Walker Administration Moves Forward on Selling Power-Heat-Steam Plants

[carbineman]

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_c7c57cc8-51b3-11e0-a99f-001cc4c03286.html

Go Scott Go,

Though it was removed from the budget repair bill, Gov. Scott Walker's plan to privatize Wisconsin's state-owned power plants remains alive.

"We're still looking at a range of options regarding the power plants moving forward," said Cullen Werwie, Walker's press secretary.

The controversial plan was the focus of another dustup this week when the State Building Commission approved spending $9 million for upkeep and improvements at the plants prior to their sale — a move slammed by Democrats.

Jeff Plale, administrator of the Division of State Facilities, said Friday that the proposal to sell the plants will probably be either introduced as separate legislation or added to Walker's budget.

Plale said the administration remains committed to the idea of selling the plants because it would be ****cheaper for the state to buy power from a private operator.****

The proposal as it appeared in the budget repair bill called for selling all 37 power plants, including the Charter Street Heating and Cooling Plant on the UW-Madison campus, to private operators. Most controversial, however, were provisions to sell the plants with no bids and with no review by the Public Service Commission. The plan also gave the state the authority to decide what constitutes a fair selling price.

The proposed no-bid sale of the power plants became one of the favorite targets of protesters at the Capitol, who charged that energy billionaires David and Charles Koch, contributors to Walker's campaign, were in line to buy the plants in a sweetheart deal. A spokesman for Koch Industries denied the company has any interest in purchasing the plants.

The plan remains controversial. This week, State Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, ripped the administration for the State Building Commission's approval to spend $9 million for upkeep and improvements at the state's power plants, including $7 million for a new natural gas boiler at the plant that serves the state prison at Waupun.

Pocan said the money "seems like a back-door giveaway to a still unnamed corporation that could buy those facilities."

But Werwie said all of the heating plant projects funded through the building commission action were requested by former Gov. Jim Doyle. He said the new boiler at Waupun is needed to bring emissions from that plant into compliance with a consent decree agreed to between the state and the Sierra Club after the environmental organization sued the state for being in violation of clean air laws.

Plale said that, even though the plants may be sold in the future, the state still needs to maintain them.

State Rep. Brett Hulsey, D-Madison, said he hopes Walker decides to introduce the power plant proposal as legislation so that it can be discussed in committees. Democrats in the Assembly tried to remove the proposal from the budget repair bill and also proposed several amendments, including restoring the bid process, but all those efforts were voted down by Republicans.

[magooch]

One has to wonder what kind of pay and benefits the heat and power plant people pull down.

[BBF]

I can't make a comment on Wisconsin's plans. However all of the highways,turnpikes, and bridges that ever came to my attention as being sold to private operators( most of them foreign) end up costing the user more money and the services/state of repair were not improved.

[carbineman]

I can't make a comment on Wisconsin's plans. However all of the highways,turnpikes, and bridges that ever came to my attention as being sold to private operators( most of them foreign) end up costing the user more money and the services/state of repair were not improved.

I believe that you are probably right, but do you consider driving down the roadway a right or a privilege? When we went from private ownership to public ownership and granting citizens a shot at the public coffers, the whole enchilada ended up in the handbasket we now find ourselves in.

There are a few roads I travel on in the UP that are "private" roads and signs are posted so you act accordingly or you are banned from using those roads, unlike public roads were the GDP litters the place up in fine fashion.

[Dixie Dude]

Alabama Power is a privately owned company in Alabama.  It is union, but it is private.  Rates are regulated by the Alabama Public Service Commission.  What's wrong with private ownership of power, and since it is a monopoly, rates can be regulated.  Money from sale of power plants can go to pay off state debt without raising taxes.  Now, I do think they should be bid, and sold to the highest bidder.  Roads and bridges are another matter, but utilities are more efficient when owned by private companies. 

[Buckskin]

Great idea. The state has no business owning power plants.  These are aging plants that will need massive upgrades to keep up with new regulations, not to mention removing thousands of jobs off the bloated state staff.  This move will save the state hundreds of millions of dollars in the near future.  Not to mention putting money into a 3 billion dollar deficit...

[Dixie Dude]

TM-7, that is not exactly true.  Alabama Power is owned by the Southern Company which also ownes Georgia Power, Mississippi Power, and Gulf Coast Power in the Florida panhandle.  Each seperate company is regulated differently in each state.  Not owned in any way by the state.  State just regulates profits.  Anyone can buy stock in the Southern Company.  In Alabama private utilities can earn between 9-13% profits after expenditures and operating costs.  If they earn more than 13% they must refund the excess to the customers based on their usage.  If they earn less than 9% they can get a rate increase.  They never have a loss, but can never earn excessive profits either.  They built hydroelectric dams in the 1920's and later coal fired plants.  In the 1960's they built several nuclear power plants.  Two are near Dothan, Alabama (same location).  They also have a nuclear facility south of Atlanta.  Recently they have built several natural gas plants. 

One advantage of natural gas, is they can put the gas turbine in front of a coal fired boiler.  The turbine has a generator in front producing electricity, the exaust from the turbine goes into the coal fired boiler eliminating coal as fuel to make steam turning another generator.  Thus getting twice the energy out of a previously coal fired system.  These gas turbines are nothing but jumbo jet engines running natural gas instead of jet fuel.  They do however require a boat load of sound insulation. 

[Dixie Dude]

I know Georgia deregulated the natural gas industry.  It created a mess.  You have one company owning the underground piping, another metering the gas to the customers.  Company who owned the underground sold the gas to the metering company wholesale who in turn charged the customer.  Kind of like the phone systems we have today.  It was cheaper for the consumer, but the problem was when there was a gas leak, who owned what.  Who responded.  Creates a potential dangerous problem.  Don't know if they did it with power or not.  I do know they might have 4-5 companies selling gas in the same neighborhood.  Very complicated system.  Also, the savings haven't been that great.  Service has gone down, safety might have taken a back seat.  Consumers are also subject to a lot of price fluxuations.