I work on power plants in North America. This is a bad idea for the reliability of North American Power. It will drive everyone’s cost up. All of our power now is Gas Fired, Hydro, Wind, or Solar. (Not a bad thing, but no one wants coal or nuke now because of the Government)
I can’t even name a place starting a new plant right now. Check out online with the major Grid web pages and you can see some startling stats. ERCOT.COM and CAISO.COM are Texas and California, both have their total available MegaWatts vs. Total Consumption, when the values get close or match you get blackouts or rolling blackouts, or brownouts. One mistake or problem at a generation site can have a large impact on us.
Every closed plant makes those numbers getting close not only probable but almost a certainty.
And FYI Redcitizen, My Great Danes share a brain cell... The last smart Dane I had I miss so much it hurts. He was a super dog, a true GREAT Dane. If you have a smart one you are blessed!
Whats happening with the coal fired powerplants in the Four Corners area? Are they still in operation? There are several huge powerplants in AZ and NM. They supply electricity to a big chunk of CA. If they shut down, how will all of the CA pussies charge their Chevy Volts and Nissan Leafs?
In my small part of the world mother nature has added another item to your list of problems. Flood control/hydroelectric dams supply power on a daily basis for those hours of peak demand.
For the past 14 months we have received less than normal rains. With the combination of high temperatures and little rain the power pools of the hydroelectric dams are dropping. At the present time they are no where near the bottom of the power pools but should we experience another year of the same weather conditions that is not a happy thought about the supply of hydroelectric power.
EPA has said these inefficient coal plants are not needed. A coal fired plant with a 90 - 120 supply of coal on site would look good to me as a back up against a mistake or problem that no one could predict.
My grandfather was not an educated man, but he was not stupid. He always had at least a years supply of wood cut and stored in advance to keep his family warm in winter and to cook their food.
Had he had a energy policy similar to EPA, the 0bama administration or wackos like the Sierra Club, grandad would have waited until the kids turned blue to go look for that days supply of wood buried under a foot of snow somewhere out in the woods .