| Independently Powered Energy News

Former board member Paul Carr urged the Sacramento Municipal Utility District to return to nuclear power generation in its October 2 meeting. SMUD hasn’t had a nuclear plant since the closure of Rancho Seco. SMUD was the only muni in California to own a nuclear plant. It operated from 1975 to 1989. The plant was shut down after a public vote, partially due to concerns raised by the accidental Three Mile Island radioactivity release in 1979. While the muni opposed the shutdown and eventual decommissioning, voters overrode it. Carr, who was on SMUD’s board of directors during the 1970s and ‘80s, said that the shutdown of the plant wasn’t warranted and that Rancho Seco was safe. “We should rebuild a nuclear plant,” he told the SMUD board. “I believe it should be two units of around 500 MW each rather than one large plant as Rancho Seco was. Whenever one unit is down for refueling or maintenance the other unit will be supplying all the power we need.” He also said much of the infrastructure for a new nuclear plant, including the isolated land and cooling towers, is already in place, and that the units could pay for themselves in 10 to 15 years. “Wind and solar are great alternatives, but for every kW of power, we must have as much baseload energy to back them up when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun not shining.” The board took no action, but board president Larry Carr (no relation to Paul Carr) said that SMUD staff would look into the issue. The board approved an agreement between SMUD and Sacramento Natural Gas Storage for the lease of a natural gas pipeline. It amended a previous contact and increased the amount of gas that would be delivered. Several citizens spoke against the contract. Most are concerned about the project’s safety. The board wasn’t asked to approve the project itself--that’s up to the California Public Utilities Commission and the City of Sacramento. SMUD is agreeing to buy the gas if Sacramento Natural Gas gets approval for the project. “This will afford SMUD a great opportunity to lock in prices for natural gas, which are very volatile, and to lock in a supply of natural gas that powers the bulk of our electricity system,” said director Susan Patterson. The CPUC is expected to consider the matter sometime next spring. A draft Environmental Impact Report is due to be released in the next month. Also during the meeting, utility district controller Cary Nethaway reported an increase in the muni’s assets over the eight-month period ending August 31. “The district’s activities have resulted in an increase in net assets of $25.3 million,” he said, “as opposed to a planned increase of $25.3 million, which coincidentally is right on plan.” Budgeted revenue was $801.7 million, however, actual revenue was $793.1 million. That is about $8.6 million, or one percent lower, than planned. “Customer and other revenues are lower than planned mainly due to lower sales to customers, lower usage, lower number of customers, partially offset by higher average rates.” The revenue decrease was offset however, by income of $9.4 million from a natural gas settlement. Budgeted expenditures were higher than anticipated--$777.2 million, which was about $800,000 more than the planned amount of $776.4 million, he said.

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