get ready wallyworld

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

get ready for this is the month electric rate increase again.....moving us closer to cl & p and UI......Spring is around the corner, time for those light bulbs to appear at you door step...wallingford's answer to conservation....

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

see today’s record journal…..the electric division keeps the rates hikes coming....we will past cl & p in time.......now is the time for our town leaders to start thinking wind and solar.......time for our town leaders to start thinking out of the box a little.....26,000 customers....a budget of 80 million....pierce power plant that is not under our control....trash to energy plant that is not under our control....ppl plant again not under our control....so what is under the towns control....looks like not much....just keep increasing the rates....the article said it all.....they must maintain a certain level of revenue...with less consumption (conservation) the rates go up....so what’s the point of conservation.....if they have a level of revenue that must be kept then there is no point in conservation…..so all our efforts to save money is useless because they will just raise the rates ……

[Snakebite]

They need to downsize, the same as every company that has revenue issues.
Utilities are right up there with government and the "entitlement" mentality.

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

They need to downsize, the same as every company that has revenue issues.
Utilities are right up there with government and the "entitlement" mentality.

why downsize when all you have to do is raise rates.....couple of bucks here couple of bucks there....no one appears to care....i have been to the public utilities control meetings....they don;t care about the public...we are just a means to an end......

[Bustopher Jones]

they don;t care about the public
Why should they be any different than the Town council or the Mayor? (Keep in mind that the PUC Commissioners are appointed by the Mayor.)

In his letter to the Editor (“Wallingford Largess”), Vinnie McManus touched on an attitude that seems to pervade the mentality of Wallingford government. Over the years, they “…by their vote gave notice that they do not care how bad things are for the taxpayer.” We as taxpayers of Wallingford have been repeatedly hammered with tax increases over the last several years, and are likely to once again face another increase in a year when many have lost or are fearful for their jobs, others have been driven to the verge of bankruptcy by their expenditures for energy last year, and still others had their wages frozen by their employers due to the tough economic times. But our elected representatives don’t seem to care; their indifference was clearly expressed by Mayor Dickinson some time ago, when he said that some will be able to bear the increased tax burden while others will not. (The inference here was that it was simply too bad for those who could not.) Now, we are being hammered with electric rate increases as well.

In these desperate economic times, one would have hoped that our local legislators and leaders would recognize, as the Governor of Connecticut has done, that the people simply cannot take on any additional burden at this point, and that government must make do with what it has and pursue productivity and efficiency improvements to provide the same services at the same price. But apparently this message has not filtered down to the local level; the recent news from multiple fronts in Wallingford clearly indicates that it will be spend as usual, increase as usual, and just pass the burden along to the taxpayers and ratepayers.

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

what the town's people need to do is vote them all out of office...they have been there to long....i mean every one of them....not one of them is doing the town any good these days.....its time we have fresh ideas and new energy in this town.....

[okgoagain]

I think the site iof the old silversmith is looking nice like downtown murdin- they should knock down the whole lousy town

[Modica]

I think the site iof the old silversmith is looking nice like downtown murdin- they should knock down the whole lousy town
Level it and fill with water so people from Cheshire can take their boats out for a sail. Ahoy Matey!

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

I think the site iof the old silversmith is looking nice like downtown murdin- they should knock down the whole lousy town

do mean muriden or wallingford or both.....

[okgoagain]

do mean muriden or wallingford or both.....


I meant wallyworld- useless place. murdin is half down already- and falling further

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

useless....are you kidding.....where else are you muriden slugs going to do all your shopping and eating...wallyworld is the place to be

[Modica]

useless....are you kidding.....where else are you muriden slugs going to do all your shopping and eating...wallyworld is the place to be
Yeah it is the place to be if you eat like a pig and look like one too. Never eat at those kind of places. Watching fatties stuff food into their mouths is so disgusting.

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

you need a hug......

[Modica]

you need a hug......
Ha ha. As long as you look good, Hug Away.

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

after reading some of the minutes from the public utilities meetings it strikes me that we in wallingford are in for a rough ride with our electric rates...soon we will pass UI and Northeast utilities...Their thinkin at the electric division is that they never said that the publics rates would decrease...through conservation only your comsumption would decrease....wallingford electric is not protecting the people of this town from large rate increases....the minds running the division have no plans to make wallingford a little morre self efficient with regards to electricity....they have no plans for solar or wind generation...their plan is to keep buying power on the open market....its time to replace the puc board and get some fresh ideas....what are they doing with the energy fund monies.....light bulbs still?

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

Wallingford is in line to receive 197,000 dollars from the energy fund....what will they do with it.....more compact light bulbs.....expand their energy audits....or just blow it on studies.....my suggestion is to take that 197,000 dollars, match it with town funds and install a solar system ontop of one of the schools.....lets see wallingford show by example that it cares about alternative energy sources.....i have not seen anything from our electric division of thinking toward the future...the $10,000,000.00 dollar investment(33 percent) in the 50/5 plan uses generators that use fossil fuels.....now thats forward thinking.....50 / 5 plan required that wallingford pay for 33 percent because we us 33 percent of the power.....yet we are only getting 20 percent of the generators....now thats a deal....how can the town loose with that kind of thinking......time for our town leaders to step up and set a clear goal for this town to make use of more alternative sources to produce the electricty needs of this town.

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

get ready good people of wallingford...electric rates are going up again...they call it the summer increase....again the town does what it wants.....the puc of wallingford canceled their meeting for may 5...gave notice and all that....then they have a meeting may 6th...no notice...this is not the first time that the puc has done this.....

why tell us (the public) anything...they do what they want when they want without regard for the public....they know best...

they are the appointed ones....so you cannot replace them....so what the point....

why have a puc, why have wallingford electric....its name only....they don;t generate any power....they control nothing with regard to electric power.....what the point....they want to spend over 10 million in fossil fuel generators.....for what....take that 10 million and spend it on renewable energy sources....but sadly no....why....because the appointed one and the management of the electric division have no interest in alternative sources....i have not seen any plans for renewable electric sources....

the motto of the electric division is:
conservation will only decrease your consumption it will not lower your
electric bill......
in most people;s minds lower consumption equalls lower costs....not in the wallingford electric world.....

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

a read of the PUC minutes had some lines in there that explain a lot of what going on with our electric division....

Public Itilities Commission meeting Tuesday May 19, 2009....

"In electric there as an increase in peak demand and a decrease in the kilowatt hour sales. nunn asked whether the diesels should have been started to keep the peak from occurring. adair stated that the diesels are no longer dispatchable by cmeec for that purpose. wed(wallingford electric division) has no resources that we are allowed to start on our own behind the meter. the diesels (since december 2008) were bid in to the locational ford reserve market along with pierce and are receiving $14 per kw per month"

one....explain how peak demand goes up in april or may....during these months we use less power.....how is peak applies.....

two...again this shows that wed is nothing more than a middle man....they control no generation.....

three....what is the "locational ford reserve"

four.....is that 14 dollars per KW per month running or not running....


just another example of how nothing is in wed control.....

[Common Sense]

useless....are you kidding.....where else are you muriden slugs going to do all your shopping and eating...wallyworld is the place to be

Wallingford has become over built and downtown looks like a mini ESPN. Route 5 is running a close second to the Berlin Turnpike. It is a shame that what was once a beautiful town with farm lands is no more. Where is there to shop in Wallingford unless you are counting WalMart? As far as restaurants nothing compares to Luce in Hamden or the restaurants in New Haven, West Hartford or the shoreline unless you like dining in the 'chain' restaurants that are located in Wallingford. No thanks.

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

has anyone had an energy audits done in wallingford through Connecticut Ressources Inc......if so..... how did it go and how much were you able to reduce your energy consumption.....i am thinking of requesting one of the audits and would like some feedback......what did they look, what records you need and how long did the audit take......was it worth you time and effort.......thanks

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

Record Journal below the fold headline
"New administrative position could bring big savings"
after reading the article i don;t get it....where are the savings....they are going to fill a position that has been vacant for 2 years....so where are the savings.....

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

so now the school want to replace lighting...for $200,000.00....article claims pay back in 2.4 years.....just under $84,000.00 in energy savings per year...i don;t believe it.....upon a little research the payback perior id 5-7 years....at at that i don;t see it.....32 watt t12 and a 32 watt t8 is still 32 watts....where is the savings?

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

have a happy 4th

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

once again the WED (wallingford electric division) has chosen to commit resources to a project that a year ago when asked about had no interest and today there is a big rush to push the funds toward CMEEC…..100,000.00 is just the beginning…the pilot project is more like 10 million with 3.5 being Wallingford’s share….to what is smart metering and tou (time of use) pricing and how will it effect the large majority of us….smart metering and tou is a way for people both residential and retail to have the opportunity to lower their energy costs….this is done through what time of day that you use the power and at what rate you would pay for that power…..as it stands now if WED is following the guidelines outlines by CMEEC peak use would be between 7:00 am and 11:00 pm……so if you wanted to save a couple of bucks in electricity you would have to use the power after 11:00 pm…..and limit the power usage during the other hours…..

what does this do for the average residential customer….my guess raises the electricity costs….the bulk of the residents and retail customers of this town will not benefit from tou pricing as tou pricing is geared toward the hours after 11:00 pm and before 7:00 am when most or us are sleeping…..

what was not published on the paper for the past 2 articles about this project were the projected rates…..right now my guess is that the rates charged are averaged out and that tou rates will be higher for the majority of us consumers….

again what is this town doing for the residents with regard to renewable energy sources…I am sure there are many residents that would love to install solar electric, solar hot water and geo thermal if the WED would partner up through the conservation fund and share the costs…..but as of now there are no plans for this…..WED conservation thought process is compact light bulbs and energy audits…..what we get from the WED is more of the same…..

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

in case you all missed it wallingford electric raised our rates again....so for this year the rates are up just short of 19%.......WED is looking out for our interests aren;t they.... so over the past years (4) our rates are up just short of 100 percent.....at this rate wallingford will pass out cl&p and ui......where are my compact bulbs...you missed this year....i know instead of bulbs your wasting the conservation funds on home energy audits at over 400.00 per audit.....we need better thinking on the PUC.....

[CMNSNC]

Several years ago I took a tour of the new natural gas turbine generators that were installed near the Pierce generating plant.
According to what I was told, these were to go on-line during peak usage.
There are five of them and I don't remember what their generating capacity is.
Deisel generators seem to be a very expensive way to provide electricity.
Bought any Deisel lately? Home heating oil is cheaper than Deisel and we who heat our homes with that stuff know what that costs.
I guess I must have missed the meeting discussing the new generators.
I'll look into it and inform myself.

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

today's rj paper wallingford section "No rate hike in proposed electric division budget".......really.....why not a rate reduction for a change....article in the hc stated that 2008 was the peak for generation costs for electric...since then the costs have dropped by 52% with the wholesale costs dropping by 48%...while the costs for the wallingford electric customers have risen every year since 2005.....i think that we are due for a rate reduction and not a rate hold......how much money does wallingford want to make off the rate payers of wallingford....by not lowering our rates they make more and thus the town make more.....in the article mr hendershot states that sales are down by about 4.97 percent...and that electricity transmission and distribution taxes and risen 4.5 percent.....one has nothing to do with the other...so i don;t see the connection....again there should be a rate reduction not just a hold.....

[oldnickel]

I think the union is at fault.

[WlfdTaxpayer]

I think the union is at fault.

More specifically, I think it is the teachers' union's fault!! :D

[oldnickel]

I was taking about the electric rates. surprised Obama wasn't blamed. after all, as the repubs say, this is just a market correction - by people manipulating the market.

[CMNSNC]

what the town's people need to do is vote them all out of office...they have been there to long....i mean every one of them....not one of them is doing the town any good these days.....its time we have fresh ideas and new energy in this town.....

They won't allow term limits, so we'll do it for them!
That also applies to Hartford and most of all Washingon!:mad:

[oldnickel]

The only one of real importance is the Mayor. all the rest have very little to now power anyway.

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

well wallingford electric rate payers...its time again for wallingford electric division to lower electric rates to winter levels....at the same time one would hope for a big reduction of the pca (power cost adjustment).....but don;t be fooled by this small reduction in your rates.....over the past 3 years the wallingford electric division have raised rates about 7+ percent each year.....

the more you try to reduce your electric consumption the more you end up paying in real dollars....

remember that reduction in usage does not equal reduction in the money paid.....does not make sense but this is the reality.....

wallingford electric and the puc board are doing very little to shield the people of wallingford from large rate increases as we have experienced since 2005.....remember not to long ago electric rates were about .064 per kw...today they are about .14 per kw....and going higher......thats about a 219 percent increase....

[gunderstone]

well wallingford electric rate payers...its time again for wallingford electric division to lower electric rates to winter levels....at the same time one would hope for a big reduction of the pca (power cost adjustment).....but don;t be fooled by this small reduction in your rates.....over the past 3 years the wallingford electric division have raised rates about 7+ percent each year.....

the more you try to reduce your electric consumption the more you end up paying in real dollars....

remember that reduction in usage does not equal reduction in the money paid.....does not make sense but this is the reality.....

wallingford electric and the puc board are doing very little to shield the people of wallingford from large rate increases as we have experienced since 2005.....remember not to long ago electric rates were about .064 per kw...today they are about .14 per kw....and going higher......thats about a 219 percent increase....


Conservation is one of the reasons why the water rates in town are going up.

Because people cut back on water use the Water and Sewer division couldn't replenish their accounts to fund long term projects as quickly as needed because they get that money from a percentage of the money taken in from overall consumption. When people conserved, they couldn't replenish it fast enough.

So the solution is to raise rates - they'll go up about 50% over the next five years if memory serves.

So you get less product but you pay about the same amount month over month.

I reduced my electricity consumption by 33% by spending money on new windows and blown insulation in my attic and buying a new pellet stove (I have all electric heat).

The end result is that the electric rates have gone up at the same rate.

I look back on the cost of my electric from 2007 and 2008 – I am using 33% less electricity but my bills still are the same dollar amount.

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

article in todays paper about the schools and there award of a contract to an energy management company for energy savings projects....in the article is state something about with the help of the electric division....

well residents of wallingford....the electric division is giving the schools over 1 million dollars....guess where that money came from.....the ratepayers.....and the best part is that once they give the money to the school there is no accountability as to if energy savings really happen......

what bothers me is that the electric division is funding the schools at about a 33 percent of the costs.....while a residential homeowners are not funded at that level.....

[wawogi]

article in todays paper about the schools and there award of a contract to an energy management company for energy savings projects....in the article is state something about with the help of the electric division....

well residents of wallingford....the electric division is giving the schools over 1 million dollars....guess where that money came from.....the ratepayers.....and the best part is that once they give the money to the school there is no accountability as to if energy savings really happen......

what bothers me is that the electric division is funding the schools at about a 33 percent of the costs.....while a residential homeowners are not funded at that level.....

The article said: "With help from the Public Utilities Commission and the Wallingford Energy Conservation Commission, the comprehensive energy audit of the town’s 12 public schools was conducted at no cost to the district."

I read the article three times. I read the part about the ARRA funds paying for the management costs, and that some of the projects would be paid for through grants. I read the part about the school district expecting to save $500K per year through energy savings, and that the projects would pay for themselves in two to three years. Where's the part about the Electric Division giving the schools a million dollars?

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

The article said: "With help from the Public Utilities Commission and the Wallingford Energy Conservation Commission, the comprehensive energy audit of the town’s 12 public schools was conducted at no cost to the district."

I read the article three times. I read the part about the ARRA funds paying for the management costs, and that some of the projects would be paid for through grants. I read the part about the school district expecting to save $500K per year through energy savings, and that the projects would pay for themselves in two to three years. Where's the part about the Electric Division giving the schools a million dollars?

record article week or two ago....

[wawogi]

record article week or two ago....

Oh. Your post only mentioned the article from the previous day. Guess I'll go back and look at the earlier article. Thanks.

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

Oh. Your post only mentioned the article from the previous day. Guess I'll go back and look at the earlier article. Thanks.

300,000 plus for lighting and 600,000 plus for heating and ac

[MeridenResident]

I like the reasoning in this thread, and numbers too... seems like people are putting a lot of homework into this thread before spewing the first thing that comes to mind. Glad to see the progression here at the forum.

Hope your electric rates come down Wallingford.

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

if the current prices for diesel fuel remain high or move higher.....me thinks the town's puc and electric division have just wasted 12 million (the town's part) toward a project called 50/5....

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

It’s that time of year when the WED (wallingford electric division) raises the rates starting with your May bill….i have just received word that the rates will increase back to the same level as in september 2010….the PUC board of directors also voted 3-0 to increase the PCA (power cost adjustment) up:confused:……so rate payers of wallingford will see an increase about 14%.....

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

The Wallingford PUC will be holding a public hearing about the electric rates Tuesday August 30, 2011 6:30 at the Wallingford Electric Division offices.....

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

public hearing canceled......

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

all of wallingford and northford back up to power....

one has to wonder just how much more the wed will be looking to increase the electric rates due to irene.....they rates were going up anyway but now due to the storm is it cause for a higher increase they what was planned.....

:rolleyes:

[wawogi]

all of wallingford and northford back up to power....

one has to wonder just how much more the wed will be looking to increase the electric rates due to irene.....they rates were going up anyway but now due to the storm is it cause for a higher increase they what was planned.....

:rolleyes:

I would hope that Irene would not be the cause of higher rates, for several reasons: (1) The WED has reserves; (2) unlike the for-profit utility companies, the WED does not have to worry about paying dividends to shareholders; and (3) because CT was declared a disaster area, the State and municipalities are eligible for FEMA money.

[vtesta]

Actually, one of the reasons for expected rate increases is to build up their reserves which they have gradually depleted to offset potential increases over the past 8-10 years. There is a correlation between the reserves and rates. Their policy is to have a hefty reserve account for possible large capital expenses. It has to be built back up. If some of it is used for storm-related expenses, we may see added increases.

[wawogi]

Actually, one of the reasons for expected rate increases is to build up their reserves which they have gradually depleted to offset potential increases over the past 8-10 years. There is a correlation between the reserves and rates. Their policy is to have a hefty reserve account for possible large capital expenses. It has to be built back up. If some of it is used for storm-related expenses, we may see added increases.

Thanks for the information. I had not taken into account that the reserves had been reduced to blunt the impact of cost increases.

What about the fact that CT has been declared a federal disaster area, and qualifying for FEMA dollars? I would assume that Wallingford will be reporting storm-related costs to the State for that purpose. Is that correct?

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

Actually, one of the reasons for expected rate increases is to build up their reserves which they have gradually depleted to offset potential increases over the past 8-10 years. There is a correlation between the reserves and rates. Their policy is to have a hefty reserve account for possible large capital expenses. It has to be built back up. If some of it is used for storm-related expenses, we may see added increases.

By state law the wed must make a profit of between 5 & 8 percent....so based on that over the years the reserve fund could not be drawn down as you say.....since 2006 the wed has taken increases of about 5 percent a year....

There proposed rate increases for the coming 4 years include the customer service charge going from the current 11.00 to 18.00.....about a 70 percent increase over the next few years.....that is just customer service charge.....:)

[gunderstone]

Actually, one of the reasons for expected rate increases is to build up their reserves which they have gradually depleted to offset potential increases over the past 8-10 years. There is a correlation between the reserves and rates. Their policy is to have a hefty reserve account for possible large capital expenses. It has to be built back up. If some of it is used for storm-related expenses, we may see added increases.


"Actually, one of the reasons for expected rate increases is to build up their reserves which they have gradually depleted to offset potential increases over the past 8-10 years"

So the reserves have been used to offset potential increases over the past 8-10 years if I am reading this correctly. While this is nice this is also part of the problem. We have artificially lower rates that do not all come from better management, bulk buying, peak load production sales, etc.

In 2008 I paid $0.1089 per kilowatt hour when I divided my 1221 kWh usage against my 12/3/08 bill of $133.00.

Just three years later in June of 2011 I paid $183.00 for 1284 kWh of use - that is $0.1425 per kilowatt hour.

All that and it is still being subsidized as outlined above.

So how does this compare with CL&P?

http://www.cl-p.com/Rates/AverageBill/Average_Bill/

$123.74 / 700 kWh = $0.1767

So the bottom line; over three years we are paying 31% more than we were but overall we are still 24% less than CL&P customers.

A few things to point out:

We have great customer service and programs (e.g - tree trimming) - Hurricane Irene certainly showed us this. They are definitely worth their cost and expense.

We are still paying less but my concern with that IS the fact that it is subsidized; when the subsidy runs out AND we have to pay the going rate; what is that rate going to be? It's bad enough to have to swallow higher and higher rates to play catch up with higher and higher production and transmission costs but when you have to compound to that added cost to make up for the lost subsidy that is a double negative impact.

The gap between our rates and CL&P used to be wider; we used to have a bigger discount. Over the years that has been shrinking. Yes - it is still 24% but it is getting lesser with each rate increase as ours have been larger percentage-wise than CL&P has been.


Just some food for thought.

[wawogi]

If I recall correctly, one reason for increased rates is to compensate for reduced sales, which result in reduced revenues. Also, there is the power cost adjustment, which is separate from the rates charged by the WED. Here's an excerpt from an AP story dated 08/31/11:

"NEW YORK (AP) -- The price of natural gas, a major energy source for power plants, jumped nearly 4 percent Wednesday as power started to come back in the East following widespread outages caused by Hurricane Irene. Utilities are making progress in reconnecting homes and businesses that lost power over the weekend. More than three-quarters of the 9.4 million outages were restored during the past few days, and almost all the power should be back by next week. The recovery will boost energy demand along the East Coast, increasing the output from natural gas-fired generators. Natural gas rose 14.5 cents, or 3.7 percent, to finish at $4.054 per 1,000 cubic feet. Gas also got a boost Wednesday from the shutdown of a major pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico that has operating problems. The 255-mile long Destin Pipeline transports gas from offshore wells in the Gulf to processing facilities in Mississippi that send gas on to major interstate pipelines. BP, which is the majority owner of Destin, said that the pipeline can transport up to 1.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day, about one-fifth the amount that Americans consume. The company didn't say how long the pipeline would be offline."

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

total electric sales 2008 72 million......2009 73 million...... 2010 79 million.....and they are on pace to have higher sales this year

the power cost adjustment is a funny thing.....while the cost of natural gas has be at all time lows for the past 3 years....wallingford electric through cmeec has not be able to take advantage of the lower gas prices......but as gas increases they will hike the power cast charges right way.....

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

the PUC board at their december 6, 2011 meeting decided to try something they are calling a Dashboard, this is a $100,000 to $150,000 expenditure that will benefit 10 to 15 companies, and the word benefit is a generous word, what this Dashboard allows is for the WED and what ever company decides to participate, to view there real time electric use. as their meter spins they can see the usage on their computer screen. they can see a line move up and down with the amount of electricity they use in close to real time. so for $10,000.00 per participate can watch his electric use. i fail to see the value to the WED rate payers to expend funds in this direction.

a few year back the PUC and WED got involved with a project involving CMEEC called the 50 in 5, this project costs about 30 million plus interest and for the WED the rate payers it was about 10 million plus interest (33 percent) at the time, the project was to purchase 20 - 2.5 mw diesel operated only generators and place them in the various communities involved with cmeec, the idea is to run these generators at time of high demand for electricity and to reduce peak demand. so far this project has been more of a liability then a benefit, it costs the WED more money to be part of this project then they benefit from it. none of the 20 generators are located in town, and only 16 of the generators are running and cmeec has no clue what to do with the other 4.

what has not been reported is at the october 2011 cmeec board meeting they requested and approved another 4 million toward the project, with wallingford's part about 1.3 million (33 percent), so the WED rate payers are on the hook for another 1.3 million plus interest for a project that is under water and sinking

[vtesta]

If I remember correctly, one, if not the primary, reason was to receive cost reductions on the purchasing side by providing generating capacity. Whether or not the units ever operate, the subsidies apply. If you have taken into account those savings in your analysis, then this may not have been a wise investment. Otherwise, dig deeper.

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

for one, how does one create generation capacity if the units don't run, 16 units running equals 40 mw, 0 units running create 0 mw

second the program as outlines was to be benefit to the plus side for the rate payers of wallingford, instead it's becoming a expensive lesson in why diesel only generators suck,

how can wallingford benefit when 0 units are located in this town.

me thinks you need to dig a little deeper. :)

[vtesta]

The issue is about adding generating capacity to the overall grid. Where they're located is not important. Even if they don't operate, CMEEC gets the benefit of reduced power costs because they buy from that grid. WED gets the same benefit of reduced rates by being a part of the contract. My point was this: Have you compared the added expenses due to financing these units to the amount of money saved due to the rate reduction? The agreement was entered into based on projections that this would be favorable. I don't know the answer at this point, but I wasn't investigating it. I was just trying to be sure you were considering everything.

[iwantwallingfordbetter]

the intent was to avoid peak demand, but how can peak be avoided in wallingford if wallingford does not have it's share of generation from the project.

plus with the price of diesel for the past 3-4 years i'm sure that the cost of running exceeds the cost of just purchasing from the grid.

so whats the point of the units