|
Late last week, when 10,000 Cape Region residents went to their mailboxes, they found colorful brochures extolling the virtues of coal power. The Delaware Building and Construction Trades Council, with offices in Wilmington, sent the brochures, but they were paid for by NRG Energy, which seeks to build a coal gasification plant in Millsboro.
“As a part of their public education campaign on the ongoing request for proposals process undertaken by Delmarva, the Delaware Building and Construction Trades Council had sent a mailing to 10,000 property owners in beach communities in southern Delaware to highlight some of the key risks involved with Bluewater’s proposed offshore industrial wind farm,” said Dave Walsh, executive director for the council. “Bluewater Wind wants to build a number of transformer substations and 200 wind turbine towers measuring more than 360 feet tall with 295-foot diameter blades - that’s 55 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty - off the coast of Delaware’s most prized beaches.”
Greg Ferrese, city manager for Rehoboth Beach, said anyone can walk into city hall and purchase labels with addresses for all Rehoboth taxpayers. He said the fee is five cents per label and that the entire list would cost about $3,180.
“It’s public information,” said Ferrese. “We sell a lot of them.”
Walsh said the labels and brochures were paid for by NRG and distributed strictly to homeowners in coastal Sussex County. He said the trades council supported the mailings and assisted NRG in getting them out because the council contends it is important to make sure beach residents hear both sides of the energy story.
“We haven’t been shy to show our support for NRG,” said Walsh. “We have a longstanding relationship with NRG … many of our members are currently working at the Millsboro facility.”
Walsh said his council, which is the umbrella organization representing 20 unions in Delaware, looks at employment first. He said the council expects the NRG proposal would create 1,000 new construction jobs and about 100 permanent jobs, many of which would go to the unions represented by the council. The unions pay dues to the council, but none of that money was used in creating the brochures, said Walsh.
The brochures were printed in a union shop and mailed from New York, according to the postage used to mail them. Walsh would not confirm where they were printed nor discuss why the brochures were not printed by Delaware workers. He said NRG chose the printing location and paid for the mailing, but the council supports the mailing and NRG.
“We did this because we felt it was important for people down there to get the other side of the story,” said Walsh. “My gut tells me that if I lived along the Delaware beach line … I think I would have serious objections [to the wind proposal].”
NRG would. In the Bluewater proposal, three crafts would be needed under the trades council, while under the NRG proposal, 15 of the 20 crafts represented by the council would be needed.
“There’s a lot of work to be done at NRG,” said Walsh. “NRG provides a reliable, sustainable abundance of energy.”
Misleading quotation
In the brochure, Willett Kempton, University of Delaware professor, was quoted, saying “Disadvantages of offshore wind include: higher installation and maintenance costs in comparison with land sites, undeveloped regulatory regimes over water, technology not yet optimized for water locations, and immature offshore wind resource assessment methods.”
While this quote is correct, Kempton said it was taken out of context from the original study on wind done by Kempton and other University of Delaware researchers. Kempton said the study went on to show many of these problems could be resolved and that wind would be a good choice for Delaware, but the brochure does not include any of those statements.
“Having this one sentence represent my view is misleading,”Kempton said.
Kempton said he thinks that since NRG lost at the technological and economical evaluation, the company is now trying to win at a political level. He said he hopes the commission finishes what it set out to do from the beginning of the process.
“The PSC has spent a tremendous amount of time on this,” said Kempton. “If they can’t make a decision, who can?”
Mike Rhue, a draftsman and self-proclaimed practical environmentalist, stood out in the crowd at a recent hearing as he explained in simple terms the problems with the applications and some possible solutions.
Rhue said new technology, whether it’s new coal, natural gas or wind technology, can only be researched so much on the drawing boards. He said technology must be applied and used before all the bugs get worked out.
“I can’t tell you what the price of coal is going to be in 30 years. I can’t tell you what the price of natural gas is going to be in 30 years,” said Rhue.
“But, I can tell you what the price of wind is going to be in 30 years. It’s free.”
Contact Rachel Swick at: rswick@capegazette.com
|
