POWER PLANTS

Vermont Energy Park Holdings' Tom Macaulay and partner Robert Votaw and their engineers appeared before an audience at the Scotia-Glenville High School on April 13 at a hearing required under New York's Article X power plant siting law. A story about the hearing appeared in the Albany Times Union the next day. Neighbors of the proposed power plant site also learned that the state can override their local zoning laws. According to local zoning, the power plant would not be allowed on the proposed site.

In Bennington, Vermont, efforts are underway to change the zoning of the proposed power plant site known as the "Jard" site. Currently there appear to be no other proposals except the power plant that would require rezoning of that site. The State of Vermont can override local zoning laws, but the Public Service Board appears sensitive to concerns about respecting local zoning laws.
Interested citizens are encouraged to attend the Bennington Select Board meeting on April 25 to discuss the potential health and safety impacts on the school children of the region who attend the high school and the proposed new middle school, both of which are within a mile of the proposed power plant site and high-pressure hazardous gas pipeline.

In other Power Plant news, the Department of Energy announced "the development of a 'hybrid' fuel cell that could be the forerunner of a new generation of electric power plants that run at record levels of efficiency with much lower levels of pollution than conventional natural-gas fired power plants", according to an article in the Wall Street Journal on April 17. "The device produces no sulfur dioxide. Its output of nitrogen oxide, which can turn into urban smog, will be 50 times as low as current gas-fired power plants. And its emissions of carbon dioxide, which is thought to be artificially warming the Earth's atmosphere, will be reduced by 75%, according to the DOE."

PIPELINES

Following up on VCE's News Alert about a proposed new pipeline route into Vermont, Albany's Capital District Business Review got confirmation from Bruce Roloson about their plans to run a natural gas pipeline from Plattsburgh, New York south to Whitehall, New York, and then into Rutland, Vermont.
And a New York State Assemblywoman wants the taxpayers of New York to pick up 50% of the tab under the guise of "economic development". The primary beneficiaries would be NYSEG, and major industries who are already served by natural gas lines.

In the April 17 issue of the New Yorker Magazine, an article by William Finnegan about International Monetary Fund and World Bank protesters notes: "One of the Bank's major proposals at the moment is for the development of oilfields in Chad, in central Africa, and the construction of an oil pipeline running more than six hundred miles to the coast at Cameroon. The environmental impact of this pipeline is predicted by many to be dire, the benefits to the people in the area minimal. The big winners will, in all likelihood, be the Bank's major partners in the project - Exxon Mobil and Chevron."

"Natural-Gas Pipelines Are in a Predicament" according to an April 13 article in the Wall Street Journal. Pipeline economics are changing fast. New interconnects have helped create excess pipeline capacity in most places most of the time. Mary Kay Miller, a vice president of the pipeline division of Enron Corp., of Houston says "that raises questions about the ability of many pipelines to even make a profit."
TransCanada PipeLines posted a loss after charges last year of $70 million (Canadian). Earnings fell 8%, and the company recently slashed its dividend 30%.

Meanwhile, natural gas traders are expressing concerns about shortages, deliverability problems, and high prices.

After the National Pipeline Safety Reform Conference, April 9-11, the father of one of the children who was killed by the explosion met with Senator John McCain, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. As a result of his meeting with Frank King, Senator McCain introduced his own Pipeline Safety Reform bill, increasing the chances of a pipeline safety bill being passed this year. See story.

Responding to criticism that the Office of Pipeline Safety did not have anyone present at the National Pipeline Safety Reform Conference listening to concerns and taking notes, the head of OPS told a reporter that the lobbyist for the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America had been taking notes on OPS' behalf.

ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION LINES

VCE will be watching the proposed changes to VELCO's electric transmission lines as reported in the Rutland Herald.
The so-called "slow emergency" has occurred in the in the vicinity of the proposed Northwest Interconnect Project, which would require large upgrades to transmission lines between Burlington and Rutland in order to allow Hydro-Québec to ship more electricity through Vermont to other states.