Dean Alford's " Ford Pinto of Power Plants"

This letter appears in the July 12 edition of The Sandersville Progress  

Not long after Plant Washington was announced, Power4Georgians conducted some field trips for small groups of people, including elected officials, to visit a South Carolina coal-fired power plant with a proposed expansion. P4G proudly pointed to that facility as a role model for Plant Washington.

Has anyone noticed that Dean Alford isn’t mentioning that plant anymore?  Well it may be because the expansion to build another unit was cancelled.  The company announced that due to falling energy demand, and the increased costs of using coal, the project, called “the Ford Pinto of Power Plants,” is now trying to sell equipment and parts to cover their losses. As published in the company’s  annual report,  “In 2010, Santee Cooper is rethinking ways to help customers reduce their electricity consumption, working towards our goal to meet 40 percent of our energy needs by 2020 from non-greenhouse gas emitting resources, biomass fuels, conservation and energy efficiency.”

P4G also isn’t talking about a Kentucky plant dropped by the East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC, similar to our EMCs) late last year.  FACE provided the Washington EMC with a copy of the audit conducted by the Kentucky Public Service Commission that influenced EKPC’s rejection of the KY plant.  Members of Washington EMC should be aware that in our state, the Public Service Commission has no authority over EMCs; therefore we must count on our Board to make good fiscal decisions. We have no one else to appeal to if they make bad ones.

After 3.5 years of asking the EMC Board repeated questions, FACE members have finally learned that there is no independent study that supports assertions by our EMC Board and Power4Georgians that the success of the Plant Washington project is based on an independent analysis.  “Power4Georgians Plant Washington Coal-Fired Power Plant: Too High a Price for Consumers,”  released by Georgia Watch on June 22nd, is another independent analysis  providing detailed information on why Plant Washington will increase our bills instead of saving us money.  FACE has posted the report on our web site at faceenvironment.org.  EMC members can read it for themselves.         

In his response to the Georgia Watch report, Dean Alford of Power4Georgians implies that Plant Washington is necessary and economically viable, therefore worthy of funding.  It is misleading to speak about Plant Washington as if the $2.1 billion has been secured.   As of this date, no lender has funded Plant Washington.   Furthermore, studies show that there is an excess of electric capacity in our state.

FACE urges EMC members and Washington County taxpayers to learn for themselves why Plant Washington will cost most of us our hard earned dollars while a few very wealthy people are made even richer. 

Katherine Helms Cummings

FACE Executive Director