Electricity Price Increases

[California]

Restart is also being considered for the Duane Arnold plant in Iowa. There are other nuclear plants that were perfectly good units that were shut down for political reasons or because of competition from cheap natural gas. They include /Rancho Seco and San Onofre in California, Zion in Illinois and Indian Point in New York but they will be harder to restart.

I'm familiar with Rancho Seco. I could have worked building it long ago when I belonged to the Carpenter's Union. And I'm a ratepayer at my home in the valley, served by SMUD, its owner. SMUD is still one of the lowest-cost utilities in California despite continuing today to pay off the high cost for building, retrofitting (many times), and de-comissioning that failed project.

It wasn't shut down from 'politics' unless you advocate for gross incompetence. It was almost never in production between years-long shutdowns to try out expensive new overhauls that were promised (and failed) to make it work right. Top management was a merry-go-round of claimed experts who couldn't get it to work right.

Frustration that the ratepayers related to the politicians was a component of the shutdown but the end came when it was revealed that the published figures for radiation released downstream into an adjacent creek were in fact lies. The measured one-hour figures were published as 24 hours radioactive discharge. This deceit was the final straw.

Somebody put an initiative on the ballot to abandon Rancho Seco. It passed.

 

[JRH02]

All one can REALLY do is take the situation into their own hands. If not you are in the hands of others you have no one to blame but yourself. That is the easiest way out: Blame someone else. We need a law! When will you quit blaming others?

 

[JRH02]

Disclosure: I couldn't be further from 'protections' of anything. We don't do too much for 'security'. But we did have a cougar kill a pig yesterday. And have in the past - bear kills too. If I could get a bead on the cougar I'd have a pelt I couldn't show. We could call the Sheriff's office and they are really responsive but by the time the dogs got here the trail would be stale.

It's best to stay in the city where you are safe.

 

[rontaki]

Disclosure: I couldn't be further from 'protections' of anything. We don't do too much for 'security'. But we did have a cougar kill a pig yesterday. And have in the past - bear kills too. If I could get a bead on the cougar I'd have a pelt I couldn't show. We could call the Sheriff's office and they are really responsive but by the time the dogs got here the trail would be stale.

It's best to stay in the city where you are safe.

Except that I feel unsafe in cities.

 

[California]

Except that I feel unsafe in cities.

You feel safer up there, with those armed growers down at the end of the unmarked roads?

City or rural, you need to develop some 'street sense' - intuition - then you can be comfortable anywhere.

 

[Eagle1]

I see it this way
In cities crime happens frequently in public/shared spaces.
In rural area just stay out of other peoples property and you avoid most problems.

 

[rontaki]

You feel safer up there, with those armed growers down at the end of the unmarked roads?

City or rural, you need to develop some 'street sense' - intuition - then you can be comfortable anywhere.

I have developed a pretty good street sense, having spent most of my life in cities.
I'm not worried about armed growers, as I try to avoid those areas. If I do find myself feeling that I'm possibly intruding on some grower's turf, I'll do everything to let them know I'm not a danger to them.

I used to work in downtown Berzerkely, and had to park several blocks away and walk to the place of employment. I enjoyed the walk. However, I would, without breaking stride, spin around to see if I was being followed. That may have deterred a potential attacker. I read about a couple walking the same route, the did was shot and killed over his wallet.

I'll never live in a city again if I have any say in the matter.
Many of my neighbors have guns, maybe even concealed carry, I do not know. I don't fear them, hopefully one of them is there when some fool tries something stupid and needs a injection of hot lead to drill some sense into them.
Cities these days tend to make the dwellers within rather crazy. At one point in our history they were the place to live, envied by those who felt stuck in the countryside.

All things must pass, the advantages of living in a city being one of them. Maybe again, someday.

Edited for typos

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Three MIle Island will restart it's non damaged reactors (that were shut down in 2019) by 2028 as part of a deal with Microsoft to run one of their data centers, also, Bill Gates is behind a project in Wyoming to build a plant there.

Wyoming is also restarting two coal fired plants to support data center needs.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Cities these days tend to make the dwellers within rather crazy. At one point in our history they were the place to live, envied by those who felt stuck in the countryside.

All things must pass, the advantages of living in a city being one of them. Maybe again, someday.

The internet has ended rural isolation, which was the only down side I saw to living in the country. I can learn about any subject that interests me on the internet. I can shop for obscure mechanical parts. I have friends in town that never cook. They eat take-out or order Door Dash. My wife and I both cook, mostly better tasting food than you can find in a restaurant. A neighbor just dropped off 20 lbs. of fresh tuna yesterday, so the pressure canner will provide a lot of tuna for the winter. Another neighbor dropped off a bushel of Gravensteins last week, which turned into pie filling for a dozen apple pies and a bunch of applesauce.

Having my own energy utility makes me much less reliant on electric utility. I just stuffed 6 cords of well seasoned hardwood into the wood shed. I will not be cold this winter. The comfort level of my house does not change when the power goes out. A wall of south windows warms the house on most days, even without a fire. A cistern above the level of the house provides gravity water. A 12 volt battery backup keeps the router running, and I switch to a tablet, so I don't even have to run a noisy generator unless I want to take a hot shower. In extremis, I can heat a laundry tub of water on the wood stove and temper a bath with cold water from the tap. At my house, electricity is a convenience, not a necessity. I bought a propane camp stove 30 years ago for power outages, and have never used it. The coffee pot just moves onto the wood stove, and I have an antique coffee mill on the wall in the kitchen.

My fondness for 19th century technology is a personal choice. I have neighbors in a "modern" all-electric home. They are almost helpless in a power outage. They have a fireplace, but very little dry wood. Their only means of cooking is a propane BBQ with a hot plate on the side.

The neighbor on the other side of them is 100% off grid with solar, batteries, and generator backup. That was an economic decision, since the electric utility wanted $70,000 to run power to his house. I don't know that it is any more convenient than my setup, or provides a better lifestyle. His electricity is certainly not free.

 

[DarkBlack]

At my house, electricity is a convenience, not a necessity.

You must have some PV panels I assume