So, Who is Paying?

Those who follow this blog know that this author is trying to get a handle on the real cost of solar and wind electrical generation, and who is paying. As of now, the costs that we believe to be reasonably accurate for coal is about 4 cents per kilowatt hour (kwh), though it may be less.

The cost for wind generation appears to be just over 9 cents per kwh, with 4 cents being subsidized by the taxpayers. That number comes from Business Week.

We're guessing that the real, unsubsidized cost for solar generated power is in the neighborhood of 40 to 50 cents per kwh, though it may be as low as 25 cents per kwh. That lower number was claimed by a solar researcher who also put the cost of wind generation in the neighborhood of 4 to 6 cents per kwh. That suggests that he was comparing subsidized cost to subsidized cost, making the real unsubsidized cost up towards 50 cents per kwh.

A kwh is enough energy to power ten 100 watt light bulbs for an hour, so 50 cent per kwh is very expensive power.

This brings us to a story in the Pueblo Chieftan that discusses the new 2 megawatt solar array on Fort Carson.

[ Vince ] Gutherie said the electricity from the solar panels is broadly used at Fort Carson and not just as a source of power for housing. The Mountain Post doesn't own the solar panels, but is able to purchase power from them at much reduced prices. Army officials estimate they will save $500,000 in utilities over the next 17 years, which is the term of the contract with the providers.

Unless we are mistaken, Fort Carson was buying power from Colorado Springs Utilities which generates most of its power from coal. Not only that, it is cheap coal! CSU owns its own coal cars and has a long term transportation deal with a railroad that it won't reveal to the public. Fort Carson was already getting a deal, but now they are getting a better deal.

It appears that Colorado Springs Utilities rate payers are producing electricity at this site at a cost of as much as 50 cents per kwh, (but not less than 25 cents per kwh) and selling it to the Army at 3 or 4 cents per kwh. This subsidy is a hidden Mark Udall, Ken Salazar, Bill Ritter tax on Colorado Springs rate payers, and it is not a small tax.

For those of you in other parts of Colorado who want to chuckle at how dumb CSU is to do this to its rate payers, recall that this was driven by state law. Will your utility company do as well?

Surprised Mark Udall Wasn't There

Officials, including Bill Ritter, cut a ribbon on a solar energy facility on Fort Carson. The Gazette forgets in writing this puff piece that whether the federal government pays for its power directly or with federal tax rebates, it still pays the full bill for its power. Playing games with the accounting doesn't make it cheaper. If it did, we taxpayers should demand that all of the Department of Defense power needs be paid for with tax rebates.

The scope of the project is mind boggeling.

“This project is the largest solar project on an Army base,” said Erik Rothenberg, spokesman for 3 Phases Energy Services, part of the private public collaboration. “It is the sixth-largest solar project in the United States, the 70th largest in the world.”

Supposedly, the project cost $13 million dollars, but we question the figures. Our bet is that it does not include a hefty sum in tax credits. The story mentions tax credits but doesn't mention how much those credits were. Currently the Federal tax credit is 30%, or more than $6 million for this project. We don't know if the state also provided a tax credit.

If one assumes a very conservative interest rate on a $20 million investment of 5%, just the interest costs of this energy is $1 million a year. That $1 million assumes that the project never has to be paid off. If this lights 500 houses, the real cost of the electricity is $2000 a year per house. Just the electricity, and assuming no need for capital repayment or rainy day fund for repairs.

It looks like very expensive power to us. Mark Udall, who wasn't there, might argue that it was good public policy to build this solar collector, but he and others need to be honest about the costs involved. Pretending that a $20 million project cost $13 million to construct isn't fair to the taxpayer.

More Troops for Fort Carson

In a move that isn't all that surprising, Fort Carson is to get one of the Army's six new brigade combat teams.

And what question did Mark Udall ask?

Udall said Army Assistant Secretary Keith Eastin assured him the decision to add soldiers to Fort Carson is unrelated to the military's controversial effort to expand its Pinon Canyon training site in southeastern Colorado, where the post's soldiers get some of their training.

"He said the addition of the brigade combat team was not predicated on the expansion of Pinon Canyon," Udall said.

We are guessing that if Pinon Canyon were a part of the deal, and it almost certainly is regardless of what he claims he was told, Mark Udall would have had to think twice about his pandering position. $500 million in new construction and $50 million a year is not an insignificant shot in the Colorado economy's arm.

The High Cost of Pandering

Not long ago, Mark Udall, Ken Salazar, Bill Ritter, and the Colorado Legislature signaled their uncertainty about keeping Fort Carson viable with an expansion of the Pinon Canyon training area.

Today, our friends at Rocky Mountain Politics laid out the potential cost of this pandering. Keep in mind that if Space Command leaves, some very high paying civilian contracting jobs will move out of state, not only from Colorado Springs, but from Jeffco and Boulder.

Nebraska is not alone by the way in trying to take advantage of our feud here in Colorado over Pinon Canyon [by trying to get USSPACECOM and NORTHCOM moved to Omaha ]. Guess who the only 2 Republicans in the United States Senate to vote for Ken Salazar's amendment to stop the expansion were? The 2 Republicans from Kansas, Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback. Kansas is home to Fort Riley, which was one of Fort Carson's competitors in the last BRAC round and came very close to being closed. They sure wouldn't mind an expanded base with more units stationed there.