Is a Coal Plant in Surry County a Bad Idea? CCAN Asks Terry McAuliffe
Posted by Hilary on 29 Apr 2009 | Tagged as: climate change
This morning the Chesapeake Climate Action Network successfully caught the attention of Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe at a rally he hosted at the 17th Street Farmer’s Market in Richmond, Virginia. Richmond Town Councilman Marty Jewel kicked off the morning, and former President Bill Clinton introduced Mr. McAuliffe. The theme of the rally was “New Energy for New Jobs,” and the candidate’s speech centered repowering the commonwealth and creating new jobs for Virginians. CCAN wanted to ask Mr. McAuliffe about his position on a recently proposed coal fired power plant for Surry County, a Hampton Roads community. Well, we got his attention!
The Surry Plant has been a hot topic during the first part of the campaign. The Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC) proposed to build a new, $6 billion coal-fired power plant right next to the James River in the town of Dendron, in Surry County. The 1,500 megawatt Hampton Roads plant would emit about 14.6 million tons of CO2 a year– a potential total of 876 million tons over the plant’s 60-year lifespan. ODEC asserts that the plant is necessary to meet its customer’s energy needs. Yet, the cooperative could meet its energy needs for the next 25 years through energy efficiency measures alone!
One of McAuliffe’s opponents in the race for the democratic nomination, Brian Moran, spoke out against the plant a few months ago, but McAuliffe has remined silent on the issue of the plant. With signs asking about the plant and calling for a moratorium on MTR we got great spots for the rally, and it was obvious he was reading our posters as he spoke. We were able to talk with Mr. McAuliffe after the event, and when I asked if he would opposed the construction of the plant he responded “I think we should do a study, and if the study shows its a bad idea to build the plant, I will oppose it.”
Well, all Mr. McAuliffe need to do is read the papers: Today Synapse Enery Economics, Inc. released a report about the plant, which states that when factoring in the almost-certain federal CO2 controls, a mixture of efficiency, offshore wind, biomass, and combined-cycle natural gas generation that provides roughly the same power as the proposed Hampton Roads coal-fired power plant would emit five times less CO2, and cost anywhere between 1.7 cents and 4.5 cents per kWh less than the plant. We all know the devestating costs of MTR on ground water resources, the effects the mining and buring of coal has on health, and the carbon emmissions of coal. More than 80 coal power plants have been cancelled, delayed, or rejected in recent years due in significant part to those issues, and uncertainty over construction costs and future carbon controls.
A bad idea? You betcha’.
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6 Comments »
on 09 May 2009 at 11:30 am 1.Old Dominion Electric Cooperative is proposing a new $6 billion dollar coal fired power plant in Dendron, Virginia « LilBambi’s Blog – BambisMusings said …
[...] residents will be affected by this proposed ODEC coal plant in Dendron/Surry County, Virginia (1, 2, [...]
on 22 May 2009 at 11:56 am 2.Monica from ACCCE said …
Affordable electricity is an essential part of protecting consumers and American businesses. During the America’s Power Factuality Tour, our team traveled all over the country to document the places, people and technologies involved in producing cleaner electricity from domestic coal. Our travels brought us to Council Bluffs, Iowa, home of the Walter Scott Energy Center – one of the most efficient coal-based plants in America. This facility generates more than 1,600 megawatts of affordable electricity, which has a positive long-term economic impact on the region—one that includes a Google data facility.
Take a look at the plant in action and meet the people who keep it running: Factuality Tour
on 09 Jun 2009 at 11:41 am 3.Jim said …
Neither Monica nor the sites she links to mention the fact that the coal in these “clean” facilities has to be mined and transported from somewhere. Even if power plants could be engineered to burn coal and emit nothing more than pixie dust they can never be truly clean. It is time for the utility companies to stop wasting money on coal (and advertising about coal) and start making other forms of energy affordable.
on 04 Nov 2009 at 5:19 am 4.phillippa costall said …
i think it is a bad idea
on 04 Nov 2009 at 5:23 am 5.caiti duffy said …
i used to live in surry and i never knew that there was a coal plant there i am upset and annoyed the goverment needs to change it because it is polluting the air and people are going to die i just think it is a really bad idea. TAKE IT AWAY!!!!!!!!
on 04 Nov 2009 at 5:26 am 6.Caiti Duffy and phillippa costall said …
STUPID, STUPID, STUPID IDEA. How can they do this to a lovely county with lovely people!