Because of Washington's proposed climate control legislation,YOUR ELECTRIC RATES COULD SKYROCKET.Let's tell Congress how we feel about that.
HOW CLIMATE CHANGE LEGISLATION WILL AFFECT YOUR ELECTRIC BILL AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT
Everyone has heard about "global warming" and "climate change," which many scientists blame on human activities, specifically activities that emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide, or "CO2," is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas comprising about 0.04 percent of the atmosphere. It is emitted into the atmosphere every time any sort of combustion process takes place that is fueled with fossil-fuels or carbon-based energy such as oil, gas, natural gas, wood, or coal.
If you live in Utah, Colorado or an adjoining state, it's likely a large portion of the power you use in your home or business is coming from a coal-fired power plant. Coal is plentiful in the United States making it a low-cost, domestically produced fuel. Coal's low cost translates directly into affordable power bills and a reliable energy source for industry, agriculture and commerce.
While today's modern coal-fired power plants remove or reduce emissions of many chemicals and particulates, power plants which burn a fuel (coal, oil, natural gas, wood, etc.) emit CO2.
There are activists who believe man-made CO2 is causing climate change and have lobbied Congress to curtail CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. To accomplish CO2 reductions, activists want legislation that will tax most large sources of CO2, including power plants and transportation. By taxing power plants as well as gasoline and other products that have carbon dioxide released as part of the production process, they will make these products more costly in hopes of forcing substitutes to be used or lowering demand.
Legislation to reduce CO2 would impose a tax that will hit power plant operators very hard. In the case of Deseret Power, your co-op's wholesale power provider, a middle-range estimate is $200 million per year. To continue operations a large portion of the tax will have to be made up by Deseret's customers, including your co-op and, ultimately by you and your neighbors.
If this CO2 tax is passed into law, your electric bill could increase by 100% or more based on estimates of the cost for each ton of CO2 emitted.
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Why We Need to be Concerned
First and foremost of concern is cost of any carbon legislation. Unlike "cap and trade" systems for other pollutants, where allowances are granted free of cost to utilities and industry, the most recent proposals in Washington D.C. mandate a government "auction" of allowances, amounting to a hidden tax. Without buying allowances from the federal government, utilities like Deseret Power will be forced to shut down, and turn out the lights in most rural communities. The cost of government auctioned allowances will be set by the "highest bidder" so to speak, and the proceeds of sales will mostly be used to fund unrelated government programs and funding requirements. By some estimates, the first year cost to purchase government allowances could equate to $60 million or more, for Deseret Power, which has no choice but to pass those costs through to you - the ultimate consumer. Many area co-op General Managers used the term "devastating" when describing the impact of the 100% increase in electric rates that would result in their service areas.
According to the most recent proposal out of Washington, the cost of buying allowances that permit CO2 emissions from the government is designed to increase annually, as the number of allowances the government is willing to sell would be reduced year after year. To some, the goal is simple: as the prices rise, coal-fired power will become too expensive to operate, forcing power providers to switch to non-carbon resources, or increase electric rates so that consumers are forced to shut off the power.Making fuel switches is not an easy process. Many coal-fired power plants could be forced to close and new, very expensive plants would be built that will use non-carbon fuel sources. The most plentiful and reliable alternative fuel choice would be a major upsurge in nuclear power plants throughout the U.S.
If you rely on power from coal-fired plants you will have no choice but to pick up the bulk of the cost.
Recently, we've witnessed how hikes in gasoline and diesel prices can dampen the U.S. economy, leading to a downward economic spiral, and threatening disaster. Adding a hidden tax on CO2 at this point is dangerous and risks even higher inflation and unemployment. In any event, any hope of economic recovery would be greatly delayed, and the current economic downturn severely prolonged.
Energy produced by alternative fuels and renewable resources such as wind, solar, geothermal, and others, are desirable in everybody's book. Right now, all those resources combined supply less than 3% of today's electric needs in the U.S. The cost of these carbon-free alternatives is very high. State of the art wind turbines, built in the very best wind zones, and fully supported with tax subsidies from the government, can't produce electricity at costs competitive with Deseret's existing coal plant. The best solar generating plants result in electric costs that are more than three times the comparable cost of electricity from reliable coal-fired generators. New nuclear power plants will not be permitted or built for another decade or more, and will cost almost as much as solar-powered electricity when and if they can be successfully constructed. The government in Washington D.C. has committed hundreds of billions of dollars in public stimulus funds, hoping to double the amount of electricity supplied from these alternative resources before the end of the current presidential term. Even if these ambitious goals are met, it will barely "move the needle" on the United States' need for domestically produced coal-fired electricity.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP
Help fight legislation that could have grave impacts on our communities. Learn more about the issue by clicking here.
YES, I WANT TO FIGHT TO KEEP MY ELECTRIC BILLS LOW
Write your congressman by filling out the form below.
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INCLUDE ME IN YOUR CONTACT LIST TO NOTIFY ME ABOUT SIGNIFICANT EVENTS AND ENLIST MY HELP IN OPPOSING ANY BILLS THAT THREATEN OUR REASONABLE POWER RATES.
LETTER TO YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS
Dear U.S. Congressmen and Senators,
Recent news articles raise the very real possibility of some sort of federal legislation dealing with climate change during the coming months. These legislative efforts, aimed at curtailing CO2 emissions, could have devastating effects on rural communities in the West, unless legislation provides carbon emissions allowances, free of charge, to our primary supplier of electric energy.
If there's one thing we know for certain, carbon legislation does not have to be expensive to work! We can address concerns about climate change without drastic new government funding mechanisms. In the 1990's, working with American industry, Congress and EPA successfully adopted a program to address the so-called "acid-rain" problem. That program allocated emissions allowances to utilities and industry, free of charge, which enabled them to continue providing vital community service and maintain jobs, while allowing them adequate time and flexibility to research and develop workable solutions. Utilities can use the sale of these allowances as an additional funding source to upgrade pollution control systems and incorporate technology advances. Over the past decade and more, the acid rain program has proved a rousing success, already achieving remarkable results, at affordable cost, and reducing the pollutants that were blamed for the problem it was meant to solve.
In Utah, 80% of the electrical generation is coal based. Communities here in the West depend on affordable, plentiful energy to power industry, supply agricultural needs, and transport us across the long distances that separate us from key markets and essential supply facilities. We rely on stable electric rates provided by dependable coal-fired plants, like Deseret Power's Bonanza Unit 1 near Vernal, Utah to fuel our lives and sustain our economy.
Some in Washington are now suggesting that carbon legislation can be used as a vehicle to raise funds for unrelated government programs. Instead of granting our electric provider the emissions allowances it will need to continue to supply us with electricity, some in Congress prefer to make Deseret buy those allowances from the federal government, starting right now, on day one. With due respect, that would be just plain wrong.
If carbon legislation is enacted that does not allocate free allowances for the Bonanza Unit 1 to continue to operate at full capacity during the remainder of its 40+ years of original life, the member-owners in rural Utah, Colorado and surrounding states will be hit hard with overwhelming costs. By some reasonable estimates, a typical small rural residential household could end up with a staggering electric bill that contains as much as $1,000 of additional, unforeseen cost in just the first year of the legislation alone. In rural communities served by Deseret Power, electric rates will jump over 100%. The effect on local economies, small farms, and businesses in these economically challenged areas would be devastating, and long lasting. Many businesses and agricultural operations could be forced out of business and unemployment would skyrocket.
As a member of Moon Lake Electric, my local co-op, I strongly oppose any legislation that will impose a costly government auction of CO2 "cap-and-trade" allowances, and that does not allocate emissions allowances to Deseret Power free of cost for the full operation of the Bonanza Unit 1 plant.
I ask you to take every step necessary to ensure that carbon legislation carries with it a free allocation of emissions allowances to sustain current levels of economic activity here in the West. We cannot afford to lose more jobs, watch more neighbors unable to pay their mortgages or their utility bills, and our communities plagued by more economic havoc. Our quality of life depends on it and on you.
Sincerely,
SUBMIT
