Comments
ThatOneSalesGuy t1_jdm110y wrote
How is it a tough call? Energy companies should have no right to force people out of their homes just to make an extra dollar. Pa is a net energy exporter, we don’t need another power plant! We need homes!
Super_C_Complex t1_jdm91kd wrote
I'm not sure why you're being down voted.
It literally says in the article that it would be a private company doing this and would require multiple people to lose their homes and farms.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that a private company can't exercise eminent domain so it would have to be up to the government. And I'm not sure if townships are given eminent Domain authority
the_dorf t1_jdmen5p wrote
This is the thing; the private company would have to buy up the land of those homes affected in order to move forward with the development. Probably buy it unfairly to the residents of the area (rural), where their relocation would not be equally the same.
It feels somewhat similar to how the Phantoms hockey arena and the redevelopment of downtown Allentown that private entities used eminent domain to rebuild the area. It's been a decade now and while its nice the area is rebuilt okay (a sinkhole haven), but the people they wanted to move in (young professionals) have not really filled in well.
It's a tough call on what happens. I feel bad for the residents. Another issue is the ecology of the environment of both the fauna/flora. Read about the issues with shad reproduction, and its sad.
Socketfusion t1_jdp1eyj wrote
Conowingo is fine except all the pollution it dumps into the Chesapeake because everyone is fighting over who should pay for dredging. And a lot of that is on PA for not complying with the EPA consent decree. Sediment and erosion control as well as water quality laws in PA are garbage.
hippata2023 t1_jdnhxae wrote
DOZENS! OH NO!
.. anyway
[deleted] t1_jdl78mz wrote
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MaoZedongs t1_jdlzpje wrote
Philadelphia Electric did this years ago with Conowingo and Muddy Run. Lots of properties lost.
I heard rumors that PECO trucks still get rocks thrown at them in Port Deposit.
Socketfusion t1_jdp0yzn wrote
They don't. And I'm pretty sure Port Deposit is Delmarva now. PECO trucks wouldn't even be there unless it was someone commuting. The dam has been officially owned by Exelon for a while. Although both Delmarva and PECO are owned by Exelon. As is BGE. And Constellation who operates Muddy Run. Conowingo Dam was completed in 1928. So yeah, years ago. Just a few.
Downstream flooding does occur at times, the last bad one was the kid 90s. And Exelon really needs to dredge behind the dam. That has been a long running fight. But that is more about pollution in the Chesapeake Bay than flood risk. And honestly, Port Deposit shouldn't be more than a marina and freight track. It barely is more than that. It made sense to build there over 100 years ago just like a lot of flood plains. But it doesn't make sense now.
MaoZedongs t1_jdp1gms wrote
Exelon has a long history of not GAF about anyone or anything. I wouldn’t expect that dredging to take place any time soon. Exelon is just Philadelphia Electric but broken up. Think of it like keeping a few dollars in each pocket and shuffling it around. You really have $100, but if anyone asks there’s only $25 in there.
Socketfusion t1_jdp5vza wrote
>Exelon is just Philadelphia Electric but broken up
Exelon definitely isn't just PECO broken up. Not even close. Exelon was formed when PECO and Com Ed (Illinois) were merged. They did shift the Maryland service areas from PECO to DPL. But Exelon also owns BGE, ACE, and PEPCO. Exelon is the largest electric parent company in the US. They have around 10 million customers for electric. PECO has one 1.6.
I won't defend them. I consult for them, so I have a pretty good idea of how they operate and they've screwed me pretty bad at times. But you don't seem to have any idea what you are talking about.
bluewolf71 t1_jdmkql3 wrote
Seems like there are better options for electricity generation that won’t flood properties.
Solar, geothermal, wind….
andrewbi t1_jdomk9p wrote
This is exactly what we need to transition to those power sources- the article doesn’t explain how this plant works so I think there’s a lot of confusion on what this plant exactly does. This plant is basically a huge battery- by using excess electricity on the grid to pump water into this reservoir it can release water to power it’s turbines when demand exceeds supply. With solar and wind energy storage solutions like this are absolutely necessary and are basically the best option that we currently have.
Socketfusion t1_jdoxmac wrote
I'm not saying this plan is good, but I wanted to add some perspective. So there is an 850 MW solar farm in China. It's one of the largest in the world. It covers 8.9 square miles. One tenth the land usage. The reservoir would be 0.9 square miles. An average on shore wind turbine produces about 2.75 MW so you'd need about 310 of them. That works out to 20-40 square miles. Of course in the case of wind you can use that land for other things, which is good. But York County isn't exactly great place to build wind turbines. I'm not even going to bother to do math on geothermal.
I'm just talking about land usage so far. You also have to consider how you will transmit and distribute that power. You need substations to increase voltage and lower current. You need more lines whether underground or on poles. Distributed generation like on-site solar or small wind turbines with battery banks can work great for lower loads in densely populated areas like homes in cities. It is definitely something we should be doing a whole lot more of. But managing a grid is just insanely complex.
dirtyoldman20 t1_jdmokoo wrote
To power NYC only with solar you would have to knock down every tree and cover every blade of grass in the entire state of Pa . Also making solar panels is very verry verry dirty. Probably have to do the same thing with wind. Wind is very very very dirty too. Those comments do not mean i approve of the dam project . Just pointing out none of the "clean " technologies are actually clean.
Gstamsharp t1_jdn4yzp wrote
Sure, but if you put solar on the roof of every new structure, or heck, the roofs of the existing buildings in the city, you wouldn't need to build the destructive supplemental power supplies in the first place.
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Socketfusion t1_jdoyie5 wrote
>you wouldn't need to build the destructive supplemental power supplies in the first place.
Yes you would, just less of them. A major manufacturing plant isn't going to be able to fully supply it's power with just solar on its roof tops. It would need a massive solar farm plus a lot of battery storage. You might be able to supply, and even oversupply, your house most of the year. And when you are generating more than you need you can help supply your neighbors. But you aren't going to be able move that excess generation very far. Like anything, distance causes losses. That is why we have giant transformers on one end to transmit electricity at high voltage and low current, then switch it back to low voltages and higher current for actual use.
dirtyoldman20 t1_jdoiz6m wrote
If we do as planned . Get rid of every gas stove and every home heater and water heater and convert to all electric and convert our cars to full electric , after they put up panels on every roof top in NYC . After Covered every green spot in NYC with solar panels they would still need to cut down every tree and cover ever blade of grass and raise every house in Pennsylvania just to power New York CITY ONLY .alone .. If we covered Pennsylvania in glass not a single watt would be used by Pennsylvania
Fluiddruid4k t1_jdnjemm wrote
True they just need to hurry up with our nuclear fission power plants already. I’m so tired of hearing this clean energy shit
1stBigHank t1_jdp2ko2 wrote
The sun doesn't shine at night, so every solar panel drops offline. Wind doesn't always blow, got to cover those low points. Energy storage is needed. It's a mater of scale. We don't have the batteries to store that kind of power.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muddy_Run_Pumped_Storage_Facility is a comparable facility.
Taking property without proper compensation is wrong. So pay them double what the land is worth. Half in cash now, and half in stock in the new power company. Power companies make money, having part ownership is money every year for them and their heirs.
Aggravating_Foot_528 OP t1_jdq9mw0 wrote
With eminent domain you can only give cash to the people you are taking land from. You can't give stock.
Also, go look at the 5.year timeline for PG&E stock.
[deleted] t1_jdm19yp wrote
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[deleted] t1_jdnbchy wrote
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[deleted] t1_jdqc5fi wrote
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the_dorf t1_jdkm4bw wrote
This is a tough call; while it is nice for new infrastructure for the betterment of electricity (even if not for PA); the other hydroelectric dams are getting up there in age, especially Safe Harbor and Conowingo.