Reason #83 Why I Love To Blog -- June 17, 2016

Go back and look at the energy graphic at this link posted earlier today; here it is again:

I skipped over it earlier, but noted that the nuclear energy line after 2020 (although, almost imperceptibly one can almost see a slight dip between now and 2020, or thereabouts) is absolutely flat. Flat as a pancake.

Shortly after I posted this graphic, Don sent me a link to this story about the decision to close the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant in Nebraska. The decision was made simply for economic reasons.

The decision comes after the utility over the past decade has sunk nearly $700 million into Fort Calhoun — $383 million in 2006 to refurbish the plant and extend its license to 2033 and nearly $300 million in the wake of a devastating 2011 flood and subsequent regulatory problems. 

Still, even after pouring that much money into the now-doomed plant, it’s time to pull the plug, OPPD board members said Thursday.

It cost OPPD about $71 a megawatt-hour last year to generate power at Fort Calhoun, double the national industry average of $35.50; the utility can purchase power on the open market for about $20 a megawatt-hour. 

Two things immediately jumped out at me after reading the story.

First. Is it just me or are others noting the same thing? It seems like I'm seeing more stories announcing nuclear power plants being taken off-line than stories of nuclear power plants coming on-line. It makes me wonder whether the nuclear energy "flat line" in the graphic above might be a bit optimistic.

Second. Read this paragraph again:

It cost OPPD about $71 a megawatt-hour last year to generate power at Fort Calhoun, double the national industry average of $35.50; the utility can purchase power on the open market for about $20 a megawatt-hour.

Forget about Fort Calhoun and OPPD. If the average nuclear power plant provides electricity at $35.50 a megawatt-hour, and one can buy electricity on the open market for $20 a megawatt-hour, something tells me there may be other nuclear power plants in similar precarious economic situations. 

Certainly when it comes time to pour $500 million into an existing plant to make it satisfy regulators to extend licensing, taxpayers are going to ask what the current non-nuclear existing open-market costs for electricity are.