Publisher’s Perspective

By Kevin Ashby

Our power plants role in power availability
I have been gone from the area for a few years and when I was driving down the canyon and passed through the cut in the mountain where the tunnel used to be, I had to pull over and stop and just look at the vacant property where a viable and active and productive power plant used to be. Did I mention vacant?
I mean there is nothing there. Everything that related to a prosperous and reliable power supply that reminded everyone coming into the valley of our importance to the rest of the world was gone. It was an eerie feeling for me.
In looking way back when the Castle Gate plant was build, and maybe we only need to go back some 50 years when the construction of the Hunter and Huntington Power plants got underway, I guess we knew that someday the plants would wear out. I guess we even had projections on when we would run out of coal. But those dates were way out into the future and were easy to classify as non-meaningful in my lifetime.
Well, I guess we need to start thinking that “those dates” listing when our power plants have lived their life, and our coal supplies move deeper into the mountains and become harder and harder to produce. They are fast approaching.
Because of changes in power demand and supply, Rocky Mountain Power officials reminded us last week that we need to become more involved in figuring out what other economies we want to invite to our Valley.
They described the transformation of their power plants changing from almost the sole source of power in a grid that demanded the plants to be running at full capacity to what we have now where these power plants are taking on the role of providing backup power into a system that is being flooded with excess wind and solar power.
They also commented on the increasing number of their customers demanding cleaner sources of power and that they are willing to pay for that power.
So, last week, while telling us that their power plant capacity fluctuates from full production down to 20 percent with the average hitting somewhere near the 50 percent capacity level, they called on citizens to become more actively involved in diversifying the economy here.
We agree.
We need to support the groups like BEAR and county economic development efforts in finding new businesses.
We need to make sure we support the businesses who are already here providing services and jobs. Business leakage from all of us shopping outside the area, costs us dearly in jobs and local sales tax revenues.
We all need to go through our rolodexes or electronic contact lists and see what business owners we know who, might have an interest in coming to this area and start inviting them.
We have a wide selection of trained, hard working and proven workers here.
We have a good selection of college age students wanting to be hired.
We have cheap power, low land costs, and wonderful vistas.
Start inviting and let’s see if we can make a difference now before we find that it’s really too late.