Energy Scare Tactics

A piece on energy conservation in the Boston Globe had me scratching my head today. Early on in the piece the threat is made; "In a worst-case scenario, parts of New England could face Third World-style rolling blackouts in coming summers if demand for electricity -- particularly for air conditioning and refrigeration -- exceeds available supplies."

Two things made me upset:

1. At no point in the article do the words "nuclear energy" appear. Nuclear power is the cheapest and cleanest power available but a nuclear boogey man exists which clouds common sense out of people's minds. It should have been at least been mentioned as an option.

2. This "we need to conserve" is a sham. Yes we need to conserve just on basic principle (good old Yankee "waste not - want not" - the environment, etc), however, the power companies want to raise prices and they will this summer (and may even have a few rolling blackouts just to make it look good).

In addition to staving off the blackouts, small reductions in electric demand could have a major effect on long-term prices. If New Englanders reduce electric demand by 5 percent during the few hundred hours of the summer when demand peaks, wholesale electric costs could drop by $600 million annually, or roughly 6 percent, according to Independent System Operator-New England, the Holyoke organization that runs the six-state power grid and wholesale electric markets.

On the other hand, if electric demand grows by 5 percent over normal summer peak levels, wholesale costs could jump $700 million annually, ISO-New England officials estimate.

Translated - prices are going up.