20111125Benewah County Comment.pdf

Board of
County Commissioners
245-2234
Clerk Distnct Court
Auditor and Recorder
245;3212
Treasurer and
Tax Collecor
245-2421
Prouting Attorney
245-2564
Assesor
245-2821
Sheriff
245-2555
Coroner
245-2611
Count'l 01 Benewah
70:1 W. College Avenue
St. Maries, Idaho 8386:1 zo~:=Dm
C)ill
1"i;
. November 21,2011
NU1
Commission Secretary
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
P. O. Box 83720
Boise, Idaho 83720-0074
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Re: Case No. AVU-E-11-04
To Whom It May Concern:
In'regard W the 'matter of AVista Corporation's, 2011Elect-iioJntegrated Reseyrce Plar,,
we ()ffer the following concerns and objections.
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ThErpropdséd,201 ~'Ihtégrated' Resource Plan "considerst(Durpolid~s.; Thepltll), states
each óf fñ~'fourpolicies'rèpresentså different policy alterrative beginn,jng)n201S.,. .:".' ':;
Policy one recommendsäRegional Cap and Trade Regime, Policy two recommends a
National Cap and Trade Regime.
The regional prOgram was envisioned as a precursor to a national cap-and-trade system.
Now that federal cap-and-trade legislation seems to have lost most of its momentum,
critics say the regional program should be abandoned also to avoid unfair increases in
electricity in the region. Some opponents have even billed the program as a backdoor
tax hikê.
Several northeastern states have recently announced plans to withdraw from Regional
Greenhouse Gas Cap and Trade Programs, such as the Regional Greenhouse Gas
Initiative, a cooperative effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from utility sources in
Connecticut, Delaware; Maine, Maryland,Massachusetts, New Hampshire,Ne\NJersey,
New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. These ten states originally agreed to cap and
'reduce errètgy's'êétòPcarbon dioxìde emissions by ten percentbY.2QJß:,;gegionaJ
Greeiìhouse' Gas' Ihitiafivè has come under attack ;for beth,toe ineffectivenessofthe,
program and its adverse impact on electrical ratepayers. " , " ~ :' ' , , ,
/:1'\C --):,; ~
'Weliavealreadyexperiencedastrònomicat electr~al 'rateincreåsesin .our county, (lyer
the last few years and we have grave concerns the proposed IRP will cause evenfurther
increases. The plan states, "Avista says the present value of the investment required to
support the 2011 Preferred Resource Strategy is just over $0.84 billon; the nominal total
capital expense is $1.7 billion over the IRP timeframe." Assuming the timeline for the
plan is twenty years; $42 million would be collected from the ratepayers annually to meet
the $0.84 billon figure. If the $1.7 billon figure is the projected target; $85 milion would
need to be collected annually from the ratepayers. In the current and projected economy
these rate increases will have dire impact on our industries, businesses and residents
within Benewah County.
The third policy is a National Carbon Tax. This tax would further increase already
exorbitant energy and gas prices. This option would also negatively impact the
industries, businesses and residents within Benewah County.
The fourth policy is, The Absence of any Greenhouse Gas Policy. Recent scientific data
prepared by NASA and world renowned meteorologists does not support the Greenhouse
Gas theory. The data reported by these scientists indicates no significant changes in the
ozone layer. Gases are able to travel freely into the stratosphere and are not being
trapped in the ozone layer. This data does not support the greenhouse gas/global
warming theory.
We recognize the importance of planning ahead but we also recognize the importance of
basing our decisions on sound science and economics. We strongly urge Avista to
rethink their proposed policies and develop alternative ones that will have a positive
impact on our environment and also serve the needs of the industries, businesses and
citizens of Benewah County.
ack A. Buell - Chairman
Benewah County Commissioner