Boo! Your Halloween horrors

In our Halloween edition last week, we asked readers what scared them the most about trends in the utilities industry and regulation. To our inbox came your Halloween horrors, three of which are excerpted here:

“One recent trend in utilities that scares me is the early closure of functioning nuclear power plants for competitive economics. Large, carbon-free, long-lived nuclear plants are being sent to the graveyard because they cannot compete on cost with natural gas plants and growing renewables. This is frightening because historically, natural gas prices have been volatile, and while fracking now permits a very stable and low natural gas price forecast for the years ahead, the U.S. appears to be one horrible gas fracking accident away from a spike in gas prices. Such an event could quickly reverse the economic advantage of natural gas over nuclear power. Utility policy should take the long view and find a silver bullet to address this risk. I would prefer that nuclear power plants stand ready to run in the event that such a horrific accident occurs and the country faces price spikes and power shortages, wishing it could bring nuclear power plants back from the dead.”

“Moving to heavy reliance on computerized sensor systems on the electric grid. Three of which have failed in six years on my fancy hybrid heat pump furnace/AC system.”

“Decarbonization equals zero fossil fuels. Natural gas is not allowed to play any role in heating homes, cooking, water heating, etc. because the “keep it in the ground” political lobby is successful in convincing people in Washington that obtaining all energy from a hundred percent renewable sources through a hundred percent renewable grid – electrification – is a rational energy policy that must be driven down in a manner that the Clean Power Plan was driven.”