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MEDA event focuses on energy
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by DARWIN WEIGEL
Mike Benton, vice chairman of the Calvert County Economic Development Commission, was the moderator for a panel at the Maryland Economic Development Association spring conference Thursday at the Rod ‘N' Reel Restaurant in Chesapeake Beach. The topic of the conference was electricity in Maryland's future.
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Energy experts and state officials called for more statewide coordination and attention to energy efficiency at a Chesapeake Beach conference last week aimed at showing economic development officials that Maryland's energy obstacles present new opportunities for growth.
Marylanders use a lot of electricity but the state produces very little of it and has to rely heavily on power from other states, which has become increasingly expensive.
The average cost of generation per month for Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative customers, for example, has risen from $2 in 2006 to about $42 now, said Austin "Joe" Slater Jr., SMECO president and CEO.
That's not the only sticker shock.
Considerable investment, to the tune of about $1.5 trillion, must be made in new generation and distribution methods over the next decade to meet demand, said Tony V. Ingram, director of federal regulatory affairs for the Edison Energy Institute.
Economic development officials can help meet demand for energy and create jobs at the same time, presenters said at the Maryland Economic Development Association conference titled "Electricity in Maryland's Future: the Spark that Ignites or the Short Circuit that Fries Our Future." The event was held at the Rod 'N' Reel Restaurant on April 16 for an audience of economic development officials from across the state.
"Capacity and congestion portions are very high here because we have supply limitations," said Douglas R.M. Nazarian, chairman of the Maryland Public Service Commission. "We have looked ahead to see the potential train wrecks of supply and demand issues. The basic principle is real simple. If you have more supply, prices go down. We've got to respond to our demand and pricing challenges now."
There is an economic benefit to building new generation now that's "above and beyond what you need to keep the lights on," he said. The economic benefit is the savings by switching to alternative energies and new taxes and wealth generated by clean energy jobs.
"We need to work together. We have an opportunity … we have a challenge," said Ross Tyler, director of clean energy for the Maryland Energy Administration.
A standard adapted by the state legislature last year that set a goal to make 20 percent of its energy portfolio renewable energy sources by 2022 puts considerable pressure on officials to mobilize. Considering that the average U.S. household has 24 electronic products, Marylanders use 70 million megawatt hours of electricity per year – the equivalent of 2,000 turbines, or 66,000 acres worth of solar panels – "an awful lot," Tyler said.
Biomass, wind, geothermal and solar energies have the most potential for job creation, Tyler said, but counties can spearhead other types of initiatives as well.
The MEDA expects to receive millions from the federal stimulus package to go toward clean energy and efficiency programs, and Tyler told officials it is setting up a process for them to seek stimulus funding for supporting immediate growth and job creation.
Opportunities exist to enhance and expand existing Maryland resources, said Peter Dunbar, director of Power Plant Assessment Division in the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. He mentioned a few major proposals in Southern Maryland such as the ongoing expansion of Dominion's Cove Point natural gas plant and plans for a third reactor at Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Calvert County, as well as the planned Competitive Power Ventures natural gas-fired electric plant in Waldorf.
"Look at the globe, because now what we do in power supply affects the globe. Demand for electricity in China and the developing world will exceed the U.S. by 2030," said Joe Turnage, senior vice president of strategy and infrastructure for UniStar Nuclear Energy. Nuclear power plants are aging, he said, and a "nuclear renaissance" is emerging. Nuclear power has built wealth in communities like Calvert County, but limited capital to build new plants hinders its growth. The nuclear energy industry's equity makes up just half of that of Exxon Mobil, Turnage said.
"It was really important for MEDA to take this subject on ... as far as clean energy goes, nuclear is the way to go. I think there were a lot of people there who didn't know much about nuclear power and left there feeling pretty good about it," said Linda Vassallo, director of Calvert County Economic Development, who has diligently supported the proposed third nuclear reactor at Calvert Cliffs, after the conference. "I think for us, the topic is so relevant ... we have such a full understanding of what demonstrated need is. As economic developers, you cannot recruit businesses without reliable power supply. Right now we're not at the critical point but we're going to be if we don't do something about it."
Slater said SMECO, the eighth-largest electric cooperative in the country, said the company has hedged its portfolio of supply over five years so that over the long haul it's maintained lower rates than other providers in the state. But like most others, SMECO is facing inadequate generation to meet demand. It's been aggressively promoting CoolSentry, a digital programmable thermostat that automatically reduces a home's electricity usage during peak times.
SMECO plans to run a new high-voltage line down much of the length of Calvert County before crossing the Patuxent River at Solomons and going on to Lexington Park, he said. The project would improve energy reliability in Southern Maryland in routine and emergency situations, but more generation sources will be required in coming years to prevent blackouts.
"We need greater infrastructure. We've had enormous growth," Slater said.
"There's got to be aggressive and sustained effort to commit to climate change. There's got to be increased coordination," Ingram said.
"What we need is more large-scale efforts …" said Bob Schaller, director of St. Mary's County Department of Economic and Community Development, after the conference. "We've been talking about siting a [natural] gas-fired plant here in St. Mary's County. Discussions go on. Something closer to home is solar panel farms. We just passed the wind turbine ordinance [which allows individuals to operate small turbines at home for electricity], the first one in the state. It's a start. St. Mary's County will end up with some power generation in its future … but it can't just be raw generation. You got to have the environment in mind. The cost to develop energy from solar or wind is probably 10 times the cost of solar or wind … but it's what we gotta do."
