West Virginia Wind Farm Study Released

Coal River Mountain Watch recently published a study purporting to show that a wind project on Coal River Mountain in Raleigh County would produce far more in taxes and benefits for the citizens of Raleigh County than would be produced by mining coal by the mountaintop removal process. The study relies heavily on the "externalities" associated with coal - excess deaths and illnesses, and environmental damage - to buttress the conclusion that coal mining is not economically reasonable. More specifically, the Executive Summary states that "[e]ven without comparing it with the wind scenarios, the mountaintop removal scenario is not defensible from the perspective of Raleigh County citizens when considering just two externalities: excess deaths and illnesses, and environmental damage." Of course, weighing the benefits of coal mining against its detriments (and there are several) requires coming up with some metric for accurately comparing costs and benefits of dissimilar things, such as taxes paid, and natural resources damaged. Having been involved in similar economic calculations justifying proposed development projects, I believe it is fair to say that the valuations used by opposing parties often involve wild flights of fancy. That is true whether parties are valuing natural resources to defeat a project, or calculating the economic benefits of projects to support them.

It is interesting to note that even the authors of the study acknowledge that land owners have concluded that "[w]ind farm revenues were found to be much lower than those realized through mountaintop removal." Since severance taxes and other benefits flow from mining revenues, the study authors must have weighted the "externalities" of coal pretty heavily to offset the financial benefits.

Wind farms present problems of their own. For an explanation of some of their demerits, and concerns about their efficacy, see A Problem With Wind Power.

Not everyone in West Virginia supports wind farms. Here is a site for a group in Pendleton County. I have to admit, I've seen these windmills and don't think they look so ugly, but I don't live around them.

Utility Places Large Batteries in Milton

Effective batteries are the crucial "missing link" for all types of alternative grid-based energy. There must be some way to store power when the wind is blowing or the sun is shining, and provide power when there is calm, or at night. There has been a lot of interest in load leveling recently, as can be seen in this article. Some of the changes referred to in this article from MIT, from 2003, are just now coming to pass. And as the Wall Street Journal recently reported, the US is behind the Asian countries in developing battery technology, especially for cars. Note that the AEP batteries are from NGK, a Japanese company, that has a spark plug factory in West Virginia.

This article from the December 18 2008 Charleston Daily Mail explains AEP's practice of putting large batteries in certain locations to level loads. The batteries can be recharged at night, when there is excess capacity, and used when there is excess demand. They can also provide local sources of power when transmission lines are out.

New Valley Fill Disposal Rule Issued

New rules have been issued governing the disposal of overburden at mining sites, but despite the hue and cry heard somepaces, the rules are not significantly different from those that were previously in effect. The State Journal does a good job of laying out the facts involved. The change is opposed by groups such as the Coal River Mountain Watch and the Highlands Conservancy.

The rule is actually EPA approval of a Departmentof Interior Office of Surface Mining rule.

Key New Source Review Air Rule Proposal Dropped

EPA has announced that it will drop its new source review (NSR) rule initiative for power plants, freeing the Obama administration to require upgrades to pollution control measures at the nation's power plants. NSR is intended to require consideration of air pollution control devices when there are changes made at power plants, but not when routine repairs or maintenance is being conducted. Deciding whether to characterize a change as a routine repair, rather than a modification to the power plant, has long been a contentious issue, with power plant operators arguing for the former and states and environmentalists arguing for the latter. At stake are potential upgrades that run in the hundreds of millions of dollars. To learn more about NSR, visit the EPA website.

West Virginia's NSR program is found in its State Implementation Plan, or SIP. The NSR regulations are found at 45 CSR 14 and 45 CSR 16

Lisa Jackson Reported as Likely EPA Administrator, Chu May Head Energy Department

Lisa Jackson, presently head of the New Jersey DEP, is the selection of president-elect Obama to run the US Environmental Protection Agency, according to a story from AP. She's a chemical engineer from Princeton who has the kind of attitude toward regulating greenhouse gases that Mr. Obama likes. It could mean problems for coal during his administration.

An even greater surprise, although consistent with PE Obama's promise of change, is word of the possible choice of a Nobel Prize winner as Energy Secretary. It will be interesting to see whether a brilliant scientist such as Steven Chu can manage the bureaucracy of a large federal agency.