How to Rebuild Delaware’s Electric Generation Capacity: You Decide

Caesar Rodney Institute
DATE : 1/12/12 David T. Stevenson, Director, Center for Energy Competitiveness
View PDF of Article HERE


Delaware imports 60% of its electric power. We get penalized with higher electric rates for causing grid congestion. This is a major reason our manufacturers pay 50% more for electricity than the average state and why residential customers pay an extra $400 a year.
For over 100 years the primary focus of electric generation has been to provide reliable power at the lowest possible cost. That mission was accomplished very well and power generation was an engine of economic growth. More recently we also expect power production to reduce air pollution and green house gases.
Assume, dear reader, you have $2 billion to re-build Delaware’s electric generating infrastructure. Use the table below to chose the best path forward to meet our electric demand. Here is some additional information. We currently pay about 9 cents a kilowatt-hour for the electric portion of our electric bills because of pricing rules from PJM Interconnection, the regional grid manager. Most of the country pays 6 cents. To avoid pricing penalties we need to build 75% of our generating needs including reserve capacity. You should consider cost, reliability, job creation potential, air pollution reduction, and green house gas reduction. The jobs impact includes the impact of higher or lower electric prices.
In regard to reliability, base load power is available all the time, intermittent power is available only part time and the hours of availability cannot be predicted. The chart below gives comparative properties of different generating resources. You decide the best solution!

Comparison of Investing $2 Billion in Various Energy Generation Technologies
Advanced Natural Gas		Onshore Wind		Fuel Cell		Offshore Wind		Solar
Electric Price, Cents/kilowatt-hour	6		10		22		24		21
Reliability	Base Load		Intermittent		Base Load		Intermittent		Intermittent
% of Delaware Electricity Needs	83%		18%		10%		7%		8%
Air Pollution Reduction, mm lbs/year	212		45		26		18		20
CO2 Reduction, mm tons/yr	8.1		2.7		0.9		1.1		1.2
Delaware job impact x-construction	2758		-162		-1190		-930		-839

See CRI website for sources and calculations

Advanced Natural Gas generation looks like a winner as it actually lowers our cost of power while maintaining reliability and doing the most by far to reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emission. Delaware energy policy favors the more expensive renewable options and ignores natural gas