[ RadSafe ] NYT Article: N.Y. Grid Could Stand to Lose Reactors, Panel Says

[Jaro]

John Jacobus wrote:
 Right now I am looking at a 75% increase in utility rates due to
deregulation.
<SNIP>

Don't worry John, our Hydro Quebec will sell you the electricity you need -
and make a fabulous fortune in the process.
The Provincial utility is pushing hard for conservation locally, because of
the regulated low prices here -- so that they can sell as much as possible
to you guys, and fleece you royally in the process.
Hydro Quebec would LOVE it if you closed down Indian Point.
It would drive prices sky-high.
We've got a great gig going here, with the enormous hydro reservoirs in
James Bay and elsewhere: HQ can buy cheap coal-generated electricity from
south of the border & from the Atlantic Provinces, when its not needed & the
rates are low, store it in the hydro reservoirs (i.e. just close the turbine
gates), and then sell it back to you when prices are high.
Some folks figure it might be a better idea to negotiate a "power sharing"
contract with HQ, whereby a certain fixed service fee would be paid to HQ
for such energy storage, instead of deferring to the brutal vagaries of the
open market.
But this idea doesn't seem to have occurred yet to the politicians & power
brokers south of the border, in Ontario, or in the Atlantic Provinces.
Or maybe they just don't worry that much about John Jacobus' 75% increase in
utility rates?
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