
Greens are having good luck fighting the construction of new LNG terminals, including one near Astoria, Ore. Why? Honestly, LNG is scary stuff. LNG tankers are basically pressurized fuel-air bombs. Most of our deepwater ports have big cities built up around them. Allahu Akbar!
Not our problem? Wrong. While Montana enjoys some of the lowest gas costs in the country, major new pipelines in Wyoming are near completion. Gas that used to be “captive” to our regional market (and cheap) will be “released” to the global gas markets. Too soon, we’ll be competing for our gas supply with the very same geniuses that don’t want LNG tankers anywhere near. They will want ours.
SME proposed Highwood because they had already lost the competitive fight with the Left Coast over who gets Bonneville Power’s juice. Right here in the Flathead, we are losing our aluminum smelter for the same reason … someone else is willing (and able) to pay more for power.
Remember last winter’s heat bill? Not so bad this year, right? What about when the economy comes back? Never mind the excitement when Vladimir Putin shuts off Europe’s gas spigot because the Ukrainians wouldn’t pay up. Never mind that PART of the reason our economy tanked in the first place is because natural gas prices drove manufacturing process costs into orbit.
I would love to ask Montana’s Board of Environmental Review and Sen. Reid, why, pray tell, are Americans being set up for even more exposure to something proven to be so volatile and risky?
Lord knows what their answers might be, but the correct answer – again – is that they aren’t paying attention to the fundamentals.
What happens when you don’t pay attention? Now yer cookin’.