20171103Comment.pdf

Diane Holt
From:[e-mail]
Sent:Friday,November 3,2017 1:53 PM
To:Beverly Barker;Diane Holt;Matthew Evans
Subject:Case Comment Form:Art Piltch
Name:Art Piltch
Case Number:AVU-E-17-08
Email:[e-mail]
Telephone:[phone]
Address:87 Rock Road
Sandpoint ID,83864
Name of Utility Company:Avista
Comment:I am concerned about the impact of increased levels of greenhouse gas on our climate.Flooding,destructivetropicalstorms,deadly heatwaves,drought,and devastation to our forests from wildfires and insects are now becomingcommonplace.Climate projections indicate that these events and especially sea level rise will get much worse unless we
can eliminate most of the emissions from fossil fuel combustion.The CO2 that we emit today stays in the atmosphereforcenturies.Also 90%of the extra heat trapped by these gases is absorbed by the ocean,where it will accelerate
melting of polar ice for centuries even after atmospheric CO2 is stabilized.There is also a good possibility that the extraheatintheoceanswillaffectglobaloceanandatmosphericcirculation,which will have profound effects on our climate,way beyond what is being projected.This is why we haveto take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as
soon as we can.The costs of climate changefor present and future human suffering are not taken into account inAvista's latest Integrated Resource Plan.While they are not required to take these costs into account,as a customer,Ifeelthattheyaredoingmeadisservicebynottakingallreasonablemeasurestoreduceemissions,while still providingreliableservice.In particular,coal fired power plants,which are the worst emitters,are being retired all over thecountry.Yet Avista plans to keep their share of the Colstrip plant operational for the entire 20 year period of this plan.
They point out that there will be considerable costs associatedwith new generation capacity as soon as the Colstrpplantisretired,but that new capacity will be required sooner or later in any case.With earlier retirement,a large
amount of greenhouse gas emission can be avoided.Planned costs for capital improvement,operation and maintenancecouldbeavoided.And what about cleanup costs which Avista will be solely responsible for when the other utilities thatshareownershipoftheplantdivest?The share of electric power from the retired coal plant could be replaced with wind
and solar,which are coming down in cost.At the same time the cost of power storage is coming down,which will make
it easier to integrate these resources.As the IRP indicates,"Demand Response"is another approach to easing the needforpeakpower.As for new transmission requirements,the same electric lines that transmit power from Colstrip,could
be used to transmit wind po.wer from eastern Montana,which is one of the more favorable regions in the nation forwind.I commend Avista for their conservation efforts,and for meeting Washington State's clean energy requirements,
but i am disappointed with their plans for Colstrip.
Unique Identifier:24.49.176.23
1