Scared the hell out my brother and his family who lived in Hershey.
Three Mile Island is coming back!
- Thread starter OVERKILL
- Start date
If the Microsoft guys come for a field trip, they better not wander into TMI Unit 2
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Only works to the point where you eliminate peaking demand, beyond that, solar value falls off a cliff.
I'll add this little tidbit - from my local rep that was sent out this afternoon. The terms of the deal have not been released, but I guarantee the rate payers will get soaked while Microsoft locks in a nice hedge. (Emphasis below mine).
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Constellation officials told reporters the company will pay on its own to refurbish the plant, and Microsoft will buy the electricity it produces for two decades. “We’re not asking for a penny from the state or from utility customers,” President and CEO Joe Dominguez said.
I commend the two corporations on making the restart financially viable. I advocated for the project in our 2024-25 state budget negotiations, and while ultimately those incentives did not fall into place, I will continue in the future to support initiatives that support alternative energy sources and major economic development like this.
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Constellation officials told reporters the company will pay on its own to refurbish the plant, and Microsoft will buy the electricity it produces for two decades. “We’re not asking for a penny from the state or from utility customers,” President and CEO Joe Dominguez said.
I commend the two corporations on making the restart financially viable. I advocated for the project in our 2024-25 state budget negotiations, and while ultimately those incentives did not fall into place, I will continue in the future to support initiatives that support alternative energy sources and major economic development like this.
They want to put one near Frederick, MD,when they could put it in Sparrow's Point which already has power lines going to it for the former steel mill.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Microsoft will have a PPA with Constellation which makes the work to bring the plant back and operate viable. That's how our only privately operated nuke, and the largest power station in North America, Bruce Power, is paid. Nuke PPA's, depending on the terms of course, can be an excellent deal for ratepayers, as it guarantees a massive amount of power at a fixed supply cost.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
I'm surprised they haven't put one behind Pickering, though I expect that's now being considered due to the refurbishment. Co-locating in the Bruce Energy Centre would be another obvious choice.
Good to know. I don't trust Constellation will be able to restart the plant. The Constellation CEO is already stating that the plant should never have been closed originally, ignoring the fact that Constellation themselves decided to decommission when they couldn't sell power.
I can see them crying poor in a few years, and begging for state money.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Yes, this is the problem with "markets" where clean supply isn't universally valued and favourites are chosen and paid out of market (REC's and PPA's) for the "right" generation choices, aka wind and solar.
If nuclear had been eligible for the same schemes as wind and solar, the plant never would have been shut down.
Bingo
Valid point - however, the fact remains that it is a one reactor plant - If Microsoft wants to come in and bankroll an inefficient facility - fantastic, I'm all for it. However, I don't want to hear from Constellation that all of a sudden the math works due to "technological" advances, and market changes over the last five years. They need subsidies to make this work, and their lobbying activity backs this up.
Cost of power and proximity to the ISP backbones (ex, Houston,. Atlanta, DC, etc).
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
The US, due to a lack of large public utilities like TVA, built a lot of small single/dual unit facilities. My understanding is that they may be a bit more expensive per kWh than the multi-unit plants, but since 2012, there has been considerable progress made in improving efficiencies and driving down operating costs: