How the U.S. Self-Inflicted Electricity Generation Crisis Created by the Swamp Monster Can Be Ended Quickly!

Guest Post from Dick Storm.

Hint: Go back to 2007 to revisit plans to build 151 new coal plants!

I have given numerous presentations and written much on the “Self-Inflicted” Electricity Crisis. Well, now thanks to the efforts of President Trump, Lee Zeldin, Elon Musk and DOGE, the influence of the destructive Green, so-called, “Climate Policies” have uncovered a tangled web of the SWAMP, Bureaucrats, NGO’s, WEF, Woke Corporations, MSM, Politicians, Fraud, Misguided Federal Judges and Corruption. I wrote about “Gongo the 14 Headed SWAMP Monster” on a previous article, here.

The answer to providing reliable, affordable, clean and Dispatchable Bulk Power Generation has been proven.

The new plant construction plans in place between 2007-2009 would have, if completed, completely eliminated the electricity generation crisis the U.S. is faced with for 2025.

So, why were such well-thought-out plans scrapped? Because of the EPA’s Endangerment Finding.

America had a plan to build about 151 new modern coal power plants. The “Endangerment Finding” was politically based, it was not based on science or for protecting public health. The proposed 151 new coal plants in 2007 was a good plan. In my opinion, it is still a good plan now!

What other form of dispatchable, 24/7, affordable cost power generation capacity can be built in ten years that has on-site fuel storage? Nuclear is a good idea, but it will require more time to rebuild the supply-chain. Natural gas plants, in my opinion, are over-built, and nearly all of them have no on-site fuel storage and are always susceptible to pipeline flow disruptions.

Coal power is the best fuel choice to provide the replacement of the lost 125,000 MW of coal plant capacity. New electricity generation capacity is needed ASAP, as electricity growth is now about 2-4% per year to provide the needed power to reshore primary metals production, manufacturing and to power new AI servers. I presented a presentation based on the loss of aluminum manufacturing in America and the shifting of production to China. This is here and here

Two of the NETL slides from a 2007 presentation on “Tracking of New Coal Plants” are copied below.

Power Magazine in 2010 had an article entitled, “Coal is Down but Not Out” and went on to describe 340 coal plant projects scheduled for 2011.

I remember these years well, they were very good years for business. Three plants that were memorable to me were the 600 MW Pee Dee Coal plant planned by Santee-Cooper, the 600 MW Turk Plant in Arkansas and the 1960 MW FP&L Glades Plant in Florida.

AEP did build one of the Turk planned four units and it is a magnificent ultrasupercritical plant with a fine operating record. However, the other three units were cancelled due “Sue and Settle lawfare by the EPA and NGO’s.” The Pee Dee Coal Plant components were purchased but it was never assembled/erected. References below if you are interested for these and over 100 other canceled coal plants.

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation listed at least 100,000 MW of coal plants shut down in the 2022 Summer Report. One table from that report is copied below which shows the growth in non-dispatchable (nameplate capacity) wind and solar an decline of 21.4% coal generation between 2011 and 2021.

Another report by the Brattle Group showed the coal power generation decline of about 125,000 MW in coal plant capacity since 2005.

So my friends, that is why America is facing a “self-inflicted” electricity generation capacity crisis

This crisis could have been averted had the politicians done three things:

1. Not escalated the “War on Coal”

2. Conquered Gongo the Swamp Monster

3. Not promoted the “Green New Deal”

How to Fix It Now!

The late Donn Dears wrote many books and articles on his blog site over the last 15 years. He was one of the first published authors to warn Americans. His last book, “Clean Energy Crisis” chapter 8 sums up “what it would take for America to replace the fossil fuel power plants.” This was written in 2022 before the electricity load growth of AI servers and President Trump’s policies to reshore manufacturing in the U.S. Here is a summary of what Dears stated it would take to replace fossil fueled generation by 2050:

• Build 881 new nuclear plants similar to Georgia Power Plant Vogtle (Units 3 & 4 took ten years to build 2,200 MW of new capacity)

• Build 995,141 new 2.5 MW wind turbines

• Build 3,918,996 MW of solar generation capacity

I suggest you buy a copy of Donn’s book, it is available on Amazon. Read the detailed analysis. Long story short, eliminating coal and natural gas is impossible if we are to continue our high quality of life.

Electricity Demand and Cost is Rising

The cost of electricity is rising and the Demand growing. Coal plants produce affordable, reliable and Dispatchable electricity generation. Also, with months of on-site fuel storage a practical reality.

Before Gongo the Swamp Monster there was “Common Sense” and well delivered engineering excellence of reliable, affordable coal power generation. This combined to power the GDP rise of America. The coal use and GDP growth paralleled each other up till 2010. The God-given treasure of high quality coal resources of America are still available to use, we should do so.

Conclusions

The War on Coal and climate policies of the Democrat Party and the rest of the Swamp have severely harmed America’s productive capability and competitiveness with China and the rest of the world.

Thanks to President Trump, now the sources of funding the propaganda and indoctrination of the public are becoming known. At least known by those of us interested in learning and digging into the roots of the destructive policies of Biden, Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress.

Thankfully, we have President Trump and a competent cabinet of American patriots now at the top tier of our government. It is my hope and prayer that all or at least most Americans will support common sense energy policies and the reduction of waste, fraud, corruption and abuse of taxpayer dollars.

See original post here for full story, references, and sources.

#Electricity #Coal #ClimateChange #Nuclear #Electrification #Wind #Solar #EndangermentFinding #EPA