Tallahassee needs a source of cheaper electricity. When we moved to Tallahassee from back North - we went from paying 8 cents a kilowatt hour to 16 cents a kilowatt hour. Now before arguing with me that I have it all wrong - I simply divided the full cost of electricity including fees and taxes by the number of kilowatt hours used. Back north PPL made our electricity using nuclear power - coal fired plants - and oil fired plants. In Tallahassee most of our power is made with cleaner natural gas but it costs so much more because of it.
Tallahassans pride themselves in living in one of the greenest and cleanest towns in the country. It is one of the things that has attracted us to town and the city's south side. When the city voted to invest in a coal fired power plant in Perry - a militant minority forced our elected officials to defy the majority and end our investment in the Perry power plant. We lost a lot of money backing out of that deal - and now a double whammy is that we need more electricity.
Now a company has come to town and wants to built a Bio-Mass Power Plant that will make us electricity by burning wood waste - turning it to gas - using the gas to heat water - turning a steam turbine to make us kilowatts of power. They selected an available site that is in an industrially zoned area. It has the needed rail lines to bring in the wood waste. There is even an electrical substation already on the site to distribute the power. It seems like a deal made in heaven. Once again Tallahassee is blessed by nature with a situation that is the envy of the country. We could be a vanguard that would be looked up to by a nation in quest of a solution.
Back home in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania - there is 400 years worth of coal underground just waiting to be used. But another even bigger commodity they have there are holes - really big deep holes. some of the holes are 2 miles long - 1/2 mile wide - and 1/4 mile deep. They were made by strip mining - the process of ripping off the mountain top to take coal. From outer space the county looks like it has a bad case of acne. These holes were made a long time ago - the coal companies chose to pay a fine rather than fill the holes.
Philadelphia offered this Appalachian county an deal to take mud from dredging the Delaware River and filling those holes. They even offered some towns $1 a ton to allow them to fill the holes. We are talking about millions of tons. The town of Tamaqua cut such a deal - only to back out of it after the entire town council was voted out for making the bargain. The local people were too proud to accept waste from the big city - even at $1 a ton. After a cancer scare from a local Superfund site - you can't blame them.
For years- New York City has wanted to throw their garbage into Schuylkill County holes. The city pays $177 a ton to get rid of their trash. But usually when they make offers to the coal country - they only offer single digits.
To me- the solution to their problem is money. Money changes everything. Just like the story on what you would do for $1 million - I would not sell my soul for it - but I would come pretty close. A million bucks could set up my kids and posterity for life. There are a lot of things I would do for a large amount of money. Try me.
Getting back to our bio-mass electric plant on the Southside. Since the power plant would make a lot of people rich - it would also save a lot of citizens money as the energy crunch tightens the market and raises prices once again. I guarantee you that it is going to happen - prices will rise higher and faster. Don't go out buying any big SUV's thinking it is all over and we will always have $2 a gallon gasoline.
The Bio-Mass Power Company should sweeten the pot for the locals. The homes close to the power plant will lose value. No one is sure if the quality of life in that area will be affected. But money could change things. The powers that be should offer the people that live within a mile or so of the plant a reward. How about free electricity? How about eliminate their property taxes? That way - if the people wanted to move away form the power plant - the homes would be attractive to people willing to move there for free power or no taxes. Put me on that list.
After raising two sons - in the later years I stopped trying to reason with them to see things my way. I found out that bribery put smiles on their faces very quickly. I would simple say - what is this going to cost me. There was no yelling - no protesting - no whining - no delays.
To the people of the south side - how much is it going to cost us? We want to set up this bio-mass plant in your backyard. What do you want in return? We all need electricity. We do not want the Southside holding the bag. Let's give them an offer they can't refuse. Can you imagine the stampede to live by the power plant if we offer the locals free electricity and no property taxes? Put me on that list.
No comments:
Post a Comment