I am a 73-year-old retired male. My wife and I live on the shore of Indian River. Our home looks straight across to the Indian River power plant. A few weeks ago, I noticed there was no steam condensate rising over the plant. As I did some research, I found they were shutting down the plant as Delmarva Power & Light had made a big effort to increase its ability to connect to the grid. Delmarva Power no longer owns the plant. They only serve to connect customers to the grid.
This means the plant operation depends on owners outside Delaware; this also means local Delaware government and peoples' concerns are not considered about the ripple effect of not being able to produce our own power. We will be dependent on power coming from outside our state.
The reason for this, as I was told, was that the coal-burning boiler did not meet today's requirements for emissions control and was outside of requirement. I asked plant officials if other sources of fuel had been researched. Their answer was that it would cost too much to run a natural gas pipeline to the plant or through the Delmarva shore so towns like Lewes, Rehoboth Beach and Ocean City could also have natural gas at their locations. Also, could oil be supplied to the plant by rail or barge to keep their units running? I received no good answers.
As my personal opinion, I would rather deal with coal, oil or natural gas emissions than connect to any nuclear reactor, considering the nuclear waste problems that come from these units.
It is concerning to me that the use of coal and the mining of coal will not stop, only those who will use it. What will happen is the price will drop here in America and benefit overseas markets such as China or other countries that do not require any emission controls (catch-22).
If wind or solar power is your answer, good, but a very small amount of our country's energy is produced by wind or solar. No sun, no juice. No wind, no thrust. If this is the answer, then why is it not already in place?
Please, Delawareans, don't let outside energy companies or governments control Delaware's ability to generate our own local energy.
-
A letter to the editor expresses a reader's opinion and, as such, is not reflective of the editorial opinions of this newspaper.
To submit a letter to the editor for publishing, send an email to newsroom@capegazette.com. Letters must be signed and include a telephone number and address for verification. Please keep letters to 500 words or fewer. We reserve the right to edit for content and length. Letters should be responsive to issues addressed in the Cape Gazette rather than content from other publications or media. Only one letter per author will be published every 30 days. Letters restating information and opinions already offered by the same author will not be used. Letters must focus on issues of general, local concern, not personalities or specific businesses.
