AES: Why not Shoreham?

The highly charged debate in Bucksport over the planned construction by Applied Energy Service Inc. of a coal-fired electrical power plant has proven to be bitter and it is certainly not over yet. What transpires on the banks of the Penobscot is anyone’s guess; however, nobody has come forward with an alternative site. At least, not until now.

Proponents of the plant have argued for job creation and they have endorsed the assurances of AES that its operations will not impact adversely on either Bucksport or areas downwind, particularly Acadia National Park. Opponents have been extremely vocal in their attempt to portray the proposed facility as an unwanted addition to Maine’s already marginal air quality.

AES is determined to go forward in the face of a formidable set of obstacles. Concerns about the fragility of the Earth’s atmosphere, ozone depletion and the pace of global warming are mounting. Just in the past few weeks, added evidence has surfaced that underscores the need for immediate and drastic corrective action. The burning of fossil fuels is one of the urgent focal points in this ongoing dialogue.

Why, for example, has the White House executed a sudden and curious about face on cars powered by electric batteries? The federal government is once again becoming active in the search for alternative fuels after years of stifling progress in this field. Want proof? Go over to Unity College and take a look at those old solar panels that were salvaged from the White House. Have things really changed, or is it just election year politics?

And along comes AES. Bad timing in the midst of all this environmental activism? Perhaps. But maybe AES would do better elsewhere. Like at Shoreham, N.Y., where the Long Island Lighting Co. (LILCO) is preparing to dismantle its Shoreham nuclear power plant. LILCO will be strapped with more than $5 billion in lost overhead, and the Shoreham decommissioning process should add almost $200 million to the total tab over the next two years.

AES already has a plant just a short distance away from Shoreham on the banks of the Thames River in Connecticut. Given the proximity of this second plant, it would seem logical that AES would reap many advantages by acquiring a construction site at Shoreham. Shoreham is not only closer to any source of coal for AES, it is also closer to a region with much higher projected energy needs and demands than Maine. The immense web of power lines is already in place there, providing access to the power pool. AES could also move key engineering, operations, maintenance, and management personnel on a shared basis between the two sites in Connecticut and Long Island in a much easier and more convenient manner.

According to Sarah Lyall, a reporter who has been following events at Shoreham for The New York Times, one possibility that is being explored is the conversion of Shoreham to a natural gas-fired plant. In addition, there is a preliminary sign that the site could be developed into a high-speed ferry terminal. Talk of these two alternatives indicates that New York state not only wants to erect a power plant at that site, it also means that the state would welcome construction of a waterfront terminal. For AES, a state-of-the-art hybrid waterfront facility could move both coal and commuters.

Events at Shoreham should not go unnoticed in the AES discussion for one other reason. For the first time, the United States is witnessing the tearing down of a nuclear plant prior to its activation. Money and jobs were at stake there, too.

Still, New York state decided that LILCO’s loss of $5 billion-plus and 20 years of labor were acceptable although painful consequences for that ill-fated venture. The public safety was the determining factor.

By suggesting that AES would reap obvious and substantial cost benefits by heading south to Shoreham, one cannot lightly dismiss the time, effort, and money that AES has committed thus far in Bucksport. Nor can anyone in Maine be comfortable with the notion that a potential employer is headed elsewhere, particularly at a time when President Bush seems determined to export American jobs to Mexico. Perhaps someone ought to suggest that he spend next summer in Vera Cruz.

No, AES is not proposing to build a nuclear power plant. And even if a possible alternative site in Long Island became available, Maine would remain downwind. Being downwind is one of the things that we have come to accept here. Our air is vulnerable to all sorts of potential sources of pollution. AES is just a drop in the bucket in this regard.

The Shoreham option is worth investigating. Bucksport might find that AES is not the only pathway to a more secure future and its dreams of industrial development do not have to hinge on one player alone. Bucksport has the river, and it has time.

Peter J. Brown is a free-lance writer who resides in Mount Desert.