[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

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[Libertarianize the GOP]

Permission to build a plant is a valuable resource, one that takes months of work and millions of dollars to acquire. Once received, it can be sold at a profit.

That is the way it used to work but I am not sure with the way the politicians keep changing the rules that is true any longer.

[snopercod]

The state is likely to permanently lose at least 1,000 megawatts in the next few years as aging plants retire, he said, and more might shut down rather than upgrade to meet air standards.

I still haven't seen anything on how the Bay Area emission cuts have effected the Los Medanos Energy Center [formerly Pittsburg District Energy Facility] power plants.

I had predicted that they would shut down on Jan 1, but AFAIK, that didn't happen. I suspect they are being forced into buying "RECLAIM" credits, and passing the cost on to customers: [Our Clilluns Earth Foundation]:

On March 11, 2002, OCE, along with Communities for a Better Environment, filed complaints against nine companies in the South Coast Basin for their NOx emissions violations. The Regional Clean Air Incentive Market (RECLAIM) program, in theory, allows Reclain Trading Creditss (RTCs) to be generated from mobile source emission reduction rules. For example, if a NOx-producing motor vehicle is replaced with a "zero emitting vehicle," these rules allow for the creation of a mobile source emission reduction credit (a "MERC"). The district's version of the RECLAIM program allows MERCs to be converted into RTCs. However, the EPA found the district's MERC-creating rules applicable here to be flawed and unapprovable. EPA also put the district and the sources on notice that use of RTCs generated from MERCs could subject the source's to federal enforcement.

In almost all of the instances of violation MERC-based RTCs were used to comply with RECLAIM. This flawed implementation of RECLAIM means that more than 778,280 extra pounds of NOx are emitted into the air each year. The suit will be filed under the Clean Air Act.

[daviddennis]

Just wondering - how does this match up with potential peak demand? That is, what if we have an unusually hot summer instead of an average one? It seems to me that the reserve is pretty low in cases of extremely hot weather.

D